The Happy Accountant

… and other non-geographic numbers.

In recent years, more and more companies have been moving to “non-geographic” numbers (generally with a dialing code starting with 05 and 08, or worse still, a premium number which begins with 09).

If you have an inclusive tarif which means that all calls to geographical landlines are “free” (well, included in the standing charge), you may be charged extra (sometimes a premium) for calls to non-geographic numbers such as 0845, 0890 numbers.

There is always an underlying “geographic” landline number beneath the “non geographic” one.  Some organisations will give this number out, on request.  Unfortunately, some organisations (shamefully, this includes HMRC) will not give out the underlying geographic landline number that “underlies” the non-geographic number.  Personally, I am not sure why a company would want to put off its customers/potential customers in this way, but that is another debate.

However, at www.saynoto0870.com there is a growing database of corresponding geographic landline numbers.  It is possible to search for an alternative number by either company name or by non-geographic number and find the underlying geographic number.  It is also possible to add your own entry should you discover an underlying geographical number that isn’t already listed.

A quick guide to UK dialing codes:

• 01 geographic landline code
• 02 geographic landline code
• 03 non-geographic code (charged at or below rates for geographic numbers)
• 0500 national freephone numbers
• 055 corporate numbers
• 07 radio, personal or mobile numbers
• 0800, 0808 national freephone numbers
• 0844 non-geographic numbers (up to 5p/min from BT landline)
• 0845 non-geographic numbers (up to 4p/min from BT landline)
• 0870 non-geographic numbers (up to 8p/min from BT landline)
• 0871, 0872 non-geographic numbers (up to 10p/min from BT landline)
• 09 premium rate numbers

Once a payroll is in operation, HMRC lay down certain requirements as to what records and information needs to be kept.  These include:

• employees names, addresses (and their dates of birth)
• gross pay, NICs, PAYE, other deductions, net pay (keeping a copy of their payslip would normally satisfy this requirement, assuming the payslip contained all the correct and required information)
• copies of the employees’ P60
• holiday, sickness, overtime, bonuses, commission details
• value of benefits in kind and expense payments
• amounts paid over to HMRC

Other information will also be required in the event of maternity/paternity/adoption and sickness/sick pay. 

In addition to records relating to payroll, you will be required to keep records relating to other matters, for example: hours worked, pensions, holidays taken, accidents.  (This is not an exhaustive list by any means)

Logically, the basics of payroll are straightforward but unfortunately, there are various rules and thresholds which can make actually operating a payroll less so.

In calculating an employee’s pay, normally, you begin with their gross pay and then work out the deductions.  After taking away all the deductions, the net pay figure is what is left owing to the employee.

Generally, (assuming the employee is earns over the threshold amounts), there is tax to deduct under (PAYE - pay as you earn), National Insurance.  There may be other deductions, such as pension contributions, student loan repayments (after 1998), deductions arising from attachment of earnings order and charitable donations (this list is not exhaustive). 

On top of that, an employer must pay employers national insurance contributions (generally on the gross pay, if above the threshold).

There is also national insurance contributions payable on certain benefits in kind.

The employee gets paid their net pay (gross pay less all the applicable deductions), the employer pays over the deductions to the relevant organisation. (eg. PAYE, NICs - both employees and employers NICs - and student loans to HMRC, pension contributions to the pension company and so on)

It is generally possible to register as an employer by telephone or email (if special circumstances apply, you may have to register via and HMRC office).  Either way, you will need the following information to hand:

• general information about yourself and your company (including your national insurance number and UTR number - unique taxpayer reference number)
• information about your employees (including number of employees, date of first payment, frequency of payments)
• if a limited company, then details about the company (registration number, UTR, registered office, directors’ personal details - including their national insurance numbers and UTR)
• if a partnership, then details about the partnership (Limited liability partnership - LLP number, if applicable, partners’ personal details - including their national insurance numbers and UTR)

As soon as you take anyone on where any of the following conditions apply, you need to register with HMRC as an employee.

• the employee already has another job
• the employee receives a pension (state or occupational)
• the employee will earn at or over the PAYE (tax) threshold
• the employee will earn at or over the lower earnings threshold for National Insurance
• you are providing the employee with employee benefits.

You can register up to 4 weeks in advance.

If you are the sole employee of your own limited company and are paying yourself a wage/salary where the above conditions apply, you will need to register as an employee.  In this case, you would be both an employer and an employee!

Online banking is now normal for many individuals and businesses.  It is great for keeping right up to date with your bank transactions.  It’s also a great way to save money:  many banks will charge business customers for processing cheques (either drawn by the business or paid in), however some banks will not charge for online payments and receipts.

However, online banking is not without it’s risks.  To minimise the threat of fraud and identity theft.  (Corporate identity theft is also common), here are some general pointers:

• Always keep your login/registration details secret.
• Make sure that you are logging into a secure server (the website address will generally begin https:// and some browsers will also display a little padlock icon.
• Phishing emails (where a fraudster will send an email purporting to be from a bank, generally asking you to click a link in the email and confirm your registration details) are common.  Therefore, never click a link to your bank from an email.  Generally, banks do not send security emails addressed to “dear customer”.  Remember - your bank will know your name!  Also remember - no bank will require you to disclose your security information by email.
• Never email your login details to anyone.
• Report scams to the Banksafe online.

Your own bank will be able to provide you with more details about how you can protect yourself and how you can go about verifying whether an email is genuine or not.  Visit Banksafe online for more general pointers.

Balance per cash book
less any bank payments
plus any bank receipts
Corrected cashbook:

less any cheques paid in but not cleared
plus any cheques drawn (paid out) but not cleared
Balance per bank statement:

Note that this is only one way of laying out a bank statement.  With the advent of accounting software, a written bank reconciliation such as this is sometimes unnecessary, as bank reconciliations are semi-automated (or completely automated if the software links to the business’s online banking facility

The company’s cash book may require the following adjustments:

• direct debit payments and standing orders directly to or from the bank account may not have been entered into the cash book
• bank interest and charges may not have been entered into the cash book.

Items which may have been included in the cash book but which may not yet have been included in a bank statement:

• cheques drawn (paid) by the business may not have cleared the bank account
• cheques deposited into the bank account may not have cleared.

The point of carrying out a bank reconciliation is to check that nothing has been missed from the business’s records and also to ensure that there have been no bank errors.

A business’s cash book will rarely agree to the bank statement and it can be easy to miss transactions, such as direct debit payments if a bank reconciliation is not done.  Similarly, banks sometimes make errors too which may otherwise go unnoticed.

Bank reconciliation is a standard part of bookkeeping.  If you have not done a bank reconciliation as part of your bookkeeping, your accountant’s fees will almost certainly be much higher.  Many accountants will insist on a bank reconciliation having been done prior to their doing your statutory accounts.

A bank reconciliation is simply a checking exercise to ensure that the business can “agree” their records to the balance on their bank statement.

It is normally done each time a bank statement is received.  (It is possible, but highly inadvisable to leave it until the year end)