Tag: family business

Celebrating a Decade of 1 Accounts

Posted on | by Jade Donno

From Humble Beginnings to Industry Pioneers

As we stand on the brink of a significant milestone, it’s time to turn the pages back to where it all began—a journey from a modest room in our house to a prominent office in Haverhill. Ten years ago, Paul and Jenni Donno set out with a vision to bring cloud accounting to the forefront of the business world. With a handful of clients and a passion for change, 1 Accounts was born.

Early Recognition and the Pursuit of Innovation (2013-2015)

Our inaugural years set the tone for what was to become a saga of relentless pursuit of service excellence. Early accolades at the British Accountancy Awards and being named Sage’s Online Provider of the Year were not just trophies on our shelves—they were the fuel that propelled us forward.

Building Our Culture and Community (2016-2019)

As our team expanded, so did our need for space, leading us to our high-street office. We weren’t just recognised for our professional expertise—we also embedded fun into our culture with initiatives like Sausage Roll Fridays and Dress Down Fridays. Our team-building events, including a memorable day at Wild Tracks and a triumphant outing at Top Golf, reinforced the bond that is the backbone of our firm. Our team grew with the addition of cherished members like Adrian, Kerry and James, whose growth from apprentice to a fully qualified accountant mirrored our own evolution.

Adapting to Change, Supporting Through Challenges (2020-2021)

The unforeseen pandemic tested the mettle of businesses everywhere. At 1 Accounts, we transitioned to remote work seamlessly, thanks to our cloud-based systems. Our team worked tirelessly to navigate new schemes, offering additional support to our clients when they needed it most. The introduction of office dogs Honey and Jango, and the shift to a hybrid work model, were testaments to our adaptability and focus on well-being.

A New Chapter of Leadership and Legacy (2022-2023)

These past two years have been about leadership and legacy. We’ve been recognised once more for our dedication to the industry, with Paul winning Business Leader of the Year and Katie being shortlisted for Employee of the Year. The addition of Josh to the family business, the integration of new services, and our engaging networking events are the highlights that showcase our commitment to growth and community.

Our Gratitude and Vision for the Future

As we celebrate this 10-year anniversary, we are filled with gratitude for the trust and support of our clients and the dedication of our team. Our story is not just about the numbers; it’s about the people, the relationships, and the shared successes. We are proud of our past and excited for the future.

Here’s to the next decade of innovation, service, and community at 1 Accounts. Thank you for being a pivotal part of our journey.

1 Accounts shortlisted for prestigious national award

Posted on | by Jade Donno

A commitment to supporting businesses through the pandemic has seen 1 Accounts shortlisted for a top national award.
We have been named in the top five of the prestigious Accounting Excellence awards in the Medium Firm of the Year category.


While acknowledging the growth of the company, the shortlisting is also testimony to the bespoke service provided by 1 Accounts over the last two and a half years.
Paul Donno, director of our family-run business, said: “Our team worked above and beyond during the pandemic – at a time when we were all trying to keep our loved ones safe.
“Because we are an online business, our staff were still able to provide the same high-quality service to our clients. But we wanted to do more than that so we supported their loan and furlough applications free of charge.

“It was something we felt we could do at a time when our clients needed all the help they could get just to stay afloat.
“We also held webinars for both clients and non-clients to support other local businesses. On the back of that, we have received a lot of client referrals and our business has grown by over 60% in the last two years.”

1 Accounts was named best new practice at the British Accountancy Awards in 2016 and Paul is hoping for similar success this time around.
“I am incredibly proud of their hard work and honoured, as a company, to be nominated for this award,” Paul said.
“To be shortlisted in the medium size category is testimony to how much we have grown in a short space of time.
“In 2016, we only had three members of staff, including me and my wife Jenni, and around 40 to 50 clients. Since then, we have grown to in excess of 300 clients and we are just about to employ two more people, taking us to 15 members of staff.”
The Accounting Excellence awards will be held on Thursday 8th September at a ceremony in London.

Press release & photo by Dave Gooderham at Gooderham PR.

4 Productivity Tips From 1 Accounts To Kickstart Your New Year

4 Productivity Tips To Kickstart Your New Year!

Posted on | by Jade Donno

Many people find it hard to return to work after the long Christmas and New Year slowdown, but the pandemic has slowed many people down to a halt. It may take longer than normal for some people to return to their usual productivity levels – but why stop at “usual” when things are unusual? Why not aim higher?

To help you do just that, here are 4 productivity tips to being as productive as possible when you return to work.

1. Know what you want to be different

Think about what normally happens when you start back at work. What tasks do you do that don’t really need to be done? What high-value tasks can you do instead? How much time do you usually have before things properly kick in and you’re very busy?

If you think about what you want to change so that you can start the year right, your intentions will be clear going into your first day and you’ll be far more likely to achieve what you want.

2. Identify the habits you’ll need to change

When you know your intentions (i.e. what you want to change), you then need to think about what action you will take. What steps do you need to take every day? Do you need to break bad habits that waste time and create new ones or do you just need to adapt them?

For example, if you want to develop a habit to do business development every day, try to link this to another habit that you already have. Something like, every morning after I get a cup of coffee and switch on my computer, I will do 10 minutes of engagement on LinkedIn.

3. Prioritise the right tasks

You shouldn’t have mounting emails or multiple requests from team members on your first day back, so use this time wisely. Prioritise the tasks that give you the most bang for your buck or the essentials that usually get pushed further and further down your to-do list. Plan your work for the next few months and start getting ahead.

You can even use this time to build those all-important relationships with your network. Phone up your best clients to find out how their Christmas went, let them know you’re back and to give you a shout if they need anything.

4. Don’t forget to look after yourself

Yes, looking after yourself is essential for productivity! The worst thing you can do is return to work and slot right back into the busyness and leave all those benefits that come with having a break behind. All that will do is result in you getting overwhelmed and potentially burning out after a few weeks or months. Instead, you should use this time to implement some self-care elements into your routine which you can carry on throughout the year.

Find out what works for you. Maybe it’s writing down a few things that you’re grateful for at the start of every workday. Maybe it’s going for a walk at lunch or the gym after work. Whatever helps you to focus when you’re working and switch off when you’re not, you need to make these a part of your daily work routine. What you’ll find is that you’ll keep that holiday feeling for as long as possible AND you’ll transition into a much healthier way of working where you’re far more productive.

Should I advertise that my business is a ‘family business’?

Posted on | by Jade Donno

In an environment where trust in business is too often lacking, family businesses have the opportunity to stand out and above the rest. Why? Because they tend to work to a set of values that resonate with people; values that often result in them being committed to meeting or even exceeding customers’ needs. If you’re thinking about using your family business credentials in your brand, here are the main benefits of doing so.

People trust family businesses

A report, commissioned by the Institute for Family Business (IFB) Research Foundation, found that a considerable majority of the general public hold family businesses in high regard in terms of perceptions around their trustworthiness.

In fact, survey respondents said that they think family businesses are more:

  • Trustworthy (81%)
  • Socially responsible (70%)
  • Quality-orientated (68%)
  • Customer-orientated (67%)

Family businesses appeal to every age

Studies have shown that a company which promotes itself as a family business is more likely to attract clients across all age ranges. It makes sense when you think about it as a family business has professionals across different generations which clients can choose from.

Family businesses are more approachable

The marketing of a family business is very informal and friendly. Often, you’ll see a friendly attitude put out over social media and the website copy will be talking to clients as if they are already part of the family.

What this does is that it makes the business approachable. It makes clients feel safe and secure and they are more likely to reach out and confide in you. This is a major contributor for why family-owned businesses seem more stable, more customer-friendly, more approachable and more trustworthy.

Employees are happier and more productive

Bringing your family business into your team ethos has a massive positive impact on your employees as well as your clients. For example, research has shown that using the family’s last name in the company brand not only has a positive impact on sales but also on company performance too.

In general, the family aspect gives most people positive associations. The environment tends to be more ‘caring’ which ensures all team members are comfortable with each other. A family atmosphere also promotes honesty which helps the team to grow and not keep problems bottled up. Creating this common sense of belonging to the family unites employees and managers across business areas, and it shows in the performance of the company as a whole.

Will you use your family credentials in your branding and team ethos?

Hopefully, this article has helped to highlight the value of promoting your family business both internally and externally. Not only does it ground your brand in the public mind in a very positive way, but it also ensures that your team are happier and more productive in their roles too.

 

How to change your Mindset to trade through a recession

Posted on | by Jade Donno

The global pandemic has hit everyone hard, the knock-on effects of which will be ongoing for the years to come. So how do we make it through? How can we keep trading successfully through the recession? While there are many changes and improvements you can make, the most underrated one by far is your mindset. By simply choosing the right mindset, you can not only survive in the recession but you can thrive in it.

How to change your mindset to successfully navigate the recession

It’s very easy to dwell on the doom and gloom when it comes to the current state of the economy, but what does that do? How does that help us to navigate through the recession so that we can come out of it stronger and more successful, and ready for the economic upturn? In short, it doesn’t.

Here are a few ways that you can change your mindset to a more positive one. One that facilitates growth and success in a time where we need it most:

1, Remember that the economy is cyclical

It’s important to remind yourself that the upturn will come. The economy is cyclical. Yes, we are currently in a downward spiral but there’s still business out there. Businesses are still doing business and they are looking for help. That’s an opportunity for you to try and grab some of that opportunity.

Be creative – how else can you offer value? What does your target audience need help with the most?

2. See this as an opportunity to review and improve

It may be difficult to see but the recession is an opportunity to put everything under the microscope and see whether you can do it differently. In some instances, you could even find a way to do things better. This is a massive opportunity for businesses and one that will go as quickly as it has come.

3. Appreciate that recessions are cleansing times

It might not feel like it now, but recessions are cleansing. If you find yourself less busy, is it because you’ve just weeded out the time-wasters? Many businesses have reported that the recession has forced them to focus on what really matters and as a result, they are focusing on their core business and what they are good at. They’ve found that the clients who were producing the most ‘noise’ have gone and they actually have time to focus on tasks that help their business to grow.

4. Reconnect with your “why?”

We’ve been forced to look at our businesses in a different way so re-evaluate. Why are you doing this? What is it that you are doing it for? What does it actually mean? Reconnecting with why you started is a great way to re-ignite the fire. It’s a great way to self-motivate and to start being proactive.

5. Surround yourself with people who support you

The last way to get the right mindset is to appoint a war cabinet. What we mean by this is surround yourself with people that you trust, people who you can lean on and who can advise you to get through this time. If you choose the right people to have around you, who you can vent to and laugh with, and who can lift you up, it’s really easy to choose the right mindset and to make positive changes.

Believe that you can and you will

Mindset is really all about attitude and you can choose it. If you think you can, you can, but if you think you can’t, then you can’t. It really is that powerful.

If you think that you can grow through this recession, you will, not because of magic but because of the decisions you make and all the things that you’ll put in place. So how can you change your mindset during this recession? How can you innovate and offer more value so that you can grow?

If you would like some more advice on changing your mindset please click here to get in touch. 
Or feel free to use our chat box —>

How to get your distractions under control

Posted on | by Jade Donno

How many times are you distracted during an average workday? Once, five times, ten times?

Now, multiple this by 25.

You’ve probably heard this productivity statistic before – that it takes an average of about 25 minutes to return to the task at hand after you’ve been distracted – so imagine just how much time is being lost to distractions every day.

That means distractions don’t just eat up time during that interruption, but they affect your progress afterwards (e.g. that 30 seconds on social media is actually 25 minutes and 30 seconds), so we have to do something about it.

If you need to be contactable via social media and various messaging apps, it may seem an impossible challenge, but here are some tips on how to get the main distractions under control.

For the social media scrollers…ditch your phone and join an online networking group

A lot of us check our social media throughout the day, but there are some that do it frequently enough that it eats into their productivity. So how do you stop this?

The easy fix is to ditch your phone in the day and not have it with you at all. However, if that isn’t possible, consider adding an app on your phone that tracks your usage or limits you from using it for certain apps. Time limits mean you can tell friends and family that you have to spend your time on clients during the day, even if they see that you’re active on any social media channel during the day.

For the web surfers…install an internet blocking tool

It’s so easy to open up a tab and be diverted from a helpful article to a mass of other websites, so how do you knock it off during work hours?

Another easy fix is to install an internet blocking tool on your computer such as FocusMe or Freedom. These applications allow you to block certain websites for set periods of time so that you can still use the internet for work but you can’t get distracted by, for example, news sites.

For the easily distracted…plan a schedule and stick to it

It can be really hard working from home. Having family there is distracting, so many chores are to be done that are on your mind, and that hour for lunch seems to turn into tackling the household “to do” list. If this sounds like you, then you may be the type of person that is easily distracted.

The way to combat this problem is to create a schedule for yourself both for the week and for every day. It can help you see how much you have to get done and it gives you the discipline to sit down and do it. You can be flexible with this, e.g. setting your work hours earlier because you’re more productive, so find your best routine and stick to it.

For the busy fools…collate groups of tasks together

If you feel like you firefight through your days answering emails and phone calls, only to end the day not having done what you wanted, you can end this chaos! Start managing your time by managing your tasks.

What we mean by this is to group similar tasks together. For example, start your day off with a difficult task or dedicate 30 minutes just before lunch to answer all your emails. If you start grouping tasks together, you’ll find your productivity increases because you don’t have to shift your mindset from one task to another all the time.

For the fidgety folk…create a dedicated working space

For the people who can’t seem to sit still, who need to organise their desk every five minutes or who spend too much time gazing into space or at their photos on the wall, usually, we would recommend working from a café. Since this isn’t really possible right now, the next best thing is to create a dedicated working space at home.

Whether that’s in the spare room or in the conservatory, set up a comfortable desk with minimal distractions around you, and preferably, somewhere that has a door that you can close. This will help you to switch on your work mind when you’re in there, and switch off when you leave.

For the bored, overworked or burnt out…take a real break

Last but not least is the overworked. It’s very difficult working from home, especially if you still have your family at home too, so don’t be too hard on yourself. Not being able to concentrate or ‘switch off’ completely can really impact your productivity in the moment and the next day, so give yourself a break.

Make sure to take regular breaks away from your desk every day, go for a walk, and truly switch off at the end of the day so that you can start the next one ready to smash it.

How to adapt your marketing to turbulent times

Posted on | by Jade Donno

Every business is on a three-step journey: survive, adapt, and thrive. Before COVID-19 hit, many were adapting or had adapted and were thriving, only to be thrown backwards to tread water once it did. With the effects of the pandemic still causing havoc, business owners now need to adapt to move from ‘surviving’ to ‘thriving’ once more. So how do you do that? How does your marketing need to change in turbulent times?

Your clients want to feel supported

One thing is for sure: your clients (and potential clients) are struggling and they have no desire to be sold to.

So what does this mean for you?

While people may not be receptive to the usual marketing efforts and ways of winning business, if you can offer them value and support during this difficult time, you can win some very loyal clients.

Yes, they might not be interested in a pitch, but they’re struggling. Many may be realising that they have been receiving poor service and have been turning to Google and social media to research their needs.

Never before have they been so motivated to do something about these so this is a unique opportunity for you. If you market right, there has never been an easier time to win clients.

Key marketing activities to prioritise right now

  • Invest in ways to quickly update your client base on the changing realities
  • Give your website a COVID-19 refresh
  • Call all of your clients and find out how you can support them
  • Be “there” for them so that you become part of their ‘war cabinet’
  • Help your clients build their strategy to adapt and thrive
  • Reconnect with your old prospects and offer this help
  • Be active on social media and share useful content to boost your credibility
  • Collect the great testimonials that you are receiving throughout the pandemic
  • Plan your clients’ communication and content for the next 1-3 months

Adapt and thrive during the recession

We can all cut costs and budget and prioritise to increase our chances of survival during the recession, but if we want to do more than that, if we want to adapt to the changing times and thrive during the recession, we just need to tweak our marketing.

The recession is an opportunity. It’s a chance to stand out by being credible and being there to support existing clients; it’s a chance to win those clients who are finally realising that they are not getting the type of service that they want. So do that. Use this time to adapt your marketing and you’ll soon see that you start to move from ‘survive’ to ‘thrive’ very quickly.

Re-engaging with and reintroducing furloughed employees

Posted on | by Jade Donno

During this global pandemic approximately 7.5 million employees have been furloughed (more than 1 in 5 of the UK’s workforce) and, for many, this has been for a significant period of time. You may have even furloughed some of your own employees.

For employees that have been furloughed, the challenges of returning to work go beyond struggling to remember passwords, trawling through hundreds of emails to identify the three that are of importance and taking a couple of days to get back into ‘work mode’. It’s not the same as if they have been on holiday for 2 weeks!

For many employees, there will be apprehension around returning to the workplace, a potential loss of confidence in their capabilities, feeling ‘out of the loop’ and adapting back to ‘working life’ as well as possible concerns around working from home or returning to the workplace with child care commitments.    In addition to this, some employees may be feeling resentful at being furloughed whilst others may be experiencing guilt that colleagues worked whilst they did not.  Many will also be fearful of the risk of redundancy.

For businesses to successfully survive this current crisis, great care should be taken when reintroducing furloughed employees back into the workplace, whether remotely or physically coming back to their place of work.  Taking an approach similar to that taken when employees return from a long absence e.g. maternity/paternity leave, long term illness or sabbatical.  Key areas to consider are:

  • Giving sufficient time for the individual to settle in
  • Equip your managers with the tools to support their teams
  • Giving reassurance that their safety and wellbeing are a top priority
  • Creating a new sense of belonging
  • Considering changes to working hours and/or practices

Giving sufficient time for the individual to settle in

It takes on average 3 months for a new joiner to start to feel settled within their new role and whilst it is unlikely to take this long for returning furloughed employees, businesses (and managers) should be prepared for individuals to take a number of weeks to become fully productive and comfortable in their role.  To ease the transition ensure your managers:

  • Regularly check in with the individual, giving the individual the opportunity to discuss their wellbeing and ask questions
  • Set realistic, short term objectives/tasks and singular where possible to give both focus and a sense of accomplishment
  • Ask employees what you can do as an employer and/or manager to make the transition easier
  • Make available training (refresher or new) and where possible, it is in a format that can be easily accessed e.g. eLearning, guides, webinars
  • Consider using annual leave to enable a phased return

Equip your managers with the tools to support their teams

Managers will be key to successfully reintroducing furloughed employees at all levels of your business.  Ensuring managers have access to the right information (from Employee Assistance Programmes to business/department objectives), the right technology to manage teams remotely as well as ensuring they understand flexible working options and have access to HR advice when needed is vital in both supporting their needs and helping them support the needs of their teams.

Giving reassurance that their safety and wellbeing are a top priority

A high number of employees will be apprehensive about returning to the workplace and will need reassurance that their safety and wellbeing is your top priority.  The same applies to individuals working from home.  Ensure you have in place:

  • Suitable levels of PPE supplies (from sanitising gel to high vis vests)
  • Risk Assessments from managing interaction in communal areas to returning to use specialist equipment
  • Health & Safety refresher training (where possible, in formats easily accessible remotely)
  • Information Security refresher training (where possible, in formats easily accessible remotely)
  • Guidance on setting up a suitable working environment at home.  This could be a DSE checklist to more detailed guidance or training
  • Easy access to support services such mental health first aiders, employee assistance programmes and HR teams
  • Social distancing and safety measures are clearly communicated to both employees and customers

Creating a new sense of belonging

Re-engaging employees with the business vision, strategy and values as well as helping them re-establish working relationships help create a feeling of belonging that in turn positively impacts commitment and performance.

Careful consideration of internal communication channels to ensure accessibility as well as content that encourages a sense of belonging is just as important as managers enabling employees to re-establish working relationships with colleagues not only within their immediate team but also across the business.

Providing opportunities to feedback to business leaders on how employees are feeling as well as ensuring those identified as high potentials/future leaders in decision making all create a sense of belonging.

Considering changes to working hours and/or practices

Many employees who have been furloughed have established new routines that may not reflect traditional working hours and businesses may need to adapt to stay successful.  From changing working hours, work locations as well as moving from a time based/presentism mindset to an outcome based approach are all becoming a reality that businesses face.  Things businesses could consider include:

  • Introducing core working hours (e.g. 10:00 – 14:00) and enabling individuals to flex their hours around this
  • Consider rotating furloughed workers in similar roles where returning all employees is not an option
  • Consideration of working from home options, even for roles that are operational (perhaps a day a month to catch up on admin or project work?)
  • Short term working to reintroduce employees to the workplace whilst reducing salary costs
  • Subject to government guidance (still to be issued), part furloughing staff so they return in a limited capacity

The effort placed in ensuring furloughed staff return to an environment that gives them time to re-adjust, provides adequate support, keeps them safe and creates a sense of belonging will impact a business’s bottom line and both business leaders and managers are essential in ensuring success.

Getting Started With Outsourcing: the Insider’s Guide

Posted on | by Jade Donno

Outsourcing is becoming more popular as technology propels the business world forward. And why wouldn’t it? Outsourcing manual, low-value tasks allows business owners to focus on better client service as well as those areas that will actually grow their business and keep them competitive.

While these points are completely valid, some professionals still have their doubts about outsourcing; will this affect the quality of work? Will this go down horribly with my clients?

To help ease these concerns, we’ve put together a quick outsourcing guide.

Top 8 Outsourcing FAQ’s Answered

1, What actually is outsourcing?

Outsourcing is when you decide to ask someone, who is not directly employed by you, to complete some work for your business that is usually done by someone who is employed directly by you.

2. What is the typical turnaround time for an outsourced job?

This depends on the task that you outsource and the agreement that you make with your outsourced provider. However, expect to compromise on turnaround time if you’re paying less.

3. What will outsourcing cost?

The cost of outsourcing depends on what model you choose (for example, you could be charged on a per hour basis or on a per job basis). Don’t forget to also factor in any potential hidden costs, such as the time it takes for your staff to review the work.

4. Will an outsourcer do as good a job as us?

Quality is a big worry for many business owners who are considering outsourcing. Like any job, there are no guarantees that your chosen outsourced provider will do as good a job as your staff, but then on the flip side, there’s also no guarantee that they won’t do a better job. Outsourcing is all about trial and error and doing the due diligence to find the right person. You can then put the necessary processes in place to ensure quality work (with minimal re-work) every time.

5. What due diligence should I do on my potential outsourcer?

Outsourcing your client work is a big decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly so make sure that you do your due diligence. The best outsourcers come recommended, but if you don’t have this, ask them; how they will guarantee the quality of work, where they are located, what office hours they work, the best way to contact them and when, and check things like their quality of English and their workflows.

6. How do I get started with outsourcing?

Take the time to talk to your outsourcer to make sure you are 100% happy with everything before moving forward. If you’re not confident or you’re having doubts, outsource just a few low-value tasks first. This will give you the chance to iron out any kinks at low risk.

7. Which clients’ work should I start to outsource first?

To test your outsourcer, start with ‘easy work’ with low-risk clients. Which clients do you struggle to make a profit on? Which tasks don’t take long to complete? Which tasks do you dread doing? If you choose the clients that, if things go wrong, you won’t jeopardise a strong client relationship, this is a great place to start.

8. Do we need to tell our clients that we are outsourcing their work?

It’s good practice, and in some cases, you are contractually obliged, to tell your clients that their work may be done by your outsourced team. This is especially true if you’re using staff outside of the EU as their data could be processed outside of the EU. You can do this easily by updating your contracts with ‘we may use a carefully selected contractor to complete your work’ and ‘your data could be processed outside of the EU,’ and also mentioning this when you engage with them.

Try outsourcing and see what you think

Interestingly when you talk about outsourcing, it produces a strong reaction – often one of fear. But before you get caught up in emotion, it’s worth taking a step back and thinking about outsourcing more generally.

You need to at least try it (with some low-value tasks) before making a solid decision. It may take some time and trial and error first, but when you find someone who can produce quality work for you consistently, you can free up the time to concentrate on the higher-value tasks; the tasks that will grow your business and ensure that you remain competitive.

Family eating a picnic in a clearing in the woods

Extracting Profit From Your Family Company

Posted on | by Jade Donno | Leave a Comment on Extracting Profit From Your Family Company

EXTRACTING PROFIT FROM YOUR FAMILY COMPANY

The start of the new tax year means that shareholder/ directors may want to review the salary and dividend mix for 2019/20. The £3,000 employment allowance continues to be available to set against the employers national insurance contribution (NIC) liability which means that where the company has not used this allowance it may be set against the employers NIC on directors’ salaries.

Thus, where the only employees are husband and wife there would generally be no PAYE or employers NIC on a salary up to the £12,500 personal allowance.

There would however still be employees NIC at 12% on the excess over £8,632 (£166 per week) which would be £464 on a £12,500 salary, leaving £12,036 net.

Taxation of Dividend Payments in 2019/20

Traditional advice would then be to extract any additional profits from the company in the form of dividends. Where dividends fall within the basic rate band (now £37,500) the rate continues to be 7.5% after the £2,000 dividend allowance has been used. Thus where husband and wife are 50:50 shareholders they would each pay £2,663 tax on dividends of £37,500 assuming they have no income other than a £12,500 salary, leaving £34,837 net of tax.

So a combination of £12,500 salary and £37,500 in dividends would result in £46,873 (93.7%) net of income tax and NICs.

Ensure dividend payments are legal

The Companies Act requires that companies may only pay dividends out of distributable profits. This means that in the absence of brought forward reserves the company would need to provide for 19% corporation tax in order to pay the dividends and thus there would need to be profits of £92,593 in order to pay dividends of £75,000 (after providing corporation tax of £17,593).

Overall the combination of salary and dividends suggested above would result in net of tax take home cash of £93,746 for the couple out of profits before salaries and corporation tax of £117,593 (20.3% overall tax). This still compares very favorably with the amount of tax and NIC payable if the couple were trading as a partnership.

Our Advice

Make sure that your SageOne or Xero is up to date so that we can assess your distributable reserves and complete your Dividend vouchers and board minutes.

Where we complete your payroll we will have changed your payroll to suit your business and maximise your tax reliefs.