Author: Pamela Swift

Ethics Is Not A Place

Article Contributed by Guy Kingston
It seems that Ethics is a growth industry. There are even advertisements in the newspapers for “professional ethicists”.
Does this mean that we are getting more ethical? Are we at the place of which Plato dreamed, where “kings are philosophers and philosophers are kings”.
Alas, the opposite seems to be true. The fact that so-called “experts” have to be employed to say what is ethical is just one sign that many people are increasingly incapable of telling right from wrong for themselves.
Indeed, the “professional ethicists” are not really concerned with moral right and wrong. Rather they are a junior branch of the legal profession. Many sectors, especially those related to medicine and human services, now have “codes of ethics” or “codes of conduct”. A breach of these codes may have legal consequences. The purpose of the “professional ethicist” is to give a degree of protection from those legal consequences. Surely this is the very opposite of ethics.
The last century has seen an enormous expansion in the scope of the law in most jurisdictions. Activities which were previously left up to individual conscience are now regulated by the state.
This is particularly true of business.
Yet it has not made business more honest. To rely on force rather than conscience to get people to do what is right is to undermine conscience. When people are forced, rather than persuaded, they will do what they are forced to do and no more. They will feel no sense of obligation.
More and more, the business world is filled with people who are governed by the principle of “what can we get away with”, rather than by what is right.
It was not always so. We must not be so naive as to imagine that there was ever a Golden Age when everyone was always honest – but things certainly used to be better than they are today.
Previous generations were less likely to see a conflict between doing what was morally right and doing what was in their own best interests.
Partly this was due to the greater emphasis that was placed on Reputation in those days. Business communities tended to be smaller, either because they were geographically isolated or because there might be a small number of specialists in very close correspondence. If a man did anything dishonest, it would soon be known by everyone and his chances of remaining in business would be negligible. Today, the global market is so big that it is unlikely that everyone will hear if someone has a bad reputation.
Mainly, however, it was because business communities usually had shared religious values.
Max Weber described the “Protestant Work Ethic”. The same principle which encouraged people to work hard to succeed in business – a desire to please God – also imposed strict honesty on those business dealings. Protestant devotional works sometimes recommend standards that seem laughable today – like not taking advantage of information that was unknown to the other party in a deal and not charging market price where the profit is excessive. Yet the people who read those works often became very wealthy, not least because they had a reputation for fair dealing.
In the same way, Jewish bankers were able to do business, even if the face of virulent Anti-Semitism, because they built a reputation for scrupulous honesty. This only irritated the Anti-Semites even more.
Even today, an entrepreneur is better off if he deals with someone who is concerned about his reputation for honesty – and who possibly believes that there is an Accounting beyond the balance sheets of this life – than relying on any number of laws and regulations and artificial codes for protection.
About the Author
Guy Kingston produces and presents the Mind Your Own Business podcast, offering free business advice to entrepreneurs and business owners. As well as audio podcasts there are more articles like this, compelling videos and a must-read blog. All at www.myobpod.com or you can network and join in discussions on the MYOB Facebook group.

Business Ideas

Bookkeepers Can Boost Home Bookkeeping Services By Advertising

Post author By Pamela Swift
Post date January 8, 2009

Internet and local media advertising are useful sources to start up and promote home bookkeeping services. By setting a financial budget for each sales channel the bookkeeper can manage the results to build the bookkeeping services.
There are numerous opportunities to advertise bookkeeping services although not all sources of new business will justify the marketing investment. An essential first step is to determine all potential promotion areas, set an expenditure budget for each and maintain a record of enquiries and fee basis for the bookkeeping services obtained.
Whatever the bookkeeper states in the advertisement it is important to include a reason for a potential client to respond. Key prompts to create response are the promise of savings and initial free meeting or even the offer of free services.
Advertising
Advertising the accounting and bookkeeping services in local newspapers can produce new clients but tends to be marginally profitable. Write the advert copy concisely using keywords to mention specific bookkeeping services of which tax tends to be the most popular and consider all publications within the geographical area.
Generally it would be unusual to find local daily newspapers producing little response, local daily evening papers quite expensive compared with the level of business generated and free papers offering a balance between the level of bookkeeping enquiries generated and the cost of advertising.
Monitor costs and response rates vigilantly as some media adverts will perform badly usually based upon circulation while other advertisements may not be cost effective. When a suitable responsive source is identified reduce advertising costs by taking longer term contracts but not too long as successful response rates can reduce over time.
Advertising accounting and bookkeeping services in local telephone directories in useful but highly competitive and often expensive compared with the actual level of business obtained. Despite the sales pitch from the representatives bookkeeping services are so competitive that the level of response may be limited to less than 5 enquiries per year.
A high proportion of new bookkeeping clients obtained from local advertising tend to come from small clients a number of which respond because they have inadequate accounting records and may also have financial problems. The quality of client obtained by advertising may not be the highest but can be a vital starting point when offering home bookkeeping services.
To improve conversion rates from enquiries focus the initial contact, usually by telephone, in arranging a meeting to discuss the requirements. At that first meeting the bookkeeping services can be presented and the price agreed.
Internet Advertising
Setting up a website provides a shop window for the bookkeeper to present the bookkeeping business in what is a highly competitive area. The bookkeeping website should be optimised for search engine rankings to achieve success. Due to the competitiveness it is difficult to rank high for high volume keywords and higher traffic levels are more likely to be achieved by identifying less popular keywords using keyword volume tools and targeting those words.
To optimise the website include the target keywords in the meta tag title, description and keywords. Ensure the target keywords appear in the text and the title and description have a high level of relevancy to the content on each page.
Writing articles using keywords as anchor texts the bookkeeper can improve search engine ranking. Buying links from link farms should be avoided and can cause a website to be penalised.
The website should state clearly the range of services offered and preferably the expertise in those areas. Submit the website to internet business directories. Submitting to high ranking directories such as DMOZ and manual submissions to specific accounting and bookkeeping directories is beneficial as relevancy is higher.
Pay for click advertising with the major search engines Google, Yahoo and Msn will drive targeted traffic to the website but should be strictly controlled within an acceptable budget.
The amount paid for clicks on specific keywords being monitored on a cost benefit basis and a definitive overall budget set for each campaign. Many of the highest traffic bookkeeping terms are simply not economical but many smaller volume words are overlooked and represent an opportunity to attract some business.
Joining business forums, including the website address in the signature and posting on a regular basis concentrating on assisting other forum users with expert bookkeeping and accounting issues will increase website traffic and also increase networking opportunities with potential clients for the bookkeeping business.

Terry Cartwright qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant and Chartered Company Secretary in 1971. A successful business career followed as Head of Finance for major companies in the UK and several consultancy appointments. In 2006 he created DIY Accounting producing Accounting Software for self employed and small companies that use simple accounts spreadsheets to automate tax returns.

Tags bookkeeper, bookkeepers, bookkeeping, bookkeeping business, bookkeeping services, home bookkeeping

Finance & Capital

Vat Registered Companies Can Claim Vat Three Years Before Vat Registration

Post author By Pamela Swift
Post date January 5, 2009
1 Comment on Vat Registered Companies Can Claim Vat Three Years Before Vat Registration

When a business registers for vat the vat rate should be added to all sales from the date of registration. The standard vat rate is 17.5 per cent of the sales value. The value added tax added to sales is known as the output tax.
Value added tax paid to suppliers on purchases is known as the input tax. When completing the vat form the amount paid to HMRC is the total output tax after deducting the input tax.
Vat on goods purchased up to three years prior to vat registration can be reclaimed against the output tax liability. A business can also claim vat paid on services incurred up to 6 months before vat registration.
To be able to claim vat paid before the vat registration a business must have kept vat accounting records of items bought and sold to enable the business to claim vat on those items still in stock at the time of the company became vat registered. The vat claim for goods and services incurred before registration should be made on the first vat form after vat registration. A good accounting software package to enable record keeping is useful for this purpose.
Claim Vat on Goods Purchased Prior to the Vat Registration
A business can vat input on purchases made by that business for up to three years prior to vat registration provided those goods are also available for resale either as stock, raw materials or work in progress at the date of the vat registration and do not relate to exempt items.
If the goods were bought by another business, for example, pre incorporation then the vat claim would not be allowed. The vat claim would also be disallowed if the goods purchased have already been sold. In the same context vat on items such as petrol, gas and electricity would also be disallowed if they have been consumed prior to vat registration.
The vat claim is restricted when goods are used for personal and business purposes. The restriction being the proportion those goods are used for non business purposes.
Claim Vat on Services Purchased Prior to the Vat Registration
A business can vat input on purchases made by that business for up six months prior to vat registration provided those services do not relate to exempt items or goods that have already been sold before vat registration.
The services must have been bought by the registered business and as with goods purchased only the business proportion may be claimed.
Vat Accounting Records
In order to claim vat on goods and services purchased prior to registration the business must have kept accounting records which include valid vat invoices and there should also be an audit trail through the accounting records to support the completion of the first vat return.
When the first vat return is submitted and contains a large refund it is not unusual for the HMRC vat office to inspect the vat accounting records before authorising a refund payment.
The vat accounting should also include detailed stock records to demonstrate the goods on which vat is being reclaimed existed at the time of registration and also show when goods have been disposed of after vat registration
Detailed vat accounting records must also be kept of any services on which the vat claim is based. Those records stating the date received, description and should be capable of supporting the fact those services had been or would be sold after the vat registration.
If the items being sold are exempt from vat then the value added input tax cannot be claimed. If part of the goods and services being sold are exempt then only the proportion not exempt may be claimed.
Terry Cartwright qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant and Chartered Company Secretary in 1971. A successful business career followed as Head of Finance for major companies in the UK and several consultancy appointments. In 2006 he created DIY Accounting producing Accounting Software for self employed and small companies that use simple accounts spreadsheets to automate tax returns.

Tags claim vat, input tax, tax, value added tax, vat, vat accounting, vat form, vat rate, vat registered companies, vat registration

Franchise

How To Find A Franchise

Article Contributed by Ray Haiber
As a franchise sales consultant I am often asked what is the best way to start the initial process of finding the right franchise business. Most of these individuals are still in the initial stages of thinking about buying a franchise, and don’t necessarily have a strong opinion either way about what type of opportunity they are looking for. My answer is that there are more resources available in today’s market then at anytime to find and research franchise opportunities. Below is a list of some of the most popular methods prospective franchise buyers can use to help narrow the search process and find the franchise business that’s right for them.
Internet Directories:
The fastest and most convenient way to begin the process of finding a franchise is via the Internet. There are now dozens of franchise opportunities directories online today that offer comprehensive listings of franchises for sale, including information about investment levels, training, availability, and how to contact the franchise company for more details. These directories are also a good source for free information about the general process of buying a franchise business. You may want to visit A few different directories such as franchiseopportunites.com, franchisegator.com, and azfranchises.com because not all of then will carry the same franchise listings.
Franchise Industry Publications:
Trade publications are another good source for general information about franchises available and franchising industry news. There are magazines available such as Franchise Times and Entrepreneur, as well as multiple online venues such as franchise-chat.com and franchisenewscenter.com that provide a wealth of free information about finding and buying a franchise.
Trade Shows & Conventions:
There are numerous franchise opportunity trade shows and conventions held through out the year and around the world. These venues offer the chance for individuals to discover and research new opportunities, as well as the unique opportunity to meet actual representatives of franchise companies they may have an interest in. Some of the more popular shows include the National Franchise & Business Opportunities Show, and International Franchise Expo.
Franchise Consultants & Brokers:
Franchise Consultants and brokers work with as little as a few to dozens of different franchise concepts in their database that they generally have in depth knowledge about. Considering the thousands of different franchise opportunities that buyers can choose from these days, they can be effective in helping a prospective buyer narrow their search by first qualifying them, and then showing them opportunities that could be a potential good match. Since the majority of these consultants are paid a referral fee or success fee by the franchisors if one of buyers they introduce moves forward, the buyer generally has no direct expense associated in engaging a franchise consultant to help them.
Some of the potential downsides to working with a franchise consultant can include that some only represent a few or a limited menu of franchise concepts which can potentially limit the prospective buyer’s exposure to seeing all the opportunities available in the market. And like some sales people who work on commission, the motivations of the consultant may some times not be entirely consistent with the prospective buyer’s best interest or goals. But I would say overall, that the franchise consultant industry has a very good reputation for treating their clients fairly and professionally.
Business Brokers:
Many professional business brokers are also franchise consultants, and they also can be an excellent source to find existing or established franchise business for sale in your local area if you decide to go that route. Business brokers generally also have good working knowledge of how franchising works, and can often be very helpful to a prospective buyer because of their inside knowledge of the local small business market. You can find a local professional business broker in your area here by searching this business broker directory.
Hit The Streets:
Another good and obvious way to find a research a potential franchise opportunity is to scope out and visit existing franchise businesses in your local area. There is no better validation that a franchise opportunity concept works than seeing a busy store or restaurant full of customers. And if they are available and have the time, you may also want to ask the owner about how business is going, are they happy with the franchisor, and would they recommend this opportunity.
About Author:
Ray Haiber has 10 years experience as a professional small Phoenix Arizona Business Broker and franchise consultant. Go here to view and research franchise opportunities for sale throughout the USA including master and multi-unit opportunities.