Glover Stanbury & Co

BACK UP YOUR DATA

It seems that the only time backing up your data becomes a topic of conversation is when a computer has failed and work has been lost. Backing up is one of the most important, but also one of the most neglected areas of computing.

Loss of data can happen in many ways, the most common of which is failure of the media the data is stored on. Hard drive failures are common and if it has never happened to you, it is probably only a matter of time until it does. Power failure or power surges can also result in data loss or even failure of your entire computer.

As such, backing up your data is of huge importance to any business. Now that we have established that you need to back up, it is important to establish how best to do it. Cd’s and dvd’s are a definite no. Your options range from an external hard drive which can work well for a single PC to a dedicated back up system using tapes or mirrored drives on the network. This is best for large office set ups.

However, there is a fairly significant hardware cost associated with backing up on your own network. Recent developments in cloud computing and new service offerings now allow businesses to back up online.

Microsoft, for example, can back your data up on their data centres in the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe. There is no need for extra hardware, tapes or hard drives. Instead your entire office can be set up to back up using your office broadband connection at night. This type of backup system is extremely cost effective, secure, reliable and efficient. Perhaps online back up Is the way forward for the modern business?

 Disaster recovery is also a big issue - we have recently put in place a disaster recovery system where a full image of our servers is held off site and incremental backs are done on a regular basis - and remotely monitored - so that in the event of a disaster we can be up and running again very quickly. Please contact us if you would like more information on this......

Social Media - Just a fad?

Watch this video to help understand the changing world and how social media is changing the way we do business....

PAYE errors

Headlines today indicate a huge number of taxpayers have paid the wrong amount of tax-some will get tax demands.....others will get a refund. But....are you sure your tax position is correct now? Could you perhaps be due even more back than you have been paid? And is the demand for payment really correct? If you are already using an accountant there should be no problem....if you are not, consider consulting one to get your position reviewed. It could save you more than it costs!

We would be only too pleased to assist.

Medical consultants - and payments to their secretaries.....

Another doctor client this week has commenced private practice - but fortunately he has asked the right questions before starting up - including - "how should I pay my secretary?"

 

This is a common payment for their help in the private practice. Quite often a payment is just made with no deductions without consideration of the tax or NI position. Is the recipient secretary really self-employed, and does she declare the income and pay tax and self -employed NI contributions?

 

If this were to be looked at closely by HMRC- an increasingly likely scenario - they would almost certainly insist that the secretary was an employee rather than self-employed. She may be paid different amounts each month, or she may “work for three or four other consultants and is therefore self-employed”, but the facts are that the consultant is providing work on a regular basis and the arrangement bears most of the important badges of employment.

 

HMRC have several tests to determine employed or self-employed, such as the requirement to receive sick or holiday pay, the right to provide a substitute worker, etc. It is not a question of simply ticking off on a checklist - if you have a steady arrangement with someone who works for just a few people, the position risks being classed as employment.

 

From a tax viewpoint, both parties would probably prefer to be dealing with a self-employed arrangement. The consultant would not need to run a payroll and would not need to potentially pay Employers National Insurance Contributions, while the secretary would pay a lower rate of NIC and could be claiming for business expenses that are not available as an employee.

 

Anyone doing this is at risk. The worst case scenario would be for HMRC to insist the secretary should have been treated as an employee, and the gross amount paid by the consultant is viewed as net salary, with the consultant then being held liable for the tax and NIC that should have been deducted, as well as potentially interest and penalties.

 

Take the appropriate action now and get a PAYE scheme in place. If the consultant's wife is paid (a justifiable salary commensurate with the work done) it may be beneficial to ensure a PAYE scheme is in place for her salary too, as she may be entitled to state benefits at no cost.

 

Ask us for details.....