Coronavirus (COVID-19)

LAST UPDATED 21/12/2021

The government has just announced additional financial support for businesses impacted by the Omicron variant.

The current advice issued by the Government will dramatically impact most businesses over the coming months.

Below are details of the guidance issued by HM Revenue & Customs to support businesses affected by Coronavirus (COVID-19).

As HMRC guidance is updated we will update this page to keep you informed.  Above all, if you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us. 

PLEASE BE AWARE! 

There are phishing emails in circulation regarding the repayment of VAT, PAYE and other taxes.

HMRC will not contact you by email or telephone to request bank details.  They will write out to you.  Please be vigilant at all times and contact us if in any doubt to confirm. 

Guidance to help employers, employees and the self-employed understand how to work safely during the coronavirus pandemic.

HMRC has issued guidance on How to work safely during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The guidance covers a range of different work environments and is designed to help employers provide a safer workplace for their employees as businesses start to reopen.

Separate guidance is available for educational and childcare settings.

Make sure you read all the guides relevant to your workplace. Each guide has specific actions for businesses to take based on these steps. Further guidance will be published as more businesses are able to reopen.

cash flow

"Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity, cash flow is reality"

Cash Flow

Cash flow planning is key for effective management of all businesses. At this time of uncertainty during the Covid 19 Hiatus, it is more critical than ever.

Cash is the lifeblood of all businesses, and at this period of uncertainty, all business owners and their finance teams must understand what cash is due to go out of the business and then make deliberate decisions about their payment.

The biggest unknown of course is what cash will come in. To an extent that can be influenced through effective credit control procedures, but not with high levels or certainty.

Our recommendations to you

  1. Prepare a simple Excel spreadsheet with today`s bank balance as your starting point and then plot a diary through to the end of September 2020 by day.
  2. Most businesses, certainly with regard to overhead, have defined payments and in broadly equal amounts each month. Export your last three months bank statements, identify those payments, the typical monthly sum and the typical date paid.
  3. Create a number of new columns to your spreadsheet identifying the payment type, eg wages, rent etc. Plot the payments on your Excel spreadsheet over the next six month period.
  4. Consider then your supplier payments (cost of sales), and plot when they fall due on your Excel Spreadsheet by key supplier. This will vary according to the level of trade you are currently doing.
  5. Plot your regular payments of taxes, VAT, PAYE and Corporation Tax.
  6. Make a best, but prudent, estimate of what cash will be collected, when and from which customer.
  7. You should now have your “Base Line model”.
  8. Each day create a copy of the tab in your Excel spreadsheet, and plot actuals against where you thought you would be.
  9. Extend your spreadsheet to account for COVID-19 strategies, including:
    1. VAT Deferment
    2. Furloughing
    3. Grant Receipts
    4. Business Funding

You now have your spreadsheet to enable you to:

  1. Decide on payments.
  2. Identify troughs in your businesses cash that need management.
  3. Have a document that allows you to proactively manage the business.
  4. Provides a document to discuss with Pierce and funders.

As always, if you require assistance, our Pierce team is ready to assist. Please call us on 01254 688100.

Guidance for Businesses

Government Support Available

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