Some of you who are at a difficult age (like me) will remember the 70’s and 80’s children’s number based program which Johnny Ball presented called “Think of a Number”.

Here at Enterprise, we are not looking to recreate childhood nostalgia but want you to focus on what certain numbers mean and how they can influence your thinking, your approach to business and what your business needs to do.

So here we go!

1 (one)

A sole trader, the most common form of business structure and for most the simplest and easiest to work with in terms of record keeping and overall compliance.

2 (two)

A partnership, but did you know that a partnership has no upper limit of partners? Partnerships have fallen out of favour a bit in recent years but still have their place if you are looking to take that first big step from a sole trader to working with someone else as an integral part of your business.

5 (five)

The number of employees limit where as an employer Health & Safety compliance becomes more formal and needs good time and attention spending on it so your business can grow safely and unhindered.

1,000

The tax free saving allowance for 2018/19 (for basic rate tax payers).  This is the amount of interest you can earn before it becomes taxable.  It is worth reviewing your investments and saving to see if you are utilising this allowance in full.

2,000

The tax free dividend allowance for 2018/19. This was £5,000 before it was slashed by the Chancellor one year after it was introduced.  Our job is to ensure that this dividend allowance is used wherever possible.

12,500

The tax free allowance for 2019/20.  This is the amount you can earn before you start paying tax, although National Insurance can apply at a lower number (£8,632). In terms of basic tax planning, if the tax free allowances are not being fully utilised then there is scope for further work to be done.

85,000

The VAT registration threshold, so if you have turnover of over £85,000 a year (approx. £1,600 per week) then VAT needs to be part of your thinking.  If you are in any doubt then just ask us as there are stern penalties for getting it wrong.

1,000,000

The amount of tax we would like everyone of our clients to be paying……Now don’t choke! Too often people say to accountants that they don’t want to pay any tax.  As accountants this is easy, run a rubbish business, earn nothing and pay no tax!  We prefer to help our clients to grow their businesses to the level they wish, to earn at the levels they want and yes, to pay £1,000,000 in tax but safe in the knowledge that they are not paying 1p more than was necessary.

At Enterprise we would like you to think of your own number and tell us about it and why that number is important to you.  It could be one of these;

• Your retirement age
• What price you want to sell your business for
• The number of employees you want
• The cost of that holiday pad in the sun
• Your turnover that says to you “I’ve made it”

But whatever the reason, that number is important to you which makes it important to us. So as Johnny Ball said “think of a number” but as Enterprise says “tell us and we’ll help you to get there”.

If you’d like to talk about numbers then please give us a call on 01302 752700 to set the ball rolling.