Limited Companies that meet certain criteria are subject to annual audits. This is more than just adding up figures and checking everything is correct. Kilby Fox uses this process as an opportunity to gather information that benefits its clients, and provides an essential foundation to business planning.

Corporation Tax
Corporation Tax represents a considerable cost for any business. Add to this the burden of compliance with reporting responsibilities, tax authorities’ investigations and harsh penalties for non-compliance and your tax liability could be considerably larger than necessary. We can help you minimise your Corporation Tax exposure, alleviate these problems and carry out administrative duties to comply with tax legislation.

Personal Tax
The tax system is becoming more intricate, and the individual’s responsibilities more important. Everyone who is subject to taxation requires professional assistance if they are to optimise their tax position and ensure they meet all the obligations. It may appear an impossible task to make sense of personal tax allowances and entitlements, but we can assist and guide you through this maze, completing individual Tax Returns and determining your Tax and National Insurance liability.

Capital Gains Tax (CGT)
You may be liable to pay Capital Gains Tax if you sell certain assets for a profit. Currently, these include property and shares. In terms of property, you may be liable if the house you’re selling has been used for investment purposes (i.e. if it is a second home or a property that you’ve been renting out to gain an income). Capital Gains Tax needs to be paid by both Companies and individuals, although the rules differ. We can give you all the necessary information and advice, guaranteeing that you make the most of your annual tax allowances and credits.

Inheritance Tax Planning (IHT) & Estate Planning
Efficient Inheritance Tax planning will maximise your estate by mitigating potential tax liabilities that would be payable by the beneficiaries.

Effective Will drafting and Estate Planning, including the utilisation of IHT reliefs and exemptions, requires a small amount of relatively straightforward planning. For larger estates, more complex planning can shelter specific assets from IHT, and your investments can be managed to benefit from IHT reliefs.

Trusts can be a valuable tool but must be carefully drafted to ensure that they meet your particular needs. We can help with your estate planning, including succession planning and business exit strategies. We can also help with the drafting and updating of your Will and where appropriate act as Trustee or Executor.

Tax Investigations
HM Revenue & Customs investigations are becoming more common and are no longer dependent on suspicion or irregularity. This is particularly true given the frequency of in-year inspections for most taxes. The focus on tax compliance is increasing and our experienced team will act as your advisor throughout the process to ensure that you are properly informed and represented.

To learn more about all aspects of taxation, you can visit HMRC’s government homepage here.

Business Start-Ups
Kilby Fox offers a free comprehensive consultation, after which we’ll set everything up, enabling you to focus your attention on what you do best. Most people who start up in business do so because they have a good business proposition, not because they are experts in the financial aspects of running a business. These factors can often be quite daunting to the entrepreneur and this is where we can help by evaluating your ideas and helping you turn them into a feasible business. We can also help you:

• Decide on the most suitable structure for your business (Sole Trader, Partnership, Limited Liability Partnership or Limited Company)
• Prepare a business plan, cash flow projections, budgets and trading forecasts to prove the financial viability of your ideas and demonstrate this to the bank or potential investors
• Assess your finance requirements and access the most appropriate source.
• Help you establish relationships with banks, solicitors and other professionals via our well established network of contacts
• Carry out registration procedures with Companies House and HMRC
• Set up an internal accounting system which complies with statutory requirements

Trying to decide on a name for your Limited Company? To search Companies House to ensure the name you want is available click here.

Company Formations
We are able to form Limited Companies electronically using software that corresponds directly with Companies House. This makes the process much quicker and more cost effective than you will find elsewhere. It also means your Statutory Books, Share Certificates and Incorporation Certificate are all in electronic format.

Company Secretarial
When running a hectic business, you cannot afford to spend valuable time making sure you are complying with the Companies Act. However, you do need to be aware how this legislation affects your Company and its directors. We can help by carrying out the Company secretarial duties for you. Our services include:

• Company formations
• Acting as the Company’s Registered Office
• Preparation and filing of statutory returns
• Preparation of all documentation
• Maintenance and storage of statutory books (share register, minute book, etc.)
• General advice on company law

Running your own payroll can be time consuming and complicated, particularly with the ever-increasing complexity of taxation, employment and pension legislation. There is an increasing burden on businesses to comply with these issues and non-compliance can lead to substantial penalties. Our service is comprehensive and confidential and includes:

• Computer generated payslips
• Administration of PAYE, National Insurance and Statutory payments
• Student loans, Attachment of Earning Orders, CSA etc.
• Completion of statutory forms (including year end returns) and dealing with HMRC forms and correspondence
• Summaries and analysis of staff costs
• Administration of incentive schemes, bonuses and ex-gratia termination payments
• Assistance with pensions legislation
• Fixed budgetable costs

Outsourcing your payroll function ensures that your legislative requirements are looked after for you, which will bring you peace of mind and will free up your time to concentrate on running your business. Even if you only have a few employees, you will benefit from engaging us to administer your payroll.

Bookkeeping
High quality bookkeeping is the foundation to business growth. By having a clear picture of where you are now, targets can be set and past performance built upon to help you achieve your financial goals. We know that bookkeeping and accounting is a considerable burden for any company, which is why we pay particular attention to all our clients’ requirements and handle every one of them individually. Bookkeeping anxieties can be taken care of by our professional staff, which will be happy to deal with all aspects of accounting for your business, either on site or by our in-house bureau. As well as core bookkeeping, we can maintain your VAT records, prepare your payroll and provide management information month by month if required.

With the introduction of Making Tax Digital, businesses will be required to use accounting software that enables them to report directly to HMRC. We have a vast amount of experience on a variety of accounting packages and are well positioned to help you select a package that works for you, providing any training required.

Bookkeeping Training Sessions
We endeavour to meet our clients accounting requirements, whatever they may be. If you would prefer to maintain your own records but are not entirely sure where to start or how to keep your records, we offer a range of training sessions, tailored to suit your particular needs.

VAT
Our VAT specialists at Kilby Fox have the knowledge and experience you need to take you through the confusion of VAT. Businesses can face penalties, surcharges.

Software Packages
Selecting the right accounting package can be difficult, particularly as there are so many packages on the market. On top of that, price and functionality vary so widely that making an objective comparison can be very difficult if you don’t spend days on the selection process.

Kilby Fox can assess your accounting needs and make informed suggestions as to which software would be best to use. We have established partnerships with various accounting software providers, including Xero and Sage. We believe a cloud-based solution is the way forward.

The benefits of using cloud-based software:

• Reduced costs
• Better quality of your financial reporting
• Instant access to detailed, real-time views of key aspects of your business
• Live bank feeds ease the burden of data entry, ensuring accuracy is improved
• Online software means that we can log on and see exactly what you are looking at, meaning queries can be resolved quickly

Accounting Records & Quality Reports
To help you get the most out of your accounting systems, we prepare a report setting out any weaknesses, their consequences and our suggestions on how you can improve them. The better your accounting systems, the lower the accountancy fees!

Kilby Fox formed a specialist forensic accounting function in 1990 to carry out investigations and expert witness reports. We deliver excellence, professionalism and consistency in our approach to the interrogation of financial data and we ensure that the communication of financial information is concise and clear in assisting lawyers and other clients to resolve disputes.

We receive instructions not only from solicitors, but also individuals, partnerships, and limited companies on both civil and criminal cases.

Kilby Fox Forensics acts as an expert witness and advisor in the following areas:

Criminal
Fraud and financial investigations in relation to Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, The Theft (Amended) Act 1996, The Drug Trafficking Act 1994, The Companies Act 2006 and The Fraud Act 2006.

Matrimonial
Preparing reports on Company Valuations (Assets/Shares), assessment of financial resources and the division of assets.

Commercial litigation
Preparing reports on loss of profits, breach of contract, business valuations and partnership disputes.

Professional Negligence
Providing advice and preparing reports in respect of the liability in relation to the professional conduct and competence of Professional Advisors.

Personal Injury
Preparing reports on loss of pension rights and earnings, including loss of earnings by self-employed and employed individuals due to medical negligence and accident claims.

Kilby Fox will become an indispensable member of your team who knows you and your business inside out. We always want to exceed your expectations and go that step further.

Business Planning
Every business must plan ahead in order to ensure success, but it is too easy to succumb to the daily pressures of work and delay strategic planning. The result of this lack of strategy is often rushed and misinformed decisions, over/under capacity, inefficiency and missed opportunities.

Every business owner needs to invest time in developing a long-term plan, starting with what you want to achieve from your investment and your reasons for being in business and then developing a plan to help achieve these objectives.

A business plan must, above all, be used as an integral part of the management process. We are well placed to help you develop a business plan and have a considerable pool of experience and expertise to draw upon.

Business Valuations
One of our key objectives is to help our clients increase the value of their business. We will produce a detailed report showing the current value of the business and ideas on how you can maximise its worth.

Company Formations
We are able to form limited companies electronically using software that corresponds directly with Companies House. This makes the process much quicker and more cost effective than you will find it elsewhere. It also means your Statutory Books, Share Certificates and Incorporation Certificate are all in electronic format!

Company Secretarial
When running a hectic business, you cannot afford to use valuable time making sure you are complying with the Companies Act. However you do need to be aware how this legislation affects your company and its directors. We can help by carrying out the company secretarial duties for you. Our services include:

• Company formations
• Acting as the Company’s Registered Office
• Preparation and filing of statutory returns
• Preparation of all documentation
• Maintenance and storage of statutory books (share register, minute book, etc.)
• General advice on company law

Cash Flow Forecasts
Cash Flow forecasts are a vital tool to assist you in planning and driving your business forward and negotiating the required facilities with your bankers. We can prepare cash flow forecasts to enable you to determine the Financial Requirements of your business and walk you through them step by step.

Professional Fee Protection
Tax investigations are stressful, intrusive and expensive. The requests for information and documents usually take many hours to compile ready for onward submission to HMRC and then there are all of the follow up questions to respond to, potential meetings with Inspectors to attend and then settlement of the investigation to negotiate!

Due to this, and the fact that typical tax enquiries cost upwards of £5,000 to resolve, we are delighted to announce the launch of our new Tax Investigations Service. The service is designed to provide clients with protection against the representation costs of an enquiry. If selected for an investigation or enquiry, we will defend you in order to deliver the optimum result. In summary, if you subscribe to our Tax Investigations Service we will:

• Respond to HMRC on your behalf
• Deal with all correspondence
• Prepare and defend your case
• Negotiate the best possible outcome for you