How to purchase a domain name for your business website

Posted by & filed under Marketing, Run your business.

Getting a domain name for your business is a big step for many people and it can feel like you need a computing degree just to figure it all out. Don’t worry, we’ve broken it down to the essential steps.

Head back to part 1 of this series and check out the 10 things you need to think about when actually picking a domain name. If you’re confident you have the domain you want, then now we’ll look at the steps you have to go through to purchase it for your website.

Registering a domain name

When you come up with a name for your website, the next step is to register it with a domain registrar, to claim it as yours. There are a number of domain registrars out there, but some of the most popular ones are:

Domains sell fast.

If the one you want isn’t available, domain registrars will suggest similar alternatives that might be worth considering. You’re limited by the domain names that are available, so may be forced to choose whatever is available.

When you purchase your domain, it’s not a one-off purchase – you pay an annual fee for it. You must manually renew your domain every year (unless you’ve set this up automatically). If you don’t renew, it’ll become available to others to purchase.

If you don’t opt for auto-renew, your domain registrar should email to tell you it’s about to expire. To be on the safe side, set yourself a calendar reminder ahead of the expiration date to consider whether you want to keep it or check your auto-renew payment is still correct.

Make sure this annual reminder is recurring. The last thing you want is for your competitor to nab your domain name.

Which extension should I use?

If you’re unable to secure the .com of your preferred domain name and you’re not in a position to control or change your company name, then there are other domain extensions you can consider.

Other popular options after .com are:

  • .net (a good option for tech or application-based companies as it implies network and technology)
  • .org (popular with organisations)
  • .co (technically the designated country code for Columbia but it has become a popular option for global domains e.g. company, corporations or commercial ventures)
  • .co.uk* (promotes that you’re a British business and appeals to UK audience)

*According to Nominet.uk, 81% of UK Internet users would be more likely to choose a .co.uk website from search results, including greater trust in getting a better experience from a UK business. Food for thought if you’re a UK business owner.

How much does a domain cost?

Domain prices vary depending on how popular they are.

The more people who are interested in a domain, the more the domain registrar will charge for it. On average, a domain will cost around £8-12 a year. However, the initial purchase could be into the hundreds and thousands of pounds if it’s extremely valuable such as www.hotels.com or www.diy.com.

If you’re using a unique business name or adding specifics to your domain e.g. location, keywords then it’s unlikely you’ll be paying huge fees for your domain. 

How to check if the domain name has been taken

Simply enter the domain you want into your browser search bar and see what comes up, or use a domain registrar’s search tool such as GoDaddy, Instant Domain Search or Name.com.

Sometimes people buy domain names, but do not attach them to a website. So whilst nothing appears in your browser when you try to go to that domain, it may be unavailable for purchase.

You can drill down further into types of domain lookup (try: Instant Domain Search) but sites like GoDaddy are the most useful as they offer a broker service, contacting the owner of the domain to see if they’d consider selling it.

If your domain name is taken…

You have three options if the domain you want is taken:

  1. Opt for an alternative extension version if available e.g. .net, .org (not the best option considering most internet users trust .com and UK residents trust .co.uk).
  2. Try using a slightly longer version of it by adding in ‘the’, a keyword or location.
  3. Contact the domain owner but be prepared to offer a relatively high amount to secure it.

If you’re not able to obtain the domain name, you have no option but to think of a new name.

What if I want more than one website?

Depending on the nature of your business, should you require an additional website for a period of time, you can redirect your domain to your additional website. Then simply point it back to your primary website when you no longer need the secondary website.

For example, www.rugby.com points to www.ralphlauren.com, so both of these website domains will take you to the same website.

An odd pairing on the face of it but after a quick Google hunt, it seems that the fashion brand launched Rugby Ralph Lauren in 2004 under the management of its parent company, Polo Ralph Lauren. In 2008, merchandise was available on www.rugby.com but since retiring the brand in 2013, this domain redirects to the main Ralph Lauren website.

A clever tactic to ensure any customer traffic isn’t lost (while potentially landing some rugby fans who might be interested in its apparel).

What if I use a DIY website builder?

A number of SaaS (software as a service) companies offer custom domains and hosting services as part of their website building service. You’re able to set everything up via the software while you build your website. 

Companies like Squarespace even take care of organising the renewal of your domain, sending you an email every year letting you know it will auto-renew unless you cancel.

You can set up your emails within the system via their partnership with G Suite by Google. This will give you access to other features such as Google Calendar and Google Drive.

G Suite billing is managed through Squarespace. It includes a free SSL certificate so visitors can see your website is nice and secure.

You can purchase your domain through Squarespace to secure it and they’ll create a holding page for free until your website’s ready to go live. It’s a fantastic way of organising everything under one roof, avoiding a lot of back and forth trying to point a purchased domain at a website that’s hosted elsewhere. You’re in control all the way.

As mentioned, there are a number of companies that offer this service, including Shopify (‘the all-in-one commerce platform to start, run and grow a business’) that offers free tools to help you find a business name, buy a domain and create a brand.

What is an IP address?

You might have heard chatter around IP addresses before – this is your ‘digital address’.

Every internet-connected device has an IP address (e.g. computer, phone, wireless printer, smart TV, etc). A website is considered to be a virtual device, so also requires an IP address. This is where user-friendly domains come in. Rather than making people type in a complicated IP address (a long list of numbers separated by dots) they simply use the website domain.

What about social media?

When deciding on your domain name, research and reserve corresponding account names on key social media platforms relevant to your business, to ensure consistency across your digital assets.

In summary

Purchasing and setting up a domain name can start off simple with third-party domain registrar’s like GoDaddy, Domain.com, or 123-reg.co.uk, but things can quickly get derailed if they start pelting you with jargon. Hopefully we’ve prepared you well with our article, but if you do encounter anything you don’t understand, just stop and do a bit of googling to figure out what they mean.

And if you do hit a wall at some point, it may be time to call that techy friend or go through a business that will take care of it for you. But be prepared for additional fees.

Read more on marketing your business:

Payroll: the effects on organisations in terms of holiday entitlement and pay

Posted by & filed under Pensions and payroll.

Two recent court cases may have financial repercussions for employers within the UK.

Both cases have yet to reach the Supreme Court, however, it may be prudent to make some financial provision or take other necessary actions as a precautionary measure.

Calculation of holiday for term-time workers

The first case with possible financial and contractual implications is that of The Harpur Trust v Brazel

The claimant, Mrs Brazel, was a part-time music teacher who worked varied hours per week (as agreed at the beginning of each term) and term time only (typically 32 weeks of the year). Though she worked irregular hours and term time only, the employer issued a permanent contract.

When calculating her holiday entitlement the Trust used the method recommended by Acas. With this method, the percentage to use was 12.07 of the hours worked (5.6 weeks /46.4 weeks).

Mrs Brazel contended that holiday should be calculated by taking a week’s pay (the average of the weekly pay for the 12 weeks prior to the calculation date) and multiplying that by the statutory 5.6 weeks’ entitlement as laid out in the Working Time Directive (WTD). Using this method the percentage increased to 17.5

Employment Appeal Tribunal

When Mrs Brazel’s argument was rejected she took her grievance to The Harpur Trust but was unsuccessful. She next went to the Employment Tribunal who dismissed her case. Undeterred, she persisted and took her case to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). Here the appeal was upheld.

The Court of Appeal confirmed the EAT judgement when the EAT judgement was challenged by the trust. The Court of Appeal judge, Lord Justice Underhill ruled that there was no requirement to pro-rata the entitlement of ‘part-year’ workers to that of ‘full-year’ workers.

The result of the above ruling means that employers will need to consider whether any back pay is due and whether any future liability may arise. The employer should also review all relevant contracts and revise as necessary.

However, employers may want to wait to see if this case progresses to the Supreme Court before taking any action.

Holiday pay calculation

The second case of interest is that of Alexander Agnew and others v Chief Constable of the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland). The findings from this case, though currently limited to Northern Ireland, could mean a possible liability for UK employers if the decision is confirmed by the UK Supreme Court.

The case concerned the exclusion of certain allowances and overtime payments when calculating holiday pay for police officers and civilian staff. The total back pay bill, according to media reports, may cost the PSNI up to £30 million.

The key findings were:

  • That a claim for underpayment of holiday pay is not restricted by the three-month rule (Bear v Scotland ruling)
  • Correct payment of overtime may not break a series of underpayments, whether they occurred before or after the correct payment.

These findings are contrary to the Bear v Scotland case in which it was determined that holiday pay underpayment could not be claimed where there has been a gap of more than three months between.

Leave being made up of WTD

The case also introduced the concept of each day of leave being made up of a percentage of the 20 days of European Working Time Directive (WTD) leave, eight days of UK Working Time Regulation (WTR) leave, and, where given, a percentage of any contractual leave in excess of the above.

This is contrary to established opinion where, if the employer has not specified, leave days are considered to be taken in a set order; WTD leave first, then WTR leave and then, if any, contractual leave. Because of this new ruling, potentially every day of leave attracts enhanced WTD rights.

If this case does proceed to the UK Supreme Court and the Court confirms the ruling then there could be financial repercussions for UK employers.

Key points

Neither of these cases have yet reached the Supreme Court so management may not want to make any definite process or calculation changes. However, it may be prudent to

  • Review the contracts of similarly positioned employees
  • Calculate any potential liability
  • Adjust any relevant contracts, seeking legal advice where necessary.

In summary

Both these cases, if confirmed by the Supreme Court, could result in significant financial costs for UK employers. It may be prudent to consider the implications for your organisation and where necessary, take the necessary actions to minimise exposure.

Further reading

Excel tips: Subtotals based on a petty cash scenario

Posted by & filed under Excel tips.

Spreadsheets can make accounting tasks infinitely more efficient, producing more robust results. But we have to get familiar with the functionality first.

It requires a combination of accounting knowledge and spreadsheet skills, and in this article, we’re going to do just that using the sort function and subtotals to analyse the data.

The context for this article is a children’s home and its monthly petty cash record. The issues are that the information is produced by a number of non-accounting staff who have a range of Excel skills and that the current template is designed to fulfil internal needs as opposed to accounting requirements. We amended the template in a previous article by creating a list to restrict the data that could be entered into certain cells. Now we are going to analyse the information so that it can be posted to the accounts.

Download the raw data to have a go as you read through.

Backing up the month-end spreadsheet

You can see in the spreadsheet the complete record for September with the accounting categories that have been selected from the drop down list. The restrictions that the list imposes means that the information in column D is consistent and therefore can be easily sorted, unlike the descriptions in column C.

Before we sort the data though, let’s make a copy in a new sheet so that the original record is maintained for reconciliation and internal purposes but then we can delete any information that’s not required for the subtotals.

Right click on the Sheet1 tab, then select ‘move or copy’. Ensure you check the ‘Create a copy’ box then press ‘OK’:

Right click the Sheet1 (2) tab and this time select ‘Rename’ and call the sheet Accounting Analysis:

Sorting the month-end Excel spreadsheet

Now delete row 3 and columns G and I, so the top of the sheet becomes:

Highlight the data A2:F61, then select ‘custom sort’ from the Editing options on the Home ribbon:

Ensure that the ‘My data has headers’ box is ticked then select ‘Category’ from the ‘Sort by’ options in the ‘Sort’ box:

Selecting ‘OK’ will sort the information into alphabetical order which can then be analysed by category.

We could sort the information manually so to speak, by inserting rows at the end of each category and using the SUM function to add up the amounts to be posted to the accounts:

Alternatively, we can use the subtotal function to do the job for us.

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Preparing to sort the data

Before we start, select rows 18 to 21, the ‘Impress top up’ rows, and move them to the bottom and slightly separate from the data set. Then delete rows 18 to 21 so there is no gap. 

Now highlight the data A2:F57, then click on ‘Subtotal’ in the Outline section of the Data ribbon:

In the ‘Subtotal’ box, we want:

  1. at each change in ‘category’
  2. a ‘sum’ to
  3. calculate the subtotal and add it to the ‘out’ column
  4. replacing any current sub-totals
  5. and providing a summary at the end.

Once ‘OK’ is pressed the summary titles are shown in bold and the sub-total figures can simply be dragged into an adjacent column:

If you want to remove the boxes around your moved figures, you can highlight column H and, using the font section on the home ribbon to remove the boxes.

Reconciling the subtotals

Once all the subtotals have been dragged across, they can be reconciled. We could simply use the grand total, but it highlights the totals, making them easier to find. Total the moved figures and reconcile.

Firstly, with the subtotal summary:

And secondly, with the opening and closing balances from the original data in Sheet1, showing the total of the impress top up figures that we moved earlier in a reconciliation statement.

Now the figures can be taken from the spreadsheet and posted to the accounts via a journal.  Check my worked example if you would like compare it to yours.

Read more Excel tips

Browse the full range of AAT study support resources here

7 Essentials I learned at the AAT branch conference

Posted by & filed under Members.

The great and the good of the accountancy world gathered at the AAT Branch Conference in November 2019 to get the latest for finance professionals.

Here we outline the seven essential tips from our speakers so you’re up to date too.

1. Setting goals and making them happen

One of the key lessons, from HR consultant Toni Trevett, was focussed around defining your career goals, and turning them into a reality.

The type of goals you set can depend on your circumstances, what you hope to achieve and how quickly you want to achieve it.

“We talked about how important it is to write our goals down and make them come alive, ideally making them visual too so they work for us individually,” she explains. “One person may want a goal that says, I will write my book by Christmas, whereas smaller visual goals may work better for someone else, like: I will write five pages of my book each week.”

“After all the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time!” says Trevett.

Key takeaway:

  • write down and visualise your goals
  • remember goals can vary according to your circumstances
  • be realistic about what you can achieve.

2. Don’t forget how much personal influence you can have

People are most easily influenced by those they know, like, trust and respect, says Trevett, so if you want to learn how to influence people you need to tick as many of those boxes as you can.

“Face to face communication is also key in influencing,” she notes. “It’s so much harder to say no to a person standing in front of you, yet even the most passive person finds typing no into an email incredibly easy.”

“The top line is – there are many ways to influence others but we should never forget how much personal influence you can have on others just by how you confidently, clearly and concisely you package up and present what you’re saying,” says Trevett.

Key takeaways:

  • remember that people will be influenced by others they know, like and respect
  • focus on face to face communication
  • include reasoning, assertiveness and interpersonal skills in your CPD to develop your personal influence.

3. Know where you’re going and have a plan

“You have to know where you’re going, have a plan and motivate yourself to achieve it while avoiding the pitfalls on the way,” Trevett says. “The key learning point for me is to imagine what you want to achieve. For example, your goal is the rowing boat, your focus is the rudder and the actions you actually take are what you need to do to move the oars. Sitting in your boat without rowing is a fairly pointless exercise.”

The key to success is knowing what you’re aiming for, believing in yourself and motivating yourself to take the actions needed, says Trevett.

Key takeaways:

  • outline what exactly you’re aiming for
  • look at what sort of obstacles you need to overcome to get there
  • believe in yourself.

4. Outline the CPD areas you want to focus on

Paul James, Benefits & Services Delivery Manager at AAT, said CPD (continual professional development) can take many forms.

“Think about what knowledge or training might help you in your current or future roles,” he says. “It might be formal training to enhance skills and behaviours, but also short bits of information which enhance your business awareness. It might include large-scale conferences and events, webinars, podcasts and e-learning, but also conversations with colleagues, or articles you come across.”

It usually pays to have a plan about what you want to cover and include too. “While not all CPD needs to be planned – you might happen upon a really useful article or conversation – it pays to have a CPD plan which outlines the areas in which you wish to develop knowledge or skills,” James says. “Once you’ve undertaken some CPD, reflect on how it’s helped your professional or personal development – and record the details! Regular CPD recording pays dividends.”

Key takeaways:

  • remember CPD can take many forms from formal training to bite-size learning through YouTube
  • have a CPD plan which outlines the areas you wish to develop
  • if you’re an AAT member, take advantage of the range of CPD resources and events.

5. Aim for a collaborative approach

When it comes to negotiating you should always aim for a collaborative approach, says Trevett. It should be a win/win for both parties. You’ll get to a solution quicker if you’re open to what they have to say and are willing to meet them half-way.

“You need to see things as a joint problem to be resolved by both parties,” she says. “For example; ‘You want to sell a car and I want to buy one so let’s looks at what a reasonable price might be.’”

Key takeaways:

6. Use your skills to help the ‘ethically challenged.’

Adam Williamson from AAT Professional Standards, says it’s all too easy to switch off when it comes to ethical issues.

“When faced with an ethical dilemma, disengaging can often seem like the most painless option,” he notes. “However, using your professional knowledge and skills to help others extricate themselves from positions of difficulty can be more beneficial to everyone in the long run.”

Taking very small steps to help combat climate crisis can, for example, make all the difference.

“It can seem overwhelming at times, but we can all do our little bit by looking at our business operations – travel, paper, energy use, office equipment disposal, supply chains – and making small improvements where we can,’ says Williamson. “Learn how you can harness your skills to provide advice and guidance for your clients in these new areas.”

Key takeaways:

  • don’t disengage from ethical issues, such as climate change
  • try not to get overwhelmed
  • realise that taking small steps can make a difference.

7. Build a responsible and sustainable business

“Increasingly, reporting based on climate-related and workforce-based issues is becoming an expectation from investors assessing the long term viability of businesses,” Williamson says.

Engaging with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can make your business more attractive and viable, he advises. “Accountancy bodies and big business are looking to the SDGs to shape their ongoing behaviours and decision making processes. Ensure you’re talking their language by understanding the background and aims of these global goals.”

Key takeaways:

In summary

Delegates learned about a number of aspects of running a business from how to influence and negotiate to the importance of running an ethical and responsible business. Writing down, setting and visualising your goals and plans was also a recurring theme, as was investing in Continued Professional Development.

Volunteer at your local branch to take part and develop as part of your CPD programme.

Further reading on the AAT branch network

How to return to work after a break

Posted by & filed under Career.

Perhaps you’ve had a baby. Or maybe you’ve been at home for a few years caring for children or elderly relatives. Whatever the reason, you could be dreading the return to work: how will you cope emotionally?

If you’ve been off work for a while, then advance scene-setting is a good idea. Career Coach Jenny Garrett says: “Speak to your boss before you come back. Ask them to explain to your colleagues that you are coming back to work and this is how you would like to be treated”.

Prepare the ground

She adds that it’s a good idea to meet colleagues maybe for a drink or lunch before you return. “That means you’ll get all the stuff out of the way – the questions about your baby, bereavement or other things – before you start work” adds Garrett. And if you can, schedule your return for midweek, not Monday: it will make the first week fly by.

Key takeaway: Let colleagues know about your situation before you return

Planning in advance

Before you return to work, do think about the practical aspects to reduce your stress levels. So rehearse your journey to work; double-check your fall back cover – who will pick your child up if your train is cancelled, for example. And schedule in a treat for the weekend after your first week back.  If you think your skills could do updating, have a look at AAT courses – there are short ones lasting just a few days.

Less responsibility?

Maybe you think that it would be better to ask for a lower-status job when you return. But Garrett warns:  “I would be wary about asking to have a lower-responsibility job or a change in role. If you do, you’ll be with a new team of people and the change from familiar faces you are used to could make coming back to work even harder. Stay with the people you know: you will feel safer and happier”.

Key takeaway: Think before asking for a job change – it could add to your stress

Managing stressful situations

Returning to work is going to be stressful: so think in advance how you’ll handle difficult moments. Part of that can be accepting that stress isn’t necessarily bad.

Dr Gary Wood, Social Psychologist and Solution-focused Coach and author of Unlock Your Confidence, Don’t Wait for your Ship to Come in…Swim out to Meet it says: “Remember that we need a little stress to perform at our best. How we perceive bodily responses is important. We might get butterflies in the stomach but that can just as easily be excitement rather than fear”.

Take it week by week

If you really don’t think you can manage to return full time, you can ask for reduced hours or a phased return to work – there’s more information here.

But if you are going to return to the same job and working hours, then try to put yourself in the best psychological shape to cope. Dr Wood says: “When we struggle to cope, part of it is because we can’t see an end to it. So it’s useful to take things a week at a time. ask yourself at the start of the week ‘What’s going to help me make the most of this week?’ Jot down some ideas. It helps to anticipate what might de-rail your progress and think of solutions beforehand. Also, make a list of the people and places you can go for support along the way”.

Difficult questions

In your heightened state of emotion, it can be all too easy to be derailed by a question you perceive as insensitive. Even an innocuous one such as “Who is looking after your baby?” might set you off. Garrett says: “I think it’s important to remember that people do in general want the best for you and they are asking questions just because they are curious. It’s always a good idea to think the best of people”.

She adds: “If you’re asked a question you find insensitive then try to think about it from the perspective of the questioner. An older colleague, for example, might make a comment about your childcare arrangements because when they had their children, the usual option was for the mother to give up work and stay at home. They are not trying to upset you: they are just interested”.

Practice in advance

Dr Wood comments: “If you can anticipate any questions that might come up at work that could upset you then mention these to your manager and ask if they can pass on an email from you. Say you guess people will want to ask how you are. Say you don’t want everyone treading on eggshells but emotions are a bit raw and you’d rather talk about things that take your mind off things”.

He adds that it can be worth thinking in advance of some “non-committal, politician-like but polite stock phrases to address awkward probing questions. There’s always one person at work who fancies themselves as an investigative journalist! Remember it’s your life and your information. You don’t have to go into detail. Just smile and keep it short and polite”.

Key takeaway: Don’t assume questions are meant to be intrusive – most people are just curious. But do think in advance how you’ll answer emotionally-difficult questions

Too kind?

Your well-intentioned colleagues might go too far in their efforts to help you. “Be aware of benevolent bias” says Garrett. “This is where people make adjustments for you – perhaps by lightening your workload or taking projects away from you. They are only trying to be kind but it can have the opposite effect on you if you’re feeling sensitive.

And again, if someone says they remember what it felt like when they had a baby/their mother died and this is what they did then they are projecting their experience onto you while yours might be very different. This can be annoying but again, try to take a step back and see that really, they are only trying to help you”.

In summary

Recognise that going back to work after an event or a period at home might be emotional. Remember that your co-workers are actually nice people in the main and the questions they ask you aren’t meant to upset you. And think about pre-warning work colleagues about your situation/emotional state if you think it will help.

Using CPD to get that Finance Manager promotion

Posted by & filed under CPD, Members.

If you’re hoping for a promotion next year, there’s no better way to help your chances than by building your CPD. We met with a Finance Manager who’s knocking it out of the park for some CPD inspiration.

Gemma Close MAAT AATQB is the 2019 AAT Rising Star of the Year and she credits her focus on CPD for a rapid series of promotions from admin to managerial level.

“By developing my skills and knowledge at levels over and above the level I was working at, I was equipped to step in for the managerial role when it arose,” she says.

The role of Finance Manager

Just five years ago she joined CHN Financial Consultancy as a receptionist; from there she swiftly made her way upwards from Finance Assistant, to Finance Officer and now Finance Manager.

CHN is a financial services company offering tax, pension and investment planning, with circa 25 advisers. Gemma’s department deals with all the income that comes into the business; “any commissions or fees from clients that have to be allocated to the specific advisers and ensure they’re paid correctly.”

Alongside this, Gemma’s involved with creating the business’s management reports; “looking at income, expenses and budget and deal with any finance-related queries. Or we might look at events we want to hold and see how the benefits look versus the cost.”

CPD has specifically helped her, she says, with “the communications side of things in particular – how to speak to different people inside the organisation, and how to speak and deal with colleagues at different levels.” Gemma used a careful mix of webinars, articles and learning from colleagues in order to achieve this.    

Key tip: CPD is ideal for developing soft skills like confidence, credibility, communication and career focus.

CPD for Finance Managers

Focusing on CPD has also been particularly useful for legislative and regulatory areas. “As we’re a financial services company, I have to be up to date not just with legislation for accountants, but also financial regulation. It’s something you need to assess at least monthly – and check for any new legislation that’s come in that you need to learn.”

In order to do this, “sometimes there might be a short course online that I undertake, or an event to hear someone talk.”

We all learn in different ways, and a tactic for getting the most out of your CPD is to identify how you best learn. For some people it’s printing something out and reading it, for others it’s seeing someone face-to-face; for others it will be podcasts, where you can focus on just the voice.

“I find I end up doing a lot more on webinars or by talking to colleagues because of the demands of the job; physically getting to events takes up a lot of time. But on the tech side, webinars are really powerful because you can keep a copy of them and do them alongside your main job.”

Gemma’s focus on CPD also helped her realise that it doesn’t just help with large, broad brush-stroke elements. “I thought I was good with Excel, but using one of the AAT’s webinars on building dashboards showed me there was plenty more I could learn with respect to the technical elements of the job. I’ve been able to incorporate the content on that webinar into the reports I use.”  

Key tip: By focusing on CPD you can identify gaps in your knowledge and spot areas for improvement you weren’t previously aware of.

What are Gemma’s plans for future CPD?

“In the long term, the plan is to become chartered. A lot of people will say that!”

Gemma’s been a manager for just over a year “and I still need to develop my communication skills and managerial skills further, to make sure I’m getting the best out of my staff. That’s one of my aims for the next year; better soft skills like delegating and ensuring I’m interacting with them in the best way.”

Recently, Gemma faced a situation where some members of staff were underperforming, and she had to work out how to handle this. “As a new manager this was a challenge for me and something I’d never had to deal with before. I used one of AAT’s webinars on how to get the best out of meetings, and used this in conjunction with talking to my manager.”

That manager helped her through the stages of supporting a member of staff to get them to where they needed to be, “rather than just telling them they were doing things wrong.”

Key tip: Combining different elements of CPD can be the key to success and is a powerful differentiator in terms of getting a promotion.

In summary

“It’s really good for people to be aware that CPD isn’t just about ticking the box of events, webinars and articles,” she says. Any type of development  is part of your CPD.

“It took me a while to realise that these hours with colleagues who’ve helped me and developed me to where I am is actually part of my CPD.”  

Finally, what single piece of advice would Gemma give to get you that promotion at work? “CPD is evidence,” she says simply; “of your willingness to learn and progress, and evidence of your knowledge, skills and ability. CPD absolutely helped me get to where I need to be and it meant that when the right role appeared, I had the skills to get there.”

CPD in a nutshell

  • Identify your career goals and work out how CPD will help you achieve them. Take the initiative for your own CPD – don’t rely on others to guide you, but do ask them for specific help and to answer specific questions.
  • Be honest with yourself about what needs improving. Don’t see this as a negative, Gemma says. “Look at any area you can develop, and then utilise any form of development that you can.”
  • CPD is more than events, webinars and reading. Whilst these are likely to form the core of your CPD, getting mentored by colleagues, shadowing on a project or simply having in-depth conversations with experienced people counts. Find opportunities both inside and outside the office.
  • Record your CPD diligently. “I use the AAT CPD Record tool through the MyAAT dashboard and I find it easier if you do it frequently,” says Gemma. “Once you’ve attended an event, put it on there, analyse what you’ve gained from it, and identify what you might still need to learn.” At the end of the year, this can be used to see if you’ve reached your targets or need further development.
  • Be serious about your career path. See where you want to be in two, five and ten years’ time. You don’t have to stick rigidly to the plan – but do have a plan.

Further reading on continuing professional development;

The accountant’s guide to anti-money laundering

Posted by & filed under Anti-money laundering.

We declared November 2019 anti-money laundering month, bringing you the latest developments, and some shocking statistics.

For example, did you know less than 2% of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) last year came from accountants? Commander Karen Baxter, Head of Economic Crime for the City of London Police, says this is a sign accountants may be turning a blind eye towards money laundering.

To help you combat this, we looked at how to submit a SAR, and outlined your actual responsibilities as an accountant, so we’d hate for you to miss it…

Get my anti-money laundering guide


Further reading on anti-money laundering:

How to judge ethically grey areas

Posted by & filed under Ethics.

When we talk about ethics in accountancy, it’s often in black and white terms. But what happens when things aren’t so clear?

There are strict protocols and procedures in place to ensure accountants perform to the highest ethical standards. This is because almost every accountant will be faced with an ethical dilemma at some point in their career.

Katherine Bradshaw is head of communications at the Institute of Business Ethics, author of Encouraging a Speak up Culture and a series of online best practice guides that encourage firms to create a much more open culture around calling out unethical, unsafe or unlawful concerns.

 “Often an ethical dilemma may be a conflict between different loyalties,” Bradshaw explains. “It may be about compromised values or breach of conduct, which isn’t necessarily illegal but may go against an organisation’s policies. It can be the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion.”

Think your decisions through

“One of the worst things you can do is make a knee-jerk decision,” warns Bradshaw. “There’s a lot of research into why good people make bad decisions and one of the factors is feeling pressured. So tell your client you need time to think it through.”

Bradshaw likens it to a high-pressure sales environment where consumers can be pushed into making impulsive purchasing decisions. “A salesperson might say, ‘this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!’ Or, ‘it’s selling fast, so you need to let us know now!’ In those situations, you need to go away and think about it.”

According to Bradshaw, it’s important that employees are supported at an organisational level. They should feel confident they can ask for more time, even if they’ve been told they have to make a decision within the hour. “It’s not easy being the one to stand out from the crowd and that can put people off,” she explains. “Bad culture breeds bad behaviour, so it’s around creating a less toxic environment altogether.”

Sense check the issue

In the same vein, being able to talk things through with another colleague or line manager to “sense check” an issue can really help. It’s infinitely more preferable than having to cover up your actions completely. “Once you start having to cover up, you get locked into a web of lies and end up with a bad reputation. So get it out into the open as soon as possible by talking it through with someone else,” Bradshaw advises.

Talking the situation through with a colleague helped Dawn Drower, MD at Bristol-based PBS Accounting Services a few years ago when a husband and wife client of ten years asked her to represent them when they wanted to transfer their property portfolio into an offshore trust. Under the presented terms, the trustees would take over control of the properties, but the couple would be financially better off thanks to (what was at the time) a legal tax loophole.

Trust your gut

“It was all above board back then, but HMRC have since closed that loophole,” Drower explains. “Even so, I had concerns. My gut feeling was that it was financial suicide. They’d be giving their otherwise successful portfolio to a trust who would have sole control. What if the firm’s trustees weren’t as honest as they should be? They’d be in another country, miles away, so if the firm decided to change the rules and lost property, my client wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

Drower decided to bring a trusted colleague to a meeting between the client and a representative of the offshore trust firm, and it helped crystallise her concerns – they both advised against the move. Ultimately, the client decided to go ahead regardless and appointed a different firm of accountants.

But Drower says she doesn’t regret her decision. “If I had acted for them and something had gone wrong, they’d have rightly wondered why I hadn’t warned them of the issues beforehand. Luckily, it was a very amicable parting and they said they respected my honesty.”

In summary

For accountants struggling with an ethical dilemma, the Institute of Business Ethics recommends three quick tests to help when deciding what to do. Ask yourself:

  • Is it legal?
  • Who will my decision affect?
  • What would my grandmother say?

The first, says Bradshaw, is relatively easy to ascertain – if it’s illegal, don’t do it. Secondly, it’s useful to think about who the decision will affect in the long and short-term. Bradshaw points out that although you may be upsetting your client by declining an unethical request, you may be risking your reputation or business by going ahead with it.

If all else fails, the so-called “grandmother test” is the one to try, advises Bradshaw. “Ask yourself what your grandmother or mother might say if they knew what you’d done. If you wouldn’t want anyone to know about it, it’s probably not a good idea.” 

Further reading on ethics:

Study tips: How manual bookkeeping helps you use accounting software

Posted by & filed under Foundation Certificate.

The rapid development of accounting software is changing the role of accountants and therefore learning to use it, is understandably a key goal for students when they start studying.

If it’s one of your goals, then you might have already looked at the wide variety of programs available, and noted which ones feature most frequently on employers’ skills and experience required lists. This is where we hit a snag. Because even if you’re taught to use the software you feel will be the most useful, you may find that an employer uses a different version. Worse still, a desktop version can look very different to a cloud-based version, even if it’s from the same brand, or you could be required to use a completely different program(s) altogether.

It’s because of the ever-increasing quantity of packages available and their constant upgrades due to new innovations, that a fundamental grounding in manual accounting is vital if you want to successfully use accounting software. What I’m suggesting is that if you approach learning to use accounting software from a manual bookkeeping perspective, you can stop worrying about which software you learn because your skills will become transferable between programs.

Getting started with new accounting software

Let me explain what I mean.

My son recently started Beavers (the youngest section within the Scouts) and, as often happens when you’re known to be an accounting person, I’ve become the treasurer. The accounts are currently done at year end on a spreadsheet. So, I suggested that it might be a good idea to use software instead as whilst I’m happy to help, the existing set-up looks more complicated and time consuming than necessary.

As a charity the scout pack can’t afford the subscriptions for packages such as Sage, Xero or QuickBooks, although these are the ones I have used and am most familiar with. After some research, we came across a free package called Wave accounting software, which looks like it will process all the transactions needed; receipts, payments, bank reconciliations and some basic reports.

I’ve never used Wave before, but because I have a good fundamental understanding of double entry bookkeeping and know what I’m trying to achieve, I’m confident I’ll be able to transfer that knowledge and find my way around the software pretty quickly.

Accounting software dashboards

Lots of accounting software allows you to manage the records from a central dashboard. This can be thought of as an electronic equivalent of a filing cabinet that contain manual files. I currently use Xero and Quickbooks, both of which are cloud-based packages. A basic Xero dashboard can look this:

In QuickBooks you might see this:

And whilst there is no data in Wave yet, the default dashboard shows:

As the dashboard is usually at the heart of cloud-based software, it’s vital we understand what is happening, unseen, in the background.

How manual accounting can help

This is where manual accounting helps because all accounting software is based on fundamental accounting principles, including duality. The principle that every transaction has two equal, opposite and balancing effects is applied to all transactions which are entered into accounts in the general ledger.

The general ledger sits at the heart of a manual accounting system. Try thinking of it as the top drawer of the filing cabinet which has a file for each category of account: assets, liabilities, income, expenses and equity*. It’s supported by the sales and purchases ledgers, which are subsidiary ledgers and not part of the double entry system, but contain individual accounts for customers and suppliers. These can be thought of as drawers in the filing cabinet as well, with a file for each customer in the second drawer and a file for each supplier in the third. 

If you look at the dashboards, you’ll notice that none of them include the word ‘ledger’, yet we know all software contains them otherwise it wouldn’t work. What the dashboards show instead is information from key control accounts in the general ledger, whilst hiding the actual accounts away. This is because this kind of accounting software has been designed to be intuitive and easy for business owners to use. 

Different terminology for viewing bank activity

The bank accounts are the easiest general ledger accounts to identify. In Wave, the text ‘cash coming in and going out of your business’ identifies that ‘Cash Flow’ will show bank activity.

The balance on the sales ledger control account can be seen on the Xero dashboard as the total of the invoices awaiting payment under the section headed ‘Invoices owed to you’.

The equivalent is shown in the ‘Invoices’ section in QuickBooks and is the unpaid figure.

The purchase ledger control account balance can be seen as well in the Xero dashboard as it’s the total of the bills awaiting payment under the ‘Bills you need to pay section’.

The accounts in QuickBooks are for a cash business so no purchases are made on credit and therefore all the payments can be simply seen under the expenses heading.

In summary

Accounting software is no longer aimed solely at accounting professionals and the dashboards make that obvious from the start by using everyday language instead of accounting terminology. However, we’ve looked at three different dashboards and have been able to understand the key elements by relating them to our understanding of a manual accounting system. So those with an accounting background are still at a distinct advantage with accounting software.

* Accounts to do with the owner(s): capital, drawings and retained profit

Read more on bookkeeping;

Browse the full range of AAT study support resources here

A Day in the Life of… Aaron Dowling

Posted by & filed under Career.

In the first of our new monthly “day in the life” series, we spend the day with one of our members to find out what a typical day for them entails.

Name and job role: Aaron Dowling MAAT AATQB, Accounts at Accounting and General

I get up at…

I’m a creature of habit during the working week. My morning routine consists of eating breakfast, ironing my work clothes and making my lunch for the day. This all happens with the news on television; I like to know what’s going on in the Brexit… I mean the world! I’ll then kiss my wife and baby goodbye before getting in the car for the short but unpredictable commute to work.

The first thing I do when I get to the office is…

Once I get to the office, the first thing I do is to check the emails that have come in from clients overnight. There will often be something that requires attention straight away (a query regarding payroll perhaps). I’ll then run through the list of things to do with our Accounts Assistant and prioritise the jobs for each of us during that day.

My responsibilities are…

We are a small firm that aims our services at business owners, so as a result I am involved in a broad range of services that we provide; bookkeeping, production of financial accounts and tax returns for sole traders, partnerships and companies, as well as payroll that we run on behalf of clients.

I’ve been working here for…

I have been at Accounting and General for just over three years now. I completed my AAT Level 2 just before leaving the Royal Navy which had been the career I had initially set out on for four and a half years.

I was struggling to make any progress applying online for jobs online because of my lack of experience. I ended up knocking on the doors of local firms with my CV, trying to find any kind of position that was going.

Eventually, I was lucky enough to knock on the door of a firm I had researched beforehand and had a chat with the boss at the door. Although there wasn’t a position available at the time, two weeks later he emailed me with a proposition to have me work a couple of days a month. This worked quite well with a flexible job I had at a coffee shop. Over the next few months, the accountancy work grew into a couple of days a week and then eventually a full-time position.

I’m qualified in…

AAT Professional Diploma in Accounting (Level 4), and I’m an AAT member.

A typical day in the office is…

Working on year-end accounts and tax returns, assisting our accounts assistant with bookkeeping queries. Occasionally I may need to drive out to see a client for training on our cloud-based accounting system, Liberty Accounts. There are a lot of emails and calls back and forth with queries. 

My most memorable work moment is…

Bring your pet to work day; it’s not on the calendar this year!

The best part of my job is…

The interaction with our clients and seeing them and their businesses grow. With Making Tax Digital, training our clients to move onto our cloud-based accounting system, Liberty Accounts, has become a big part of what we do.

I really enjoy helping them make the step from the old ways to the new. It’s a rewarding experience once they’re running their bookkeeping and getting more value from what was an administrative burden before. I go home happy when I know we’ve provided a quality service for everyone we work with.

The worst part of my job is…

The on-hold music when phoning HMRC.

When I’m not at work…

We had our first baby six months ago, so rock climbing has been put on hold. We now enjoy walking on the weekends and spending time in the lovely town of Brixham as a family.

I’m the treasurer for my local Chamber of Commerce in Brixham. The aim of the Chamber is to represent our 110 member businesses in the public forum as well as promoting the town. We’re currently running a marketing campaign on Facebook to promote the town to Christmas shoppers.

As treasurer, my job is to oversee the financial affairs of the chamber, to attend our monthly Executive Meetings and also our quarterly Open Meetings. It will also be my job to present the Chamber’s finances at our Annual General Meeting in February, where we also host a debate which is open to everyone. Last year the topic was Brexit and this year the topic will be climate change, no boxing gloves required!

If I wasn’t in this job I’d be an…

Airline pilot; think Tom Hanks as Sully.

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