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Friend & Grant Chartered Accountants have been helping small and medium sized businesses in the Medway towns and North Kent for over 20 years

23rd November 2023
Autumn Statement 2023 Key Points Friend & Grant Accountants

Autumn Statement 2023: Key Points

Yesterday, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt presented his second Autumn Statement, but with a very different tone to the gloomy announcements made this time last year. The Chancellor announced initiatives with a massive focus on pushing growth in the economy. The main question you’ll all no doubt have is… “how does it affect me?”, let’s take a look…

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15th November 2023
The Growing Demand for Rental Properties in the UK Treating It Like a Serious Business Friend & Grant Accountants

The Growing Demand for Rental Properties in the UK: Treating It Like a Serious Business

With demand for rental property being at an all time high we explore considerations if you are thinking of getting into property investment and how to ensure you are compliant from the offset of your journey as a property investor.

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18th October 2023

October 2023 Newsletter

Updates for October 2023 including: The importance of accurate forecasting and utilising cloud accounting software. Associated companies and quarterly corporation tax payments. The upcoming budget report and rumours surrounding IHT.

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12th October 2023
Recession Fever Unravelling the Media's Obsession and Unveiling the Truth Friend & Grant Accountants

Recession Fever: Unravelling the Media's Obsession and Unveiling the Truth

With constant scaremongering in the mainstream media about a recession coming we have been talking to our clients and assessing the market so we can be prepared to help our clients however hard times get. In this blog Andrew Grant gives his views and shares his findings.

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20th September 2023

September 2023 Newsletter

Updates for September 2023 including: Tax Free childcare, the effect of high earnings on child benefit entitlement, Merger of R&D Tax schemes, Income tax on Inherited Pension Funds, HMRC requiring more information from tax payers and advisory fuel rates for company cars from 1st September 2023.

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4th September 2023
National Payroll Week 2023: Keeping the UK paid Friend & Grant Accountants

National Payroll Week: Appreciating the importance of payroll in UK Businesses

Supporting National Payroll Week 2023: Keeping the UK Paid. We look at the importance of strong payroll function and what this does for your business.

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29th August 2023
5 Common VAT Mistakes A Quick Guide for Small Businesses Friend & Grant Accountants

5 Common VAT Mistakes: A Quick Guide for Small Businesses

VAT can often be a pitfall for start ups or small businesses. We identify the top 5 most common mistakes when it comes to VAT and what you can to do avoid them.

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31st July 2023
Harnessing Hybrid Benefits for Company Car Drivers Exploring Tax and BiK Implications Friend & Grant accountants

Harnessing Hybrid Benefits for Company Car Drivers: Exploring Tax and BiK Implications

What's the difference between a hybrid car and a tax efficient hybrid car? Turns out much more than you think! We explore identifying the most tax efficient hybrid cars for your next company car.

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13th July 2023
Age is just a number Never Too Old to Start a Business Friend & Grant Accountants

Age is just a number: Never Too Old to Start a Business

How late is too late when it comes to starting a business? Many people believe age is a limiting factor when it comes to entrepreneurship, we examine how it can be used as an asset and identify some real life success stories.

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20th June 2023
Protection Insurance Options & Protecting Your Future Friend & Grant Accountants

Protection Insurance Options & Protecting Your Future

Protection insurance is key to protecting your future. Are you aware of the options available to you and are you certain there are no loopholes of gaps in your cover? We explore the differences between Life Cover, Critical illness cover and income protection and the benefits of seeking guidance from an independent financial advisor can help you to ensure you have sufficient cover.

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8th June 2023
Is my property portfolio structure right for me Friend & Grant Property Accountants

Is my property portfolio structure right for me?

As a property investor, ensuring you have your property tax affairs structured in the most tax efficient way is vital. Ill-thought-out structuring and negligent planning can be very costly down the line. We recognise that everyone has unique situations and goals when it comes to their property affairs, so we’ve decided to take a 360 all-inclusive approach to tax planning to help you realise your goals.

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26th May 2023
Getting the most from your accounting software Friend & Grant Accountants.

Getting the most from your accounting software

Many businesses are keen to find efficiencies, streamline processes and drive profit and productivity, is the answer in your accounting software?

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18th May 2023
Should I Register for VAT Friend & Grant Accountants

Should I register for VAT?

Registering for VAT isn’t always a black & white option, here we go through scenarios where VAT registration may or may not be beneficial to your business.

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30th March 2023
Five interesting VAT rules you may not know Friend & Grant Accountants

Five interesting VAT rules you may not know

Sometimes the rules regarding VAT are not quite what you expect! Here we go into detail on 5 VAT rules that you may not have known existed.

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23rd March 2023
Want to reduce your corporation tax bill A no brainer Friend & Grant Accountants

Want to reduce your corporation tax bill? A no-brainer!

With a range of changes in the world of tax coming into effect from April 2023, discover two simple ways to reduce your corporation tax burden and save your company money!

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10th March 2023
Business Advisory Friend & Grant Accountants

Increase profits and create freedom with Business Advisory

Frustrated with your business growth? Knowing what needs to be done and getting it done are two very different things. If you are an ambitious business owner striving for success find out how we can help you to build your business.

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12th January 2023
Want to build a successful business Friend & Grant Accountants

Want to build a successful business?

What does it take to build a successful business? We look at one of the most fundamental requirements- the right mindset.

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9th January 2023
Are you hitting your business brick wall Friend & Grant Accountants

Are you Hitting your Business Brick Wall?

There are many challenges to running your own business. Find out which ones we’ve come across and how we’ve overcome them.

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22nd December 2022
5 Invoicing Tips to Get Paid Faster by your Customers Friend & Grant Accountants Cloud accouting experts

5 Invoicing Tips To Get Paid Faster By Your Customers

We look at how effective invoicing and how automated systems can help you to get paid faster by your customers.

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28th October 2022
champagne flutes

Inspiration is all around us

Business inspiration can come from many sources. Books are an obvious source but how about a champagne tasting trip in France!

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30th August 2022
Friend & Grant Wealth Management Ltd for independent financial advice

We are pleased to announce the launch of Friend & Grant Wealth Management Ltd - Independent Financial Advisors

During our more than 30 years trading as Chartered Accountants and Business and Tax advisers we have frequently been asked whether we could provide financial advice of one sort or another. Previously the response has been no, but we built up a strong network of third-party financial advisors who have helped our clients with all kinds of financial advice such as investments, pensions, protection and mortgages. In recent times, however, we have seen the number of independent financial advisors (financial advisors who go to the whole market rather than a few selected providers) decline and we now find that most financial advisors are tied.

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5th August 2022
Video Games Tax Relief Friend & Grant Digital & Tech Accountants

Video Games Tax Relief – A Cash Flow Game Changer?

Are you planning on, or in the process of, developing a video game? Have you considered one of HMRC’s creative industry tax reliefs, Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR) – you could be missing out on additional tax relief of up to 20% of qualifying development costs!

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3rd August 2022
Research & Development claims R&D Friend & Grant Accountants

R&D claims - Free money or is there a sting in the tail?

Free money!! Every company director loves a tax rebate, particularly when you have incurred expenditure on a project and someone tells you that not only is this expenditure tax deductible but for the same money spent you can get additional tax relief of 130% on the expenditure and either get a lovely big tax rebate by trading in losses at 14.5% or reduce your tax liabilities down significantly.

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21st March 2022
Get your oar out! A key business lesson to help grow your business Friend & Grant Accountants

Get your oar out! A key business lesson to help grow your business

Having run an accountancy practice for almost 30 years I have had the good fortune to meet literally thousands of business owners. Many have created great companies but many others have unfortunately failed. Reasons given for failure are numerous. Many are genuine such as Covid or an unforeseen bad debt resulting in severe cashflow problems. Most however are due to a basic misunderstanding of what is required to create a successful business.

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28th February 2022
Don't ignore health and safety compliance- ÂŁ.2.5m of fines in December 2021 alone! friend & Grant Accountants

Don't ignore health and safety compliance- ÂŁ.2.5m of fines in December 2021 alone!

The pandemic has had a dramatic effect on all our lives over the last two years. Businesses have had to adapt quickly to a changing environment. One area that may have been overlooked is the need to review your health and safety compliance.

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14th January 2021
Five top tips to adopt in 2021 to improve your leadership skills Friend & Grant Accountants

Five top tips to adopt in 2021 to improve your leadership skills

In today’s fast pace business world the need for growth is essential. However doing it on your own is incredibly difficult. Having a strong team around you is key but this can only be created and sustained through strong leadership.

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12th January 2021
Struggling with leadership? Friend & Grant Accountants

Struggling with leadership?

Good leadership principles are there for everyone to take and have been for a long time but even so few leaders fail to implement them. We examine what common errors business owners make and how they can improve their leadership techniques.

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11th November 2020
Looking to set up in business? Want to increase the odds of success? Business Programme Friend & Grant Accountants

Looking to set up in business? Want to increase the odds of success?

If building a business was so simple then why do almost half of businesses which set up fail within the first 5 years? Construction is even worse with 2 out of every 3 startups failing in the first 5 years! It isn’t the lack of cash but this is often the nail in the coffin. It all started on day 1 with the failure of the business owner to understand what is really involved in becoming a successful business owner.

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7th July 2020
How to grow your business using moments of truth Friend & Grant Accountants

How to grow your business using moments of truth

There are many ways to grow your business. Moments of truth is a simple strategy which when adopted can transform any business. It involves breaking down processes into bite size bits or interactions and ensuring that each interaction becomes a positive experience.

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8th June 2020
Looking to increase your profits? Is it a good idea to voluntarily register for VAT? Friend & Grant Accountants

Looking to increase your profits? Is it a good idea to voluntarily register for VAT?

Business startups and small businesses often do not need to register for VAT. However by registering for VAT the VAT incurred on expenditure can be recovered potentially increasing profitability. The article explores the circumstances when voluntary registration makes sense and when it doesn’t.

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28th November 2019
Our Top 10 Business Book List 2019 Friend & Grant Accountants

Our Top 10 Business Book List 2019

The Friend & Grant Top Ten Best Business Books for 2019. Whether you read, listen or watch we have some super suggestions for you….

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19th December 2018
My Top Ten Time Saving Tips Friend & Grant Accountants

My Top Ten Time Saving Tips

There’s never enough time to do anything! Here are my top ten tips for saving time and getting things done.

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17th December 2018
Keys to Success The Art of Delegation Friend & Grant Accountants

Keys to Success - The Art of Delegation

You know you should delegate but you don’t. Here are 3 ways to overcome the excuses as to why you don’t delegate.

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29th November 2018
Seven Ways to Grow your Business Friend & Grant Accountants

Seven Ways to Grow Your Business

We believe these are the seven ways to build a business. But thinking big, offering excellent customer experience and building real value in the business will help grow a small business into a great business.

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7th November 2018
Budget Report 2018 Friend & Grant Accountants

Budget Report 2018

This is our special budget report following the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget announcements. As previously announced, these were the main themes of the Chancellor Phillip Hammond’s third budget but what we were waiting to hear was where the extra money was going to come from? Had he found a “Magic Money Tree”, or would tax and...

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7th November 2018
The Power of Broke Creative Ways of Raising Finance Friend & Grant Accountants

The Power of Broke

Building a Business without cash means developing creative ways to promote a business. A lack of cash resulted in lots of creative way to build the businesses. From startups, through growing businesses to established businesses, there's example after example.

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23rd October 2018
Don't Let the Taxman Ruin Your Day Out Friend & Grant Accountants

Don't Let the Taxman Ruin Your Day Out!

Entertaining clients is a legitimate business expense and can be paid out of the business account. But, you will not be able to claim tax relief for the amounts spent nor can you claim back any VAT paid. But, if there is a sponsorship element to the expenditure then the position may be more favourable.

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23rd October 2018
Is training Tax Deductible Friend & Grant Accountants

Is Training Tax Deductible?

This question is asked a lot and it is usually along the lines of…. “I would like to learn about X and there is a great course. Could I put it through my business?” Most business owners think that training costs aimed at improving skills or business profits automatically qualify for tax relief, but that’s not...

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23rd October 2018
Maximise Tax Free Trivial Benefits Friend & Grant Accountants

Maximise Tax Free Trivial Benefits

Tax Free Trivial Benefits – Make Sure You Make the Most of This Opportunity First announced in the spring 2015 budget, new legislation clarifying the tax treatment of trivial benefits came into force from 6th April 2016. But is this an easy opportunity to extract benefits tax free from your company? The simple answer is yes!...

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22nd October 2018
100% Tax Relief on Tesla Model X Friend & Grant Accountants

100% Tax Relief on Tesla Model X Continues

Do you think that all 100% tax relief cars are electrics with the performance of an old fashioned milk float? Think again. This one does 0 to 62MPH in 2.9 seconds! There’s over 130 makes and models of cars which qualify for 100% tax relief; some amazing vehicles are included on the list: BMW I8,...

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9th October 2018
Making Tax Digital - 5 Things To Do To Be Compliant Friend & Grant Accountants

Making Tax Digital - 5 Things To Do To Be Compliant

Despite there being no public news announcements from HMRC, like the TV advert about Auto-Enrolment with the 10ft furry monster, Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT is still going ahead from 1 April 2019. MTD for VAT will affect almost all VAT registered businesses in some way, meaning there could be more work to do...

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byrant house at night office

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Are you hungry for success? If you run a small to medium size business and you want to grow your sales, increase profitability and pay less tax then you have come to the right place.