A business line of credit is a cross between a credit card and a standard term loan, and can be a useful tool for small businesses. Learn what they are, when they’re most commonly used, and how to get one. How does a line of credit work? A business line of credit works like a credit card. It gives your business access to a pool of funds, up to a limit. You can withdraw funds when needed and you only have to pay interest on that amount, not the total amount available. Some lines of credit expire after a set time, while others can be revolving. With a revolving line of credit, you can reuse the funds once you’ve repaid them, all without having to reapply. Example of a line of credit A bank giv

If your business employs people then you'll need to come to terms with payroll. It can seem daunting at first, but the right approach and the right software will help make the payroll process fast and easy. What is payroll? Payroll is a word with two possible meanings. It can mean the accounting process of paying your staff – including the amounts for each person and the overall total. It can also mean the list of your paid employees. We'll look at both meanings in this guide, because understanding payroll is all about understanding the accounting regulations that cover how and when to pay your employees. Payroll is an important part of business accounting, for two big reasons. First, becaus

As businesses emerge from Covid-19 restrictions, for many ‘Business as Usual’ has become ‘Business Unusual’. So, how do we navigate our way towards a sustainable new normal? During lockdown, we focused on crisis management, activating relevant Government support packages and doing our best to build cash war chests. Now we enter the recovery phase on the way to establishing the new normal. We’ve all learnt lockdown lessons. We’ve discovered risks in our business model that we may not have appreciated before, as well as opportunities that are there for the taking. Now is the ideal time to document a clear Business Recovery Plan: Defining what you, as business owners, want from the business; th

A business bank account is an essential requirement for any business. But with so many banking providers out there, how do you know which business account to choose? The key is to know what you require from a bank account, and to choose a bank that understands the banking, financial and funding needs of your business. Choosing an account that fits your business needs whether you’re a new sole trader or an established limited company, it’s advisable to maintain a clear divide between your personal and business money. So it’s vital to open a business bank account, giving you a separate account to handle your business transactions. The choice of available accounts can be baffling, with the big

Small and medium-sized businesses are spending on average of 120 hours a year on admin tasks, according to recent research into productivity at UK SMBs. If your people are spending 120 hours wading through tedious and unproductive admin, that is bad for the business and your overall efficiency. Fortunately, technology and software automation can go a long way towards automating the low-level administrative tasks. Better productivity through automation Automation is an important way to ease your business workload, with a host of different business apps and cloud solutions offering ways to automate your admin. With ‘smart business tools’ increasing in number and choice, software is utilising a

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Once your business gets to a certain size and turnover, there's real value in assessing the company structure and how to make things more tax-efficient. Setting up a holding company is one way to start creating an ordered and effective group structure. And by moving any surplus cash up from your trading company to your new holding company, you protect your profits and can, potentially, reduce your tax liabilities. Separating Your Trading And Investments When all your surplus cash, profits and personal shares are wrapped up in one single company, that can often cause problems further down the line. With all your eggs in one basket, there’s an inherent ri