General Info

The area of public liability insurance can take on specific requirements, so if you`re not sure, then you should contact your local authority.For many industries, though, some customers or clients will need to be presented with proof of public liability insurance from yourself. When working with local authorities or other government institutions, this type of insurance is particularly common. Local authorities often require a minimum of £ 5 million of public liability cover.

The level of public liability insurance cover

Determining the level of cover required by insurance companies or insurance brokers can be difficult to determine. It depends on:

• The nature of your business;
• Members of the public and the dangers posed to your business premises and operations;
• Size or turnover of your business;
• The type of customers;
• The number of people you employ;
• Your insurance claims history.

These factors will also affect the cost of insurance

Reduce the likelihood of a claim and therefore carry out a proper and regular risk assessment to help keep the cost low. Minimise the chance of accidents by taking appropriate controls and have regular risk assessments completed and put in place.

Why insurance?

Everything is always understood and under control, even when business customers, visitors or others are involved in an accident that causes injury or loss of earnings. Should such an accident occur in which your business is responsible and you are not insured, the costs can be significant. If your business is unable to meet the expenses, it also gives you a bad name, and it may be hard for you to find new business in the future.If you found this blog interesting you can read more interesting and informative blog posts in our Your Virtual Office article archive library.

Some companies have been inactive since the day they were formed. Many companies, however, will actively pursue activities for a while, but not the trade side - at least for a period. These businesses may be eligible to become dormant. This is a status where the responsibilities of the current company presentation will be reduced. To become inactive, there are first some things that the company will have to do. First, however, it is worth thinking if it's right to make your company dormant.You should also be sure that the best option is not only to dissolve the company. If you are sure that you will not trade again in the future, there is usually little benefit in keeping the company in existence. While latency can greatly reduce the effort and cost involved in maintaining the business, there will still be some time and expenses required.

What should I do for my business to become dormant?

• Pay outstanding bills and cancel others. These prospective business contracts may, for example, include the rental of buildings and equipment, insurance, utilities, telephone and Internet services used previously.
• Reconciling the amounts received as a result of the customers. All payments to be made to customers to deliver products and services.
• Pay the VAT due to HMRC and (usually) cancel the VAT registration of the company.
• Reconcile wages owed to employees and close the scheme company payroll.

While sifting through all documents and data can be time consuming, it is important to, because if you choose to continue paying for utilities or insurance, the company is still active in the eyes of HMRC, so be careful what you choose to delete or shred.

How do I tell HMRC my company is now inactive?

To confirm with HMRC, you should contact your Local Tax Office, indicating the date on which the company has been, or will be, inactive.HMRC then go to their head office with a "Notice to a provider of Declaration." This refers to the duration of activity immediately before the company became dormant. You must complete and file the return and pay any tax due.HMRC will normally confirm in writing within three weeks. From the date your company is dormant, HMRC stop treating your business as active - this means that you will not receive a lot of correspondence from them and in most cases, you will not need to, until the re-trading of the company (if you choose to) begins.

Do you need to inform Companies House?

You do not have to tell Companies House that your business is inactive until it is time to establish your accounts to them. Remember, the full accounts for the period must be presented as usual.For the first full year for which the company is inactive, you need to present the simplified accounts within 9 months of the accounting reference date. This can greatly reduce the administration and preservation of the company and is the reason many people make their business inactive.On a continuous basis, dormant companies must remain a number of other Companies House filing requirements, including:

• The annual return, which differs from the accounts, but must still be submitted.
• When a new director or secretary of the company was appointed or terminated an appropriate form needs to be sent off.
• The changes in the registered office of the Company or, if available, a SAIL address should be submitted on the form.

What if the dormant company will be active again?

Most dormant companies will become active again at some point in their lives. If your company is (for example, starting with trade), then you must notify actively within three months. The easiest way is to contact HMRC and inform them that the company is now active. There is also an online registration service of HMRCYour Virtual Office London are leaders in company formation and professional services since 1971.

Public liability insurance is crucial for business owners who own or rent retail space to have. This is because customers, suppliers or other people, including members of the public will frequently visit your premise and it is especially important if you or your employees have direct contact with them while on the job.If they are injured or if the property is damaged as a result of your business activities, then claims can be made, even if passers-by are affected.Public liability claims against your business can be made by members of the public as a result of a range of accidents in a variety of places such as:

• Your business premises;
• If you operate your business from your home;
• A customer's home or their place of work;
• An off-site event or activity organised by your business.

If the insurance for your business is found to be responsible, to which members of the public claim compensation for any damage, injury or death, then you will be covered for certain aspects of your business. These include:

• Loss of earnings;
• Correcting any damaged or broken goods;
• Their medical fees for injuries;
• Your legal costs.

This more than any claim by you or your business will need to pay the total amount payable by the insurer under the policy, and will be limited to a set amount.Public liability insurance for your employees, such as any death, injury or loss does not cover your business. The premises however, are covered by employers' liability insurance.

Examples of public liability claims that may arise:

Trips, slips and falls are the most common claims for compensation, but such claims may have to factor in other events too. The public liability claims against your business can be witnessed in events from the following examples:

• A customer in your store trips over a box, which causes injury and they are left lying on the floor;
• Your employee causes injury to a customer by spilling a drink on them;
• Someone slips on a handrail and falls down some stairs;
• Trips from repairs being carried out, such as exposed piping, carpentry work etc.
• Trip hazards from tiles coming off the floor;
• Tiles from the roof being unstable and causing injury;
• Your electrics are wired incorrectly and they cause a fire in a customer's home;
• A customer suffers from food poisoning after eating at your restaurant.

If you are starting a business Your Virtual Office London can help you get off on the right footing. We provide professional business services to small and start up businesses, our services include mail forwarding, virtual office, telephone answering, company formations and accountancy services. We aim to provide a wide range of diversified services which are vital to most small businesses. Your Virtual Office London have been providing important corporate services for over 40 years and are leaders in the business support industry. If you are interested in finding out more about our services please do get in touch with us today.

In this article, we explain who can act as a company secretary and how one can be appointed or removed and the typical duties performed by the secretary.

Who can be a Limited Company secretary?

There are not many people who cant act as your company secretary in a private Limited Company. There are a few restrictions; the company secretary must not be an undischarged bankrupt unless the court has given leave. Also the companies auditor is not allow to perform the role of secretary. A partnership, company and of course an individual are allowed to perform the role of company secretary.

What is the process of adding or removing a company secretary?

The adding of an appointment of a company secretary or the removal of a secretary will be governed by the Companies Articles of Association. It would be decided by the board of directors of the company, that they wish to add or remove the appointment. The Companies Act 2006 doesn't provide details of how the process should be handled.

What are the main duties of a company secretary?

The duties of a company secretary can vary, there are no right or wrong duties however typically the duties are as follows:1. The company secretary would normally provide the service of Filing annual returns.2. Preparing and maintaining the statutory records.3. Arranging meetings for shareholders and directors, maintaining minutes of meetings.4. Maintaining correct company details with companies house, updating when changes happen.5. Legal compliance6. Holding and safe keeping of company documents7. Maintaining a registered office address

Why use Your Virtual Office London to form your company?

Your Virtual Office London are company formation experts. We have been forming companies for over 30 years, we have a huge amount of experience and we are always happy to share this with our clients. It is important to understand the supplementary services we provide our company formation clients, services such as registered office address, mail forwarding, virtual office and business accounting. Incorporating a company can be a daunting process and our team are specially trained in guiding small businesses through the minefield of forming and starting a new company.

Electronic billing is constantly evolving. In Europe, the European Commission requires Member countries of the EU to implement electronic invoicing. The purpose of the Commission is to get in Europe a predominance of electronic invoicing in the very near future, so it is very important to all SMEs, freelancers and entrepreneurs at the forefront in the opportunities and advantages offered by this technology. Here, we will analyse three of the most critical trends for your business and how to answer them.

1. Crucial Benefits

The benefits of online billing software align with the improvements in the speed of processes and resource efficiency. According to a global study conducted in 2012, 67% of companies believe that e-invoicing could improve operational efficiency, compared with 50% in 2011. Faster billing cycles and cost savings on billing paper are the two main benefits experienced by issuers.

Save time, money and space

Savings in administrative costs and manual labour are clear. It is easier to reduce the annual costs of messaging, mailing and faxing; printer paper and even volume of printing. No more printing costs of bills and handling of paper invoices. Speed and efficiency is the aim and now you can instantly send invoices via the Web. Up to 8 invoices can be processed every second on average.You manage all the information and only you have access to it, meaning security is tighter. No more typos, you can be sure that all your bills are generated with the appropriate data.A safe investment for any business is to have a flexible electronic invoicing system, even if there are changes in your system. Adaptable to any operating systems and platforms, there are major companies requesting electronic invoicing that are mandatory for its suppliers.

2. The Electronic Invoicing

At this time, customers have high expectations of those who bill, so excellent customer service over the Internet can be a key factor to converting into real customers loyal followers of the company, which is an aspect that should not be neglected. In this respect it is necessary to adopt the concepts of Web 2.0 and social marketing, which can be done by using cloud-based Software as a Service (Saas).

3. Comprehensive Customer

Knowing the customer is vital in business. This information can be extracted by digitising billing processes and provides a strategic basis for decision-making at the level of business. SMEs, freelancers and entrepreneurs that issue electronic invoices recognise the power of intelligence they can get about their client to boost ties with them and make them more profitable and beneficial through behaviour-based experiences. This improves loyalty and sales.For SMEs, freelancers and entrepreneurs, it is important to adapt to the digital environment and adopt solutions that help the company to be in a position of advantage. Today, there is great interest in the billing software online, as they are now available to companies who could not afford to adopt a proper solution beforehand.Electronic billing software in the cloud must maintain assurances that it is issuing and filing invoices in accordance with regulations. With billing software in the cloud, organisations experience a lower percentage of discrepancies in receipt of your payments, save on printing, time, space and may have access to an automated and integrated system that helps improve the efficiency of processes. It also allows access to the control of the company from any computer without installing any application on your PC, Mac, Linux, tablet or Smartphone.Today, SMEs, freelancers, companies like Your Virtual Office London and entrepreneurs can deepen relationships with their customers, improve your cash flow, reduce costs and accelerate sales through the use of programs for billing in the cloud. If you enjoyed our business article you can read more articles in our blog.

For accountants who are responsible for project formulation, financial statements are the corollary of their work and the culmination of their efforts. For entrepreneurs and managers of businesses, this allows them to take actions and decisions they deem appropriate for the proper conduct of the business.This situation can be summarised in the financial statements, whereby they record the financial results for the integrated management of business that the organisation runs. This information is of interest to various sectors, such as:- The owners and / or shareholders and those fully interested in knowing the results of the economic entity.- The directors and officers are interested in the excellent conduct of the business, to know if you are meeting the objectives established.- Administration: To guarantee the proper administration of the institution in accordance with its goals and objectives.- Supervisors and control bodies: Those that manage audited financial statements give credibility to your financial information.- Government bodies: Interested in the financial statements that are audited by aspects of formality and regulation.- Workers : As a means of feeling security in their employment.- Suppliers and creditors: Because they are interested in liquidity and fairness of the financial statements.- Investors: Because they will be able to analyse, to invest or not to invest in certain types of business.- To the general public: To know whether a particular organisation has a good picture of trade, if there are good services, products and whether they have quality.Under this perspective, the audit of the financial statements involves an examination of the financial statements of its operations holistically, including media, economic, administrative, financial / accounting, legal, environmental etc. An established, well respected company such as thecheapaccountant.co.uk can help with this aspect.Due to the above, the financial audit should not only aim at the verification of the accounting record, but also the detailed examination of the actions of the organisation, areas, processes, licenses, operations, records and support in a responsible manner to be as efficient as possible.In that way a financial audit process requires consideration of, among others, the following:- Understand the organisation, policy, regulations, structure, processes, financial reporting and accounting handbook with your chart of accounts.- Prepare guidelines, programs or questionnaires for an audit and internal control and other working papers, based on the representative account.- Know the computer applications that manage the organisation, especially accounting and finance.- Review the different accounts assigned to the financial statements, considering the accounting, financial, administrative, legal, economic, environmental or otherwise. Determine for each of them, the cause, effect and impact as well.- Translate in technical working papers, supported and objective manner, each of the findings, to be considered in drafting the final review report.With respect to internal control you should:- Evaluate the quality of information systems and media in the accounting process.- Check profiles of who will be able and responsible for handling and recording of accounting functional areas.- Verify proper handling of correspondence and memory of the organisation file.- To verify the existence of control processes that perform the accounting area of dependencies and other sources of accounting information.- Monitor an Improvement Plan,Another insightful blog post produced by Your Virtual Office London.

Wondering about top employer questions to ask at an interview? Having your questions prepared in advances is a good idea, this helps to add structure to the interview and helps the meeting progress its natural course.

Some timeless questions that must be asked in an interview:

• What are you main strengths?
• What are your main weaknesses
• What makes you different?
• What would your past employers suggest are you best qualities?

These questions will help you assess how honest the candidate is and well as if they are confident and bring the correct skills to the role. A good candidate will highlight one weakness but turn this into a positive.

Some good questions to ask the candidate about the company:

• What makes you want to work for our company?
• What do you know about our business?
• What skills do you think will make you suitable for this position?

These questions will help you find out if they candidate has done their research, any well prepared candidate will do their homework on your company, they will find out exactly what you do and how they can fit in using their skill set. You want to find out if they have applied for your position knowing they can bring their experiences and knowledge and apply them to the available position for the greater good of the organisation.

Progressive questions

Again these questions will help to find out vital information about your candidates. Many employers will be looking for a long term fill for their position, assessing your candidates future plans is important for planning. Some questions which can help assess their plans are as follows:What are your main goals in your working life?Where do you plan to be in five years?These questions will help to see how important the position is to them. If they are keen and see their future with you, the replies will be about progressing in your company. Of course some positions are short term or a stop gap, and thus the answers will be different. These questions can help the employer understand the candidate and plan appropriately.

What drives the candidate?

Finding out what motivates the candidate is important, this will give you a great insight into the mind of the potential new staff member. Understanding what drives them can help you integrate them into the surrounding team and lead to better performance and higher output.

Simple questions to ask:

• What part of work do you enjoy most?
• What motivates you?
• What tasks give you great satisfaction?
• What tasks do you dislike the most?

Conclusion

When interviewing staff always make sure to ask the same questions to all the candidates, this may sound simple but having an organised structure to the interview is not always easy, especially when you are in full flow conversation with the candidates. Make sure to make notes of all answers, as this will prove invaluable when it comes to reviewing the candidates after the interviews have finished. If you find it difficult to choose between candidates we would strongly recommend inviting them back for second or even third interviews if the caliber of candidates is that high.If you found this blog insightful you can read more tips and tricks in our business blog.

Here are the top 5 tips for conducting a good interview:

1. Plan the interview

Having a plan is vital, create a structure to the interview, having an opening, middle and end is important for yourself and the candidate. This will help the conversation flow and for the candidate to best respond to questions in a natural fashion. If there is more than one person conducting the interview make sure you both understand the structure and who is asking what questions.

2. Know your candidate

Make sure you prepare and read the candidates CV and cover letter. Get to know their name and location along with key information such as past roles, skills and any other points that may stick out from the CV. Knowing the candidate may then give rise to other questions which you can prepare before the interview takes place.

3. Appearances are important

Make sure you look your best when you conduct your interviews, no late nights before the day and having your best outfit ready will give your candidate a very good impression of your company. Remember the candidate may have other options and you are not just choosing the candidate, they are choosing you, which many people overlook until the job offer is overlooked. Marinating eye contact, smiling at appropriate places during the interview, being polite and most importantly listening to what they have to say. It sounds so simple, but one or more of these are often overlooked by interviewees.

4. Take notes

This is one of the most overlooked parts, taking a notepad in the interview can really help you remember key parts of the conversation when reviewing the day`s candidates. If you have lots of candidates make sure your notes are clear and well structured. Taking notes on the conversation and answers the candidates give to your structured questions are vital.

5. Be quick offering the role

Many employers again overlook this, however good candidates do not stay on the market long. A candidate may often have a block of interviews lined up and the very best may get multiple offers. If you find the candidate that is the right one for the position it is best to offer them the role with a few days as every day that passes increases the chance that they will not accept the offer due to external factors.If you found this blog helpful, you can find more helpful hints and tips in our advice section of our blog. Please favourite our business blog.This was brought to by Your Virtual Office London, leaders in company formation, virtual office services and professional services.

When you first register a Limited company with Companies House, Companies house will send you an authentication code to your registered office address. Normally this can be from 4 days to 4 weeks from our personal experience, if you are using our registered office address this will be sent out same day 1st class.

What to do when you have lost your companies authentication code

If you are unable to locate the letter that contains the authentication code you will be able to log on via the Companies House website. If we have formed the company for you, we will be happy to do this on your behalf, otherwise if you have formed this yourself you just log onto the WebFiling factily provided by Companies House. If its your first time of using the online WebFiling facility you will need to register your details. Using this method is quick and efficient and can save you valuable time.

Can I change my authentication code?

Yes you can change your authentication code by writing to Companies House and request that you would like to change this. You will need to write the request on official headed paper and it will need to include the following details:

• The name of the company
• The registered office address
• The company number
• The current authentication code
• The new authentication code you would like to use
• The full name of the director and shareholder

Why do I need the company authentication code?

The code is very important, it is used for on-line filing via the Companies House website. The authentication code will allow you to file annual returns online, file annual accounts, change and update the companies details such as directors, shareholders and secretary`s. You will need to keep the code safe as anyone who has access to this code will be able to logon and edit the information easily.

Additional insight: Companies House Company Authentication Code for Webfiling

Your Virtual Office London are the original company formation agents

We have been helping business owners form companies for over over 40 years. Our team is one of the most experienced in the country, from historic company searches to simple partnership formation we are able to help your business. Whatever your question please don't hesitate to get in touch with the team, we look forward to hearing from you.

The amount of products sold in the UK`s shops is continuing to increase according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). UK Retail Sales have increased by 0.1% in June, meaning they are 3.6% higher when compared to one year ago.The sales increased by 1.6% in the second quarter, this was by far the largest increase for at least 10 years.UK retail sales have been increasing steadily since the end of the recession in 2009. The sales figures have been very strong in 2013 and are continuing to get better.This is attributed to the economic growth in the UK, unemployment lowering and an increase in the population and the amount of people actually working.If you found this economy post interesting you can read more economic and business news in our business blog.Your Virtual Office London, leaders in professional business services.