Becoming an Accounting Franchisee - Top Tips and Pitfalls

Franchising can be a very effective way to set up your new business. You get the benefit of an established brand and operation. Running a business on your own can be quite isolating and being part of something bigger with moral as well as technical support brings you the best of both worlds: independence with support.  

It was going to be Boris' first Budget today with, we hoped, a few sweeteners or at least the promise of a few. As we'll only know on Friday 13th December what party or coalition will deliver the next Budget, what can you still rely on when trying to be tax efficient? As I see it, these are the enduring themes:

• Innovation is a good thing  
• Green incentives will continue
• Pension saving will still be encouraged (until your pension is 'big').
• Timing is (nearly) everything

How do these themes translate into the tax system for you? 

Here are some tax free treats you could take from your company, with the maximum tax free amounts for a two person shareholder-director company shown in brackets. 

• Salary (£25k pa)
• Trivial Benefits (£600 pa)
• Annual Parties (£600 pa)
• Cycle To Work Scheme (Credit License Limit: £2k)
• Private Health Checks (Annual - £No Limit)
• Eye Tests (Annual - £No Limit)
• Tax Free Dividends (£4k)
• Pensions (Possibly £80k pa – With IFA Advice)
• Relevant Life Policies (£Not Excessive)

In the great tradition of government-speak, HMRC and companies house have come up with the same acronym for different things, both of which can apply to the same small business.

PSC – According to HMRC

This means Personal Service Company. What is this?

This is usually a one-person company providing professional services to clients. Think IT contractor invoicing a bank for working on an IT project. Or marketing expert taken on to advise on expansion into a new area.