Small businesses depend on their established customer base, so the idea of raising prices can be scary; this causes SMEs to be caught in a cycle of undercharging for their product, which can lead to devastating effects. There are, however, several methods that will help minimise the potential damage of price structure changes.

Distinguishing value from price

In the event that you raise your prices, your customers are inevitably going want an explanation that is backed by well-thought-out evidence. Thus, it is crucial that you have distinct, clear, and understandable reasons as to why your product price is increasing. By demonstrating to your customer that your product is of superior quality and value, especially when compared to your highest charging competitor, your customer will see that regardless of the price increase, your business is still the right decision.

Minimising risk for the customer

Customers usually don’t mind paying a little extra if they know that their money is protected and there is very little risk in their decision. By offering explicit guarantees on your work, customers will be more willing to spend their money on a more expensive product. Guarantees should be structured in a variety of ways, with the goal of having a guarantee that meets the needs of different customers.

“Discounts are one of the best ways to entice a customer to make a deal and you don’t have to lose money in the process.”

Restructuring your prices

Simply increasing prices can be a bit too upfront for some customers, so it may be best to change the overall price structure. You can break the price up into a payment schedule so that the customer can pay overtime instead of all at once. This allows the customer to see your product or service more as an investment rather than a simple purchase. You can also change how you charge separate costs; for example, you can charge separately for installation, delivery, storage, or urgent orders. Or, you can create special packages of these that do not necessarily lower the price, but change the way it is proposed.

Discounting

Sometimes, discounts are one of the best ways to entice a customer to make a deal. But, you don’t have to lose money in the process. By switching flat-rate discounts (like 5% on all products) to step discounts (10% on the first £1000, then consistent amounts for the following £1000s). These discounts are more attractive to customers, and the increased business often accounts for the discounts.

By using these tactics, you can keep your business afloat and at par with the economy, all while maintaining your client base and image. If you find yourself having difficulty implementing these strategies, a professional may be able to help!

Choose how and when you can delay making your second payment on account for the 2019 to 2020 tax year.

You have the option to defer your second payment on account if you’re:

• registered in the UK for Self Assessment and
• finding it difficult to make your second payment on account by 31 July 2020 due to the impact of coronavirus

You can still make the payment by 31 July 2020 as normal if you’re able to do so.

The June 2020 Self Assessment statements showed 31 January 2021 as the due date for paying the July 2020 Payment on Account. This is because HMRC updated their IT systems to prevent customers incurring late payment interest on any July 2020 Payment on Account paid between 1st August 2020 and 31 January 2021. The deferment has not been applied for all customers by HMRC and it remains optional.

HMRC will not charge interest or penalties on any amount of the deferred payment on account, provided it’s paid on or before 31 January 2021.

You will still need to submit your Self Assessment tax return to HMRC on time.

If you choose to defer

You do not need to tell HMRC that you’re deferring your payment on account.

Choosing to defer will not stop you from being entitled to other coronavirus support that HMRC provides.

You must make your second payment on account on or before 31 January 2021 if you choose to defer. Other payments you may have to make by this date include any:

• balancing payment due for the 2019 to 2020 tax year
• first payment on account due for the 2020 to 2021 tax year

You can check payments you need to make towards your next tax bill by signing in to your online account.

If you want to pay in full

You can pay your second payment on account bill in full any time between 31 July 2020 and 31 January 2021 using the online service.

If you want to pay in instalments

You need to contact HMRC if you already have overdue tax which you’re paying through a Time to Pay instalment arrangement and want to include your second payment on account in that arrangement.

If you do not have other overdue taxes, you can make your payment in instalments any time between now and 31 January 2021 by setting up a budget payment plan.

Payments made by Direct Debit

If you choose to defer and normally make your payments on account by Direct Debit, you should cancel your Direct Debit through your bank as soon as possible so that HMRC will not automatically collect any payment due. You can cancel online if you’re registered for online banking.

After the deferral ends

The usual interest, penalties and collection procedures will apply to missed payments.

How to get help

If you’re still struggling to pay your tax bill by 31 January 2021, or you’re experiencing other financial difficulties you can contact HMRC’s Time to Pay service.

If you need any assistance with completing your Self Assessment Return for the year ended 5 April 2020 please contact Chris who will be happy to help you.

One of the most important ways to keep your business healthy is to ensure positive cash flow. Under normal circumstances, this is not a problem, but due to the Corona crisis, it has become harder for businesses to maintain positive cash flow. For this reason, we have listed 6 ways to make sure there’s more cash coming in than going out.

Before we go down the list, we advise you to take a good look at, or make, your business’ general overview of cash outflow and overheads. On that basis, you can determine if you really need those costs or if you need to negotiate on, for instance, better utility, (cell)phone or internet deals, or better deals with suppliers. Only by taking a good look at your business expenses, you can determine where there are opportunities to improve cash flow.

1. Avoid big discounts

When sales go down, it’s easy to try and ‘solve’ the problem by offering big discounts and hope that sales go up. However, a generous discount doesn’t guarantee that sales will go up – certainly not in a crisis. What it does guarantee, is that profit will go down, which in turn will affect your cash flow negatively. On the other hand: what you could do to positively affect cash flow, is offer a small discount to clients willing to pay immediately instead, or to clients that are thinking of buying a bigger amount of your product or service.

2. Stay on top of receivables

How many outstanding accounts does your company or organisation have? And what is their total value? Chances are that it’s quite a large amount, which is bad for cash flow since it represents money that’s unavailable to you. So, to maintain positive cash flow, you should always manage your receivables closely and put some extra effort into keeping the amount of overdue money as small as possible. Especially during a crisis, every penny is worth the effort.

Especially during a crisis, every penny is worth the effort

3. Use technology to track cash flow

Staying on top of and keeping track of your business’ cash flow is key in maintaining positive cash flow. There are several ways to do this, but we advise you to use accounting software that’s specifically designed to track cash flow. In most cases, this kind of technology also offers real-time insights that’ll help you with budgeting and managing cash flow, as well as keeping an accurate account of what is coming in and going out, expected and projected cash flow, et cetera. In short: investing in the right software allows you to maintain positive cash flow.

4. Get customers to pay faster

Businesses that require customer deposits and advance payments generate cash in advance of spending cash to deliver the product or service. Therefore, structuring contracts to require pre-payments is an excellent way to enhance cash flow. Another way, as mentioned earlier, is providing incentives to customers to pay on time or early. Receivables paid in 15 days or less significantly enhance cash flow, while those paid in 60 or more days drastically decrease cash flow.

The goal is to make your monthly cash flow as smooth as possible

5. Negotiate terms with vendors and suppliers

Most businesses focus on keeping accounts receivable as low as possible, but what about maximising the potential of your accounts payable? Especially when you’re not the only business facing a crisis, it can be good to negotiate more advantageous terms or pricing with your vendors and suppliers to improve cash flow. There are several things you can do, like negotiate invoice terms, spread out accounts payable by matching payments to deliverables, or create appropriate terms that sync up with accounts receivable. The goal is to make your monthly cash flow as smooth as possible.

6. Invoice financing

If staying on top of receivables (tip 2) doesn’t pay out, you could consider financing invoices. In that case, a financial services provider pays you the amount per outstanding invoice in advance, so you don’t have to wait on the debtor’s payment. Of course, there are fees to consider, but nevertheless, staying away from cash flow problems and sleepless nights should be worth something.

In the UK almost half of all invoices are paid late, causing businesses cash flow problems

Government support to maintain positive cash flow
Due to coronavirus, the UK government has decided to help businesses manage their cash flow by offering the option to defer all VAT payments (without charging interest or penalties) due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020.

Direct Debits
If you choose to defer your VAT payment as a result of coronavirus, you should cancel your Direct Debit through your bank as soon as possible so that HMRC will not automatically collect any VAT due. You can cancel online if you’re registered for online banking. You do need to reinstate the Direct Debit by 1 July 2020.

HMRC have recognised that some taxpayers have encountered problems when trying to take advantage of some of the COVID-19 measures, and have announced details of the procedure for taxpayers who have paid their VAT returns in error (e.g. direct debit not cancelled) when they meant to defer the payment under the COVID-19 VAT deferral easement.

A refund can be claimed if a Direct Debit was not cancelled in time.

The quickest way for customers to claim a refund is to submit a Direct Debit Indemnity Claim to their bank. When doing so they must ensure they state they want to claim a refund under the Direct Debit Indemnity Scheme (DDI). There is no time limit in making this request.

If the customer wants a repayment from HMRC rather than contacting the bank, they must ensure that their bank details are updated using the online services. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Payable Orders are not being issued.

To confirm, it may take 21 days for the refund to be received if the Direct Debit Indemnity Claim process is not used.

If you need any assistance or support, please contact Bryan