Version 5 of SliQ Invoicing Plus has been released. This is a major new version of SliQ Invoicing Plus and is released almost two years after V4. Over 100 additions and modifications have been included in version 5 based on feedback from customers.

The top user-requested features included in V5 are a built-in spellchecker when editing invoices and a stock control system for tracking stock level and helping automate raising orders for low stock items. V5 now also includes the ability to define HTML email templates, allowing users to add logos and formatted signatures to emails sent from SliQ, e.g. when emailing invoices to customers.

A number of smaller features have been added to increase flexibility, e.g. it is now possible to automatically insert date information into line item descriptions on recurring invoices. In V5 it is also possible to configure the date ranges used on ageing reports on statements to bring them in line with invoice payment terms if desired.

Existing customers can upgrade from any earlier version of SliQ Invoicing at the reduced upgrade price shown on our sales page. Any purchaser of V5 will be able to download any updated V5 release, e.g. 5.1, 5.2 etc. will be free updates for those who have already bought V5.

To find out more about the changes in V5, see our Release History page.

There are many ways to capture a screenshot, save the captured image to disk and then attach it to an email. Some versions of Windows come with built-in image capture tools such as the Snipping Tool in Windows 7.

Another alternative is to use SliQ Screen Capture. This is a free, very simple tool from SliQTools that provides easy options for capturing screenshots of your complete desktop, the current application running in Windows or even a control within an application. By default, when a screenshot is captured, SliQ Screen Capture opens the captured image in Microsoft Paint. In later versions, Microsoft Paint includes a Send in e-mail option that quickly allows you attach the image to an email.

If you want to use SliQ Screen Capture to send a screenshot by email, take these steps:

1. Download and install SliQ Screen Capture from this page:

http://www.sliqtools.co.uk/screen-capture-utility.aspx

2. Run SliQ Screen Capture.

SliQ Screen Capture always sits on top of all other windows. You can still work with other applications but SliQ Screen Capture stays visible so you can click on one of its capture image buttons.

3. Click on the window of which you want take an image.

For example, if you want to take a screenshot of a window in SliQ Invoicing, click on the window in SliQ Invoicing Plus with your mouse.

4. In SliQ Screen Capture, press the Capture Foreground Window button.

The button is highlighted with a red square in the following picture.

Then wait for Microsoft Paint to launch.

5. In Microsoft Paint, open the File menu and choose the Send in email option.

A new email window should then open with the captured image attached.

6. Edit the email as normal – enter the email address you want to send the picture to, the subject and email message – and press the Send button to send the email.

If you are looking for help on taking a screenshot on an Apple Mac, see this blog post: http://www.sliqtools.co.uk/blog/apple-mac/apple-mac-how-to-take-a-screenshot/

We’re often asked by small businesses if they should employ an accountant. The answer often depends on the type of person you are and the type of business you’re running.

It’s a good idea to employ an accountant if your tax affairs are complex but many sole traders don’t necessarily need to go to the expense of an accountant. You can save yourself several hundred pounds per year if you’re organised and don’t mind doing a bit of research. It’s easier than you may think to get to grips with it using our practical tips.

1. Deciding Your Tax Year

If you are starting up and deciding on your tax year, it’s simpler and will save time filling out the paperwork, if you run your financial year in line with HMRC’s – 6th April to 5th April

2. Tax Return- DIY!

Tax returns can be much less daunting than they look. Particularly if your turnover is less than the £77,000 threshold, you can fill in the shorter version of the tax return.  (see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/worksheets/sa210.pdf for more information on whether you are eligible for the shorter version)

It’s helpful to take a look at the form first so you know what kind of information you’ll need to supply. The forms can be downloaded at: https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-forms-and-helpsheets

These guidance notes contain really helpful information for example, how to calculate your income and expenditure figures and what expenses are allowed: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/worksheets/sa103f-notes.pdf

Make sure you fill in any of the supplementary sheets that apply to you: “self employment” or “partnership” for example.

Even if you decide you want an accountant to submit your tax return, you can save on costs by preparing a draft of the form for them to check over.

3. Keeping Proper Records

Sorting out your expenses receipts

Make sure you keep all expenses receipts. If you’re organised you’ll file them straight away. If you’re like me, you’ll shove them all in a big pot to deal with later.

If your annual turnover is below £77,000 (as at 2013) you do not need to provide HMRC with a break down of the different types of expenses. You can just put a total figure on your tax return. So you can just go through the receipts and add them up. You don’t need to number them or type them up, you can just write down the total figure for the year’s expenditure.

Having said that, it can be handy to keep tabs on what you’re spending in different areas so if you are really pushed for time or if you have a large number of receipts, you could pay a book-keeper or admin assistant to do this for you.

If you use an accountant to do your tax return, you can still save money by providing them with this total figure instead of paying them to deal with your receipts.

Don’t forget to include expenses that you might not have paper receipts for such as direct debits and online purchases.

Keeping track of your sales

You should try to make a note of all your sales and other income as you go along. Invoices that you issue should be numbered.

You should include a note of other types of income and sales that may not be invoiced or go through the till such as: money paid into the business from personal funds or goods or services taken for you or your family or to pay someone in kind.

Know Where Things Are!

It really helps save time if you can keep the following together in one place, so you have it all at your fingertips when it comes to doing your year-end figures:

• Receipts
• Invoices
• Bank & credit card statements
• All correspondence from HMRC

HMRC provides more details about what records you need to keep: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/rec-keep-self-emp.htm#4

4. Ask for help

Don’t forget you can ring HMRC and ask for help with record-keeping and filling in your tax return. And it’s free. Contacts are here: http://search2.hmrc.gov.uk/kb5/hmrc/contactus/view.page?record=OILdX1VAnlM

5. Get your money’s worth

If you do decide to use an accountant, it will increase your knowledge and understanding of your business if you ask them to explain how they have worked things out. Rather than leaving it all to the accountant, if you take ownership of your finances, you are likely to make wiser decisions and make more money in the long run. It may also give you more confidence to do your own tax returns in future years.

Good luck!

If the work you do is something you’re passionate about then the business side of it can often take a back seat. I’ve worked with many owners of small businesses who work all the hours and are talented at what they do but don’t even know if their business is profitable.  Being ignorant about the financial performance of your business is risky and many small businesses fail as a result.

There are many reasons people stick their head in the sand including:

• Fear and loathing of anything to do with “boring” business or finance
• Lack of knowledge and unsure where to get help
• Secretly know that the business isn’t making enough money but don’t want to give it up

There’s no reason why you can’t love your work AND be in control of the business side. You could start by getting to grips with whether your business is financially viable. It’s worth asking yourself why you want to run your business in the first place. What are your goals?

• Do you need the business to make you a certain amount of money each month?
• Do you just want to be your own boss?
• Do you want to fulfil a long held aspiration?

Whether or not money is your first priority, it can only be helpful to know how much money you’re likely to make – or lose! This will help you decide longer term, whether running this business is right for you. To help you get to grips with the maths, we’ll use the example of Jane who is returning to work and is considering launching a cake-making business …

1. Estimate a realistic monthly figure for the sales of your product or services

For Jane, the number of cakes she thinks will sell multiplied by the amount she will charge per cake.

12 celebration cakes per month @ £45
70 simple cakes per month @ £4

Total = £820

2.Work out as accurately as possible, how much it will cost you to sell those products

This includes not only the cost of the product itself but a proportion of other associated costs such as electricity, premises, equipment and marketing. For Jane this means the cost of all the cake ingredients plus kitchen equipment, packaging, delivery and a proportion of her household fuel bills.

Cake ingredients = £220
Additional costs – £75

3. Subtract the product costs from the sales figure

Jane’s figures are £820 – £295 = £525

4. Work out the number of hours of your time you will spend on your business

For Jane this is 4 hours per day = 20 hours per week = 80 hours per month

5. Calculate your hourly wage

To do this, divide your figure in 3) by the number of hours in 4)

Jane’s is £525 divided by 80 = £6.56 per hour which is around the minimum wage mark.

Seeing your figures in this way, may prompt other ideas about how you can earn more from your business. For example, if there is only one of you doing the work such as with Jane’s business, there may be ways of maximising your time. Jane could invest in a bigger oven and time-saving kitchen equipment in order to increase the number of cakes she produces in the same number of hours. Or, you may be happy enough earning a minimal amount in exchange for the added benefits of being your own boss and being able to fit your work around family commitments.

Whatever your take on it, knowing your figures means you can make informed decisions about the business you love.

Once you have your killer idea for a product or service that will fill a proven gap in the market, you’ll need to go about setting up your business. Hopefully you’ll have done your business planning, if you need some tips on this, do look at our other post here. http://www.sliqtools.co.uk/blog/general/hands-up-who-likes-business-planning/

Here are 5 practical steps you’ll need to consider to actually get the show on the road:

1. Get the name right. Make sure it’s a name that sums up what you offer, either your product or what you want to be known for (your brand values).

There are some useful resources on this website: http://www.start.biz/business_names/

2. Register with Inland Revenue for your Tax and National Insurance payments. You can find more information about that, PAYE and importing & exporting here http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/startingup/

3. Assuming you already have the finance you need to start your business, you’ll need to keep track of your money. Regularly recording both the money going out (purchases or expenditure) and the money coming in (sales or income). You can hire a book-keeper to do this for you (if you’re the sort who likes to keep your receipts in a carrier bag and hand them over to someone else!). Or you can log them yourself in a spreadsheet or specialised software. Don’t forget, if your business issues invoices, SliQ Invoicing Plus is perfect for start-ups as it’s very quick to set up and simple to use.

4. Get yourself noticed. Think about who your likely customers are and the best methods of reaching them. Promotion could include the more traditional leaflets and local newspapers which would be effective for a local trades person for example. If you go the online / digital route, make sure your website appears high in the Search Engine rankings. You may need to hire a professional to advise you here. Regarding social media, it’s worth considering a training course or again, hiring a professional. There are some great tips on digital marketing here:

http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/customer-acquisition-strategy/digital-marketing-no-budget/

5. Tap into one of the many sources of business advice just to make sure you have everything covered. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) http://www.fsb.org.uk/ and the Governments business support https://www.gov.uk/browse/business provide advice on all aspects of running a business.

For more business startup tips, read http://www.sliqtools.co.uk/blog/uncategorized/business-start-up-checklist/.

Do you find you don’t have time to do any business planning?  Are you too busy getting on with the actual business side of things, the things that get the income coming in? Or perhaps more honestly, you think that “planning” or “strategy” is:-

a) boring as heck?
b) a mystery?
c) irrelevant?

So What Is Business Planning?

START-UP PLANNING

Well there’s the start-up business plan which is your tool for setting out your initial goals and how you will achieve them. It takes a detailed look at your proposed business idea and how likely it is to succeed. It includes financial forecasts covering what money you see coming in and going out of your business. It usually covers a 3-5 year period. This video explains more about it – https://www.gov.uk/write-business-plan

ONGOING MONITORING & PLANNING

You’d be forgiven for thinking that “business planning” was only something to do when starting up rather than running a business. If you google “business planning” for example, a high proportion of articles will be about start-ups and creating you first  business plan.
But once you’re in business, it pays to refer back regularly to your original plan to see whether things are going according to plan, financially and in relation to your other goals.

If you aware that things are not going to plan, you can do what is necessary to address any issues before they become critical. Also unexpected changes can be positive developments. You may find a market for your audience that you hadn’t been aware of before. If you take the time to look at how these changes fit in with your overall goals, it will help you keep focussed.
In addition to regular monitoring of your cashflow, you might once a year, review your goals & make plans in the areas of finance, sales, marketing, HR, for example.

Setting measurable objectives for the year ahead makes it easier to monitor your performance. So rather than vague goals such as “increase sales” or “raise company profile” set specific and realistic targets such as % increase in sales, 3 articles in local paper, x number of facebook fans, reduce overdraft by x amount.

I’ve talked to several people who run small businesses over the years and I’m always amazed that planning is often so far down on their agenda or sometimes not on their radar at all!

If you applied that logic elsewhere it would seem a bit odd. For example, you don’t step out of your front door in the morning without an idea of where it is you’re going.

A while back I was working as Communications Officer for an organisation and had been asked to produce a Communications Strategy. I was talking to my boss one day about the importance of strategy and said “if you don’t have a strategy, you’re in the dark, a bit like trying to pack for a holiday without knowing where you’re going “. He said “Oh! I’d happily go with an empty suitcase!”.
That taught me a valuable lesson. To remember that not everyone has the same outlook on life, the same values or personality. Luckily for me, I like planning, I’m more of thinker than do-er, so it’s not a chore for me to spend time analysing and committing ideas to paper. But if you’re a do-er I can quite understand that you may well prefer to watch paint dry than sit down and write business forecasts.

If for whatever reason, you find yourself saying “no” to the task of business planning, at least be aware of how vulnerable that makes your business.  Lack of planning is often cited as one of the reasons for small business failure.  There’s plenty of guidance on planning out there. Here are a few sources of information to start you off:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/small-business-network/2012/jul/06/business-plan-writing-tips

For further business tips, check out our blog post on simple accounting tips.