InVOICE March 2010

03 March 2010

InVOICE March 2010

From the Chief Executive

I am hugely looking forward to the start of 'seminar season' in two weeks time and I very much look forward to meeting and talking to many of you.

We have received more bookings than anticipated for the Members CPD days, which has allowed us to move to larger meeting rooms at several locations and, as a result, the booking periods have been extended for the first week's events in Scotland and the North. We shall visit Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow followed, for the first time, by Carlisle. We finish the week in Newcastle. I am very pleased that Stephen Hardwick from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) will make a presentation at the seminars. SOCA will actually present at all of this year’s seminars and will give our members a unique opportunity to gain an insight into what all our MLR efforts are for and the pivotal role we are playing in cracking down on financial crime.

Fortunately I shall have the opportunity to get warmed up for our seminars when I attend the annual conference in Dundee this weekend of the Institute of Agricultural Secretaries & Administrators (IAgSA).

I hope you enjoy this month's issue of InVOICE- it's hard to believe that March is already upon us. February is such a short month. Leaving work on Friday 26 February and arriving back on Monday 1 March is very unsettling I find. At least the new month has brought better weather for most of us although, if I remember correctly what my grandmother told me; 'in like a lamb, out like a lion.'

It has been a very busy year already. The Institute is being invited by government to engage in dialogue on a number of important consultations and I am grateful to Stuart Morris for his invaluable contribution to the Institute’s response to the latest document, Working With Tax Agents – The Next Stage. Responding to consultations ensures that the Institute retains its place at the leading edge of the financial professions and that your interests as professional bookkeepers are properly represented in new legislation.

You will see that this edition of InVOICE includes an update to February's article about the changes to the membership structure. We have had an overwhelmingly positive response to the changes and many members have already set about gearing up for the changes. We will obviously discuss the exciting developments at the seminars but as always, if you want any further information or guidance, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Garry Carter

Chief Executive

March 2010

InVOICE: the monthly E-newsletter for UK members of the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers.

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InVOICE contains news articles, links and regular sections that we feel will be of interest. If there is anything that you would like to see, whether a regular feature or a one-off, please let us know. Email your ideas to invoice@bookkeepers.org.uk

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS

Regional Seminar Bookings

This year's regional seminars begin in earnest in two week's time. We are still accepting bookings for the opening week of seminars, but this is your last chance to book for:

Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle and Carlisle.

The ICB’s new membership structure means that all members will be competent in both manual and computerised bookkeeping at each level following the introductory Level I.

All existing members and new applicants are expected to be able to satisfy these requirements by the end of September 2011. The changes.........

MONEY LAUNDERING REGULATIONS

Ask a Silly Question

The ICB’s MLR Annual Return (MLR8) has been amended because some practices completing the form have misunderstood what was being asked in one of the questions. Under the heading ‘Your brief reasons for this assessment’, quite a few people wrote ‘because of MLR’....

Money Laundering Update : How To Complete Your MLR8

Following feedback from members during the successful completion of the first programme of audit visits, The ICB is amending some of the MLR forms contained in the MLR Practice Guidance Manual.

This year's seminar programme will update your MLR knowledge. Meanwhile......

FINANCE MATTERS

Online filing deadline fast approaching

Are you ready? Are you and your employer or clients ready for the forthcoming changes to the PAYE system? From this year all employers and contractors must file their Employer Annual Returns online by the 19 May deadline. This now includes small businesses with fewer than 50 staff, which until now still had the option of filing a paper return. Members who attended last year’s ICB Regional Seminars were briefed on the changes by a team from HMRC and were given instructions on how to......

SOFTWARE REVIEWS

The latest in the ICB's series of accounting software reviews.

The proposed rise in National Insurance contributions (NICs) should be scrapped in favour of an increase in the standard rate of VAT, a leading business group has argued.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) estimates that raising VAT by 1% to 18.5% would net the Government an extra £4.5 billion.....

Sage Line 50 v11 product life is to end very soon, which could result in users being unsupported and at risk from issues that will not be rectified by Sage. More importantly, Sage V11 is missing some features that have since, or are about to, become mandatory, such as online filing of VAT returns. Using this version of Sage could leave users with inaccessible data.....

HMRC gives medical professionals chance to own up to undeclared income. HMRC has announced a new facility called the Tax Health Plan (THP) that will provide medical professionals with a limited opportunity to disclose all previously undeclared income in return for a reduced penalty. HMRC has run similar schemes over the last couple of years.....

Nearly 3,000 businesses in the UK, have benefited from more than £700m of affordable, easy access funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Government has revealed. The 2008 Pre-Budget Report announced that up to £4bn of EIB finance had been secured for funding SME capital investment between 2008 and 2011......

A bookkeeper from Southport has been jailed for three years and four months for stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds from his employers has been ordered to pay back over £150,000 in compensation. David Moore, 41, of Segars Lane, Southport, admitted taking the money from Typolac Limited, a coloured card manufacturer based in Skelmersdale, where he worked as a bookkeeper between 1997 and 2007. Following his conviction, financial investigators from Lancashire Constabulary conducted a...

Employers have been issued with guidance on the new right of employees to request training in the workplace. Under the new legislation, eligible employees in England will have a legal right to ask their employer to give them time away from their core duties to undertake relevant training. While employers will be obliged to seriously consider requests, they may still refuse a request where there is a good business reason for doing so. The legislation is set to come into force on 6 April 201...

New plans outlined by the government will mean that new fathers will be able to take up to six months of parental leave. Men are currently entitled to take up to two weeks of paid paternity leave, while women are granted up to nine months of paid maternity leave, and a further three months of unpaid leave. Under the proposals, women will be able to......

Payroll Updates

What legislation is in the pipeline for 2010 and beyond?

By Karen Thomson MIPPdip Associate Director of Policy, Research, and Strategic Visibility for the Institute of Payroll Professionals

Everything you need to know about key legislative changes coming up.

STUDY CORNER

Tangible Fixed Assets

ICB head of education, Dr Philip E Dunn, provides this instructive text on Tangible Fixed Assets. The article considers the factors: completeness, accuracy, valuation, existence, beneficial ownership and presentation and disclosure when accounting for Tangible Fixed Assets.

Background