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If you have employees or are a limited company (you are counted as an employee,) you will need to set up a Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system or work with a PAYE payment company. Before all this you need to ensure you are registered with HMRC as an employer.

PAYE?

This is a system used for deducting Tax and National Insurance from your employees’ wages in order the pay HMRC; this goes that you must deduct tax for all employees that earn more than 7,475 a year per tax year – for example April 2010, to April 2011.

National Insurance must be deducted for all employees that are aged over 16, but under state pension age, but only if they are earning more than £110 a week in a tax year. PAYE must be applied to all wages, and payments, even if they are made in cash for expenses – including some benefits. To understand more consult the HMRC’s guide.

Payroll System?
There are many ways of setting up a payroll system, which will calculate the amount of tax and insurance needing to be deducted at the same time as calculating your employees’ wages. One way is using an accountant; which is one of the easiest options. Use a payroll agency, although you are responsible for any mistakes so it is always valuable to understand the system yourself.

However if you do it yourself, you need to ensure you have approved software from the HMRC; though when you become an employer, you will receive an Employer Starter Pack and this will come with a CD-ROM which will get you started with a database and calculators for creating and keeping track of your payroll records – including tax and insurance contributions. Or you could use a manual wages record, the P11 Deduction sheet, if you prefer to do things on paper – although this can be harder and more likely to contain errors.

Paying the HMRC?

You must pay the Tax and NIC you’ve deducted from the employees’ pay on a monthly basis, although if your payments are less than £1,500 a month you can pay quarterly. Though if you pay electronically you must make the payment by the 22nd of every month, and not electronically needs to be by the 19th of each month. If you have less than 250 employees you can pay a variety of ways; online, direct debit, bank giro, or in cash at the post office. Or use BACs, CHAPS or by cheque. Any owing payments at the end of the tax year must be received by the HMRC by April 19th.

Forms?

During the year you must use:

· Deductions working sheet P11; to show tax, NIC, student loan owing and any statutory pay such as sick pay, maternity pay etc.
· P32; detailed record of payments and deductions for each pay period eg monthly, weekly.
· Payslips; must give one to each employee, containing – gross wages, deductions and their net wage after deductions.

Come the end of the tax year you must complete the following;

· P35; an annual return showing all PAYE reductions, but it will only hold 10 employees, so you may need to continuation sheet too.
· P14; a summary for individual employees’ showing all deductions throughout the year – for part time and casual staff use a P38A
· P60; the copy of a P14 to give to employee.
· P11D; a records expenses form, and benefits in kind for employees however if you have a dispensation you don’t need to do this.
· New employees, you need to send in the relevant part of their P45 to HMRC.

All forms can be gained from the HMRC Orderline.

PAYE Deadlines

· April 19th, any payments outstanding to reach the HMRC.
· May 19th all completed forms P14, and 35 forms to reach the HMRC.
· May 31st, all employees’ should have their P60’s.
· July 6th, complete P9D, P11D, P11DX and P11D(b) forms to arrive at the HMRC – copies must also be given to employees’ by this point.

FAQ’s

Payroll records need to kept for the three previous tax years; so you will have the current year and the three previous years in your possession.
If your employee doesn’t know their tax code of NI number, call the HMRC and they will be able to help you discover them – but you need them as soon as you employ someone.

Any questions call the HMRC they will be able to help you with forms and any queries you may have.

Christmas is fast approaching and many of us are starting to panic a little bit at a) how close it is and b) how much the whole thing costs. However, even though we’re getting closer to the big day, there are still lots of things you can do to save money. From using credit cards wisely to taking advantage of the early sales, if you’re careful, this Christmas doesn’t have to break the bank.

Hit the sales
We usually associate the sales with the post-Christmas period, but this year many major retailers have kicked things off early to try and boost business. Some have got very good deals on, so it’s worth going for a rummage to see what you can pick up cheaper than normal.

Plan your pay-off
It’s a fact of life that many of us pay for Christmas on our credit cards and then get hit with the bills in January. There’s nothing wrong with this, but in order to limit the amount of interest you have to pay on your purchases, it’s worth thinking carefully about the benefits of credit cards to make sure you get the best possible deal (interest free or balance transfer cards can be useful for this).

Be strict with yourself
Christmas is normally a time of year for indulging ourselves and, let’s face it, probably overdoing it a bit. A little bit of self-discipline can make a big difference without you having to lose out. For instance, take a look at all the people you buy presents for. Chances are, some of them could be cut off your list, or organised into a Secret Santa so you only have to buy one present rather than lots.

Look for deals
Just as you would at any other time of the year, keep an eye out for good deals close to Christmas. For example, you can occasionally find deals such as £25 worth of vouchers for £20, or 3 for 2 offers that could take care of multiple presents – and also help to take care of your wallet.

There’s no doubt about it – the cost of living just keeps increasing. Inflation is still averaging around 5% and has done so for the past two years, greatly exceeding the government target of 2%.

At the same time, wages are stagnating, unemployment is still a very real threat, savings accounts are depleted and growth prospects look poor. It’s a difficult environment for customers to be dealing with utility bill rises and rise they certainly have.

Most families’ utility bills now top an annual charge of £1,000 and many more people are being pushed into ‘fuel poverty’ each year and not just elderly and vulnerable people on fixed state pensions and handouts.

This year particularly, households are looking very carefully at ways to keep warm this winter, without racking up huge bills that they can’t afford.

There are different ways of doing this; some are instant and quick fixes, often harking back to more old fashioned approaches and views towards home heating and others require longer investment and planning.

For the longer term, why not look at solar panels? There are still some limited grants available for their installation and although the initial outlay will be high, the panels should pay for themselves in around 15 – 20 years and you’ll be able to sell excess energy back onto the grid, earning some revenue.

Not all homes are suitable for solar power, but there are various companies who can advise. As a basic rule you’re looking for a large roof expanse and a south facing view.

The technology is refining and developing all the time, so it’s worth holding off if finances are tight now or you’re liable to move and reconsidering in a couple of years when the technology may have become more affordable. Start putting away small amounts into your savings accounts now though!

Look at insulation as a priority. There’s no point heating your home if the heat just escapes straight out of the window. Old homes in particular are woefully bad at retaining heat.

Double glazing is an obvious solution but can be expensive for families on tight budgets without comfortably full savings accounts. There are other alternatives for interim fixes such as adhesive transparent panels you can affix to the glass which help to retain heat, otherwise take a leaf from your grandparents’ books and put up heavy curtains and drapes.

These will create a physical barrier between the cold window and warm household interior. Also, it sounds very basic, but still eludes many, put on a jumper when you get cold. If you’re wearing a t-shirt in November, then chances are you’re overheating your home.

Get the loft insulated. You can buy rolls of insulation from a local DIY store and it’s not a particularly big job. Also, get your cavity walls insulated. A specialist company will need to do this and it’s not suitable for all properties, but for those with cavity walls, it can make a big difference to its efficiency.

Also, follow basic common sense. Keep doors and windows shut beyond a quick airing. Consider installing a new and energy efficient boiler if your old one is a creaky old beast.

Some utility companies will offer grants and offers on their range of boilers, but check first that there aren’t more competitive offers.

Finally, make sure you’re not paying over the odds for your utility bills. Do a price comparison against your requirements and keep a little extra stored in your savings accounts just in case there’s a cold winter spell and you do need to keep the heating on for longer and hotter than you’d usually plan to.

The holiday season is here once again, and you may be feeling so festive that your celebratory spirit spills over into the work place. It’s okay–great, even–to spread a little holiday cheer, but you may not be in the mood to celebrate once the New Year is here and you get the energy bill.

Keep your employees in good spirits this holiday season without the risk of becoming the energy Grinch, with these six tips.

1. Use LED lights.
If you want to spruce up the office with holiday decorations, make sure to get light sets or other illuminated decor that use LED lights instead of wasteful incandescent bulbs. Or better yet, skip lighted displays altogether and opt for rich green wreaths and vintage-like ribbons.

2. Stay out of the office kitchen.
Many companies like to arrange holiday parties and potlucks in the office during the holidays to express their appreciation for employees. However, with crock pots and boilers on all day, you could see your energy bills go through the roof for the months of November and December. Try to do a simplified version of this work tradition by having a door-decorating contest or a Secret Santa event.

3. Keep the office insulated.
If your office is in a high-traffic area, employees may be tempted to prop open doors to allow easy entrance. Put up a friendly sign reminding your team to keep doors completely closed when they are not using them so that your heated air doesn’t escape.

4. Give your employees a break.
The end of the year is the perfect time to cut company hours and let your work team go home after peak daylight hours. Not only will this save you lighting costs but it will also make your staff appreciate you even more. You can also consider extending the holiday break with work-from-home days for your entire staff.

5. Shut down over the holiday.
Since everyone will be taking time off during Thanksgiving and Christmas, remind all employees to completely shut down all of their equipment over the holiday–especially those that run on standby power.

6. Gift yourself.
As a business owner, the holidays are a good time to take advantage of retail sales on office equipment. Look for energy efficient printers, copiers and shredders for your company, and consider them both a gift and an investment.

If you want to take your energy efficiency habits even further, go to uSwitchforbusiness to find the most competitive business electricity prices and save even more on your company’s energy bill.

There often comes time when we need to ship something or want something shipped to us. As many of you already now this can often be very expensive process. However, using sites like uShip with their reserve auction platform for shipping. You can ensure that receive quotes from a wide variety of feedback rated transporters at the lowest possible price.

uShip’s new Delivery Price Calculator lets you get instant delivery prices for all sorts of different kinds of items that may be too bulky, big and heavy for the normal parcel or pallet networks from removal companies, man and van companies and specialized transporters. So with just a couple of clicks on the drop down menus, and the input of two postcodes, you could have an instant estimate of how much a delivery is likely to cost you.

The calculator covers all sorts of items, including car transport, motorcycle transport, even boat transportation. The delivery estimator can be the perfect tool to use alongside eBay, to ensure the items you want can be bought to you at a suitable price

The price estimate generated by the calculator is based on the tens of thousands of deliveries that have been matched in the UK on uShip, so they are based on real marketplace prices or similar items, on similar routes and distances, not simply a theoretical book rate, or discounted pence per mile rates.

And if your delivery needs are more complicated, perhaps cross border, or particularly specialized, then the uShip marketplace with its thousands of transporters will find quotes to you.
Here’s an example of the calculator, try it out and see what you think:

Article written by Amar Patel of http://www.uship.com/uk/

Booking Car Hire is always going to be an expense, but quite often one
that will enrich your holiday for yourself and your family. Whether
you are looking for a one day car hire or a one month car hire there
are lots of things that you can do to save yourself some money.

Book Online
Booking online is a guaranteed way to make some savings. Many of the
larger, and some smaller, car hire companies will offer you a discount
for booking online. This allows them to take your money in advance,
also allowing you to get one of your holiday spends done early, and
then they can be sure that you will arrive to collect your car. All
you will have to worry about once you’ve paid for your car hire is
purchasing fuel for the vehicle and then deciding where you and your
family want to go!

Use A Price Comparison Site
There are lots of car hire price comparison websites out there. These
will look through all of the companies available in one particular
area and will help to ensure that you are offered a selection of car
sizes, hire times and prices. This will give you the options back that
are relevant to you and then you can select the price and car size
that suits your requirements. This is a fantastic way to search online
and takes most of the time out of doing it for you. Once you know the
best companies, and prices, you can even visit their individual
websites to take advantage of any promotional codes or special offers
that they may have running.

Visit A Cash Back Website
If you know the car hire company that is going to offer you the best
value for your money then why not see if they are listed on a cash
back website? This could earn you some extra money although always
ensure that you don’t factor the bonus cash back in to your sums when
calculating the best deal. Cash back is never guaranteed until it
tracks, pays out and hits your bank account and this can take up to
180 days in some cases.

Sign Up To A Car Hire Loyalty Scheme
If you know that you are going to be using a car hire again in the
future perhaps consider signing up to one of the Car Hire Loyalty
Schemes that are available. While this may not initially get you a
discount you may be able to bag yourself a free upgrade or some other
perks and privileges free of charge.

Length Of Use
Be sure that you know the length of time that you are going to need
the car for. It is possibly wise to just book for the duration of your
trip, however, plan the time you book for around days out that you
have planned and you can save yourself some money by reducing the
number of days you hire for. Perhaps you can visit the places that you
were wanting to visit in a little block and then have the last few
days of your holiday relaxing in your hotel or holiday stay or even
just exploring on foot.

Always Pay Attention To The Terms & Conditions
When you make your booking online you will be able to access the terms
and conditions for your booking. Always ensure that you read these
through and note down anything that could potential incur you a
charge. There are lots of different things that a car hire company
could potentially charge you for. Everything from not returning your
car with the same amount of fuel to letting an unnamed driver drive
the car can incur you additional fees so it is always best to read
this information first.

Whether you are going away for a week or a month you will benefit
greatly from cheap car hire. You will be able to travel wherever you
like, with your family, in comfort. You will be able to budget for
your car hire before you travel and your car will be waiting for you
when you arrive at your destination. There really is a car to suit
every budget and every lifestyle and booking online is a fantastic way
to save yourself some money. Ensure that you shop around first and you
won’t go wrong!

Eating out at your local Toby Carvery offers a great roast meal experience. A minimum of three freshly roasted joints are always on offer, including such things as British Beef, Glazed Gammon, Pork with Crackling and Tender Turkey, and always with an excellent range of fresh seasonal vegetables such as peas, carrots and broccoli. You’ll also be able to tuck in to giant Yorkshire puddings, stuffing and of course lashings of gravy too.

Add into the mix a variety of starters, puddings and special dishes such as curries, and you’ll soon understand why we think that Toby Carverys are pretty special. Day and evening menu’s are slightly different, and on Sundays an extra special menu is on offer, but every day, the food is always cooked to a high standard and the service is carried out with a smile.

No-one is left out when you eat here either, there’s a great kids food selection to choose from, ranging from the same carvery menu as you eat but in smaller portions, to an excellent choice of starters mains and deserts perfect for kids. Vegetarian options are also always available with a choice of two dishes that might include Mediterranean Vegetable Lasagne, Smoked Bean Hash, Broccoli & Brie Parcels, and Spicy Vegetable Crumble.

Christmas celebrations at Toby Carverys are made special, and you can book a Christmas meal here from as early as 20th of November for a party of six or more guests. They’ll even give you a free bottle of wine in England, or in Scotland the party organiser gets their meal for free instead.

Many Toby Carverys have a lodge or hotel next door so that accommodation is no problem for the weary traveller no matter whether you’re visiting on business or pleasure. If you do stay the night, you might like to try out the latest offer from Toby too – the hearty Carvery breakfast for under a fiver.

Head to the Toby Carvery website, and you can join their club. This means that you’ll receive their regular newsletter and be kept up to date on all the latest offers and deals, vouchers and events too. While you’re there, you can take a look at the menu’s and the kids fun zone and any special offers that are on.

Wedding loans may be able to help you make your wedding day one to remember.

Why a loan?

If you’re fortunate enough to be able to pay for a special wedding out of your own financial resources then fine.

If not, you may start to wonder if you can really have the wedding of your dreams.

It’s worth remembering that the cost of even a fairly basic wedding may run into several thousands of pounds or even tens of thousands.

The good news is that wedding loans may be able to help you ensure that your wedding (including, for example, a romantic honeymoon) is one that conforms to your plans and aspirations rather than one that comprises essentially a long list of compromises.

Loans secured to property

Wedding loans for larger sums may typically be offered on what’s called a secured basis.

That means you will need to offer the lenders, some form of guarantee that they will be able to recover some or all of their money, in the event that you default and do not repay the loan.

A classic way of providing such security (also sometimes called collateral) is to use property.

This involves, at the time you take out the loan, providing the lender with the legal right to seize and force the sale of the property concerned, in order to recover their money should you fail to repay the loan as agreed. If you keep up loan repayments, your property cannot be touched.
The nature of the property

The property you use will need to be in you name and if not, you will need any co-owners to also sign the loan documentation.

You may not need to own the property outright and a property with a mortgage may be perfectly acceptable to the lenders, however, you will need to have sufficient equity in the house to cover the loan amount.

Advantages

Secured loans typically constitute a lower risk for lenders and as a result, you may benefit from:

more attractive interest rates;

larger sums available (subject to other factors such as your income level);

easier availability if you have a less than perfect credit history record.

Using wedding loans as part of a planned start to your new married life may be an option. Of course, as with any loan, it is advisable to ensure that you are confident of your ability to meet the repayments and that the loan is used responsibly.

CR Smith is a reliable, skilled and passionate home improvement company, based in Scotland. With over 35 years’ experience in manufacturing and fitting windows, doors and conservatories, the company ensures that you receive only the very best service for your needs.

Attention to detail is key for CR Smith, whether in the design, production or fitting of their products. The firm provides expert information about the options available, giving customers a wide choice of design, fitting and energy rating – making sure that each product is perfectly tailored to the project. It’s this level of care which has led to CR Smith designing, manufacturing and fitting more windows, doors and conservatories than any other company in Scotland.

With experience in both uPVC and hardwood products, the CR Smith team is highly skilled in ensuring each project is built to last. And with showrooms in Dunfermline and Inverness, it’s easy to find the perfect addition to any home.

The art of stoozing is one suited to people who don’t have any debt on credit cards and who have a good credit rating to begin with. Quite simply, it involves taking out a credit card that is offering 0% interest on purchases and then using the card to buy everything you normally would while at the same time putting the cash money you’d normally be spending in as high an interest savings account as possible for the duration of the card’s 0% interest deal.

This can be quite a lucrative thing to do if you can get a credit card with 0% interest for a decent length of time and one which will offer you a large spending quantity. It should only be attempted however if you have no credit card debts, and are good at staying on top of things. Drop the ball on this and you could lose money instead of making it.

There are a number of credit cards which are currently offering 0% interest on purchases made, and the best of these are:

Tesco Clubcard Credit card – Offering 0% for 15months rising to 16.9% APR after. It also offers an additional money making method as you get points – 1 point per £4 spent – which can be used in Tesco or converted into deals vouchers.

M&S Credit Card – As with the Tesco Card, this offers 0% for 15 months, and points when you spend money which can be spent in M&S. These are received at a rate of 0.5% of what you spend. The representative variable rate goes to 15.9% after the first 15 months.

RBS Credit Card – 0% on spending for 13 months rising to 17.9% afterwards and you need to be an existing RBS or Natwest current account holder to apply.

Virgin Money Credit Card – 0% for 13 months rising to between 18.9% and 20.9% APR afterwards.

All the above cards are issued by MasterCard.
You won’t need card protection insurance, and in fact taking it out will stop you earning properly from your stoozing as you’ll be spending money on this when you don’t need it – the money will after all be safe in a bank account in case you need to pay it back.

You must make certain that each month throughout the 0% period you pay back the minimum amount. You need to do this so you don’t lose the 0% interest rate, but you don’t want to pay back more until the end at which point you want to pay the whole lot back just before the end of the 0% period. You can do this by withdrawing the money from your savings where you kept it.

The money that you’re left with in your bank account afterwards is money ‘Stoozed’ i.e. it’s the interest earned from the money you borrowed at 0%.