Last updated on May 12, 2022

TI Accountancy will stay open to help ….

In these uncertain times I wanted to write to everyone to let you know how TI Accountancy are dealing with the changes due to Coronavirus and also share some ideas of how you can help yourself.

Firstly, some of our team are working from home from this week, while the majority still want to be in the office.  If there is a compulsory lockdown and it becomes impossible for the office to open then the rest of the team will still be looking after our clients from their homes also.

We feel that it is imperative that we continue to support our clients by making sure your bookkeeping and payroll is up to date so you know your cash flow, liabilities and be able to pay your own team.

Government Assistance

If you have any of your team on the sick

Last week the government reduced the SSP waiting days so anyone not being able to work due to the virus will be paid from day one. 

We have put measures in place so we help our clients do this, however, we are still waiting on the details to know how to get this money back from the government.

Business Interruption Loans

There have been small business loans made available to help anyone who’s business is affected by the Coronavirus. 

It has been advised that if you need one of these loans you are required to go and ask though your own bank.

Coronavirus Grant

It has also been announced that Grants will be available for businesses that are eligible for small business rate relief, however it is not available yet.

It is believed the government will take a few days to get this together and it is believed that you will apply for this through your Local authority and hopefully will be an on-line application.

Self Employed Help

There is a GAP at the moment in provision for the self-employed, we will keep you informed if any help is announced in the next couple of days.

Business Rates Holiday

For hospitality, retailer and leisure industry, from April 2020, you will not need to worry about Business rates.  Giving lots of relief to many businesses.

Things to help yourself

Me personally I’m on total lockdown in Spain.   Here we are only allowed out to go to the supermarket, pharmacy or doctors.  We are allowed to walk the dog but only one at a time and only 50metres from our home.  

Only one person is allowed in a car at one time and people walking in more than twos are being stopped by police and told to split up. 

It feels a bit like Armageddon here, but with plenty of time being stuck indoors I’ve had time to think of tips to help you over there in the UK.

Protect Yourself

  • Don’t believe everything you read on social media, a lot of what is on there is scaremongering and it is very difficult not to get wrapped up in this.   But it is now more important than ever to protect your mindset.   Look at sites that you know are experts and have the correct information.
  • Stay safe.  Yes your business is important but you wont be able to build everything back up if you don’t have your health.  Make sure you, your family and your team follow government guidelines if you have any symptoms of the coronavirus.
  • Positivity is infectious.  Look for the positives in each day, they are still there even in these times of crisis.

Look at the set up of your staff

  • If like us, working during this crisis is still possible then maybe looking to see if people can work from home to enable your team to work and be safe is a good idea.
  • If your sales are affected by the crisis and you have a team then instead of looking at lay offs you could look at dropping everyone’s hours, this helps uphold team moral when they all feel in the same position.
  • If you have been forced to close, see if you can do something else:
  • Like offer offering a takeaway service (the hospitality industry has been told they can now do that without a planning application).
  • Do things via the internet.  Courses, meetings, seminars etc. (Zoom have cancelled their 40 minute limit on free accounts to all educational business so they can do classes for free).
  • Offer a delivery service.
  • Look at putting your goods online. There are plenty of online platforms to help you do this.

When your sales have dropped off a cliff

  • If you are struggling to get sales, instead of sitting doing nothing, use this time to be productive so that when this crisis is over then you will be ready to hit the ground running:
  • Look at your systems and processes and improve them.  Any cracks that have been showing in the past few months take this time to correct them.
  • Look at ways to give value to your list which will improve your relationship with your existing list and start new relationships with new prospects
  • Look at your marketing for the next year, remember you don’t market to get customers right now, you market to keep prospects coming into the system.  Please do not turn off your marketing!!
  • Plan, plan, plan … having this time to look at where you would like the business to be, and what needs to happen to get it there, is good clarity to know what you need to do when we come out of this crisis.
  • Find ways to help .. look at your ideal client and look at ways you can help them in this crisis, is there anything you can do to build trust with your target market that will help when the business starts again.
  • Look at your expense account, is there anything you can unsubscribe from, things you don’t need in the business that you can cut form your expenses.
  • If you are a business that does their accounts on an annual bases, as it’s the end of the financial year, why not prepare your 2019/20 year end account so you can be one of the first to have their tax return done in the New Tax Year.

Things you can look at personally

Things you can do to help your personal cashflow:

  • Ask for a 3 month holiday on your mortgage
  • Only pay minimum credit card payments rather than paying it off
  • Go through your bank statement and see if there are any unnecessary direct debits for membership you no longer use that you can unsubscribe from.

With all this said, I know that you will have fears and concerns, if there is anything that we at TI Accountancy can help you with then please just pick up the phone or ask us for a video chat .. we are here to help!!!

Stay safe

Tracy