RS Accountants

3 things to remember when you plan your 2014 finances

by Russell Smith | Dec 18, 2013 | Business, Entrepreneur, Financial Mastery, KPIs

I like Christmas but I love the New Year period. Every year, I will spend approximately 3 days (22 hours split over the Christmas/New Year period) planning the new year. I review my goals set in the previous year and my achievements against these goals. I then set...

The top 3 numbers that most business owners want to know in their accounts

by Russell Smith | Nov 13, 2013 | Accounts, Business

We did a straw poll today in the office of the top 3 numbers that most business owners want to know in their accounts. The results… 1. PROFIT As in, profit before tax. Profit is the result of income less expenses and the number that most people want to know. ...

Margaret Thatcher, Alex Ferguson and leadership

by Russell Smith | May 9, 2013 | Business, Directors, Entrepreneur

An interesting comment tonight on my favourite (only) television program – ‘This week in politics’ Michael Portfolio was remembering how he had to be fully prepared and briefed on all the details before he met with Margaret Thatcher. He said...

How to get a ‘time to pay’ payment plan with HM Revenue & Customs

by Russell Smith | May 8, 2013 | Accounts, Business, Planning

In 2008, the government introduced the ‘time to pay’ scheme. This was to enable businesses to receive a payment plan on outstanding PAYE/NI or VAT. It was implemented to ease the early effects of the recession. It was a huge success and many businesses...

How important is it to you that you hit your financial target?

by Russell Smith | Apr 27, 2013 | Business, KPIs

If you have a look around Amazon or a bookstore in the business/self improvement section, you will find lots and lots of books on goal setting. Goal setting is a skill, no doubt about it. But goal setting is the easy bit. Its the managing of the goal which is the...

Increasing your sales is impossible

by Russell Smith | Apr 24, 2013 | Business, Entrepreneur, KPIs, Sales and marketing

Businesses live and die on the ability to communicate their service and product to the market place. Sales and marketing is a massive subject that any business owner would do well to immerse themselves in. However, here’s a quick tip: Increasing your sales is...

How I turned a £5,000 investment into £225,000

by Russell Smith | Apr 20, 2013 | Business, Training

For those business owners out there who are really passionate about what they do, networking can be a hugely rewarding and lucrative part of the marketing mix. Unfortunately, many business owners read the word ‘networking’ as net-let’s have a coffee...

The drive for profitability

by Russell Smith | Aug 28, 2012 | Business

Most business owners want growth in their business. Few just want to tick over. Many business owners are sales people and nearly all sales people want more revenue. The classic mistake that business owners who are sales people make is they think that business growth...

If you are starting a business as a sole trader, here’s how to register….

by Russell Smith | Aug 24, 2012 | Business

When people start a business they know they need to do something about the tax office and accounts but they are a bit daunted about the next step. When I do this as part of my “Everything you need to know about self employment” workshop, it is the question...

The interesting thing about business plans…

by Russell Smith | Jul 30, 2012 | Business

Many years ago, Inc magazine (an American business magazine) included 100 business start ups in a study on business plans. They noted down the businesses that had completed a business plan before they had started trading and the ones that hadn’t. They then...