Author: Frost Wiltshire

Frost Wiltshire

Research and Development – it’s not all lab coats and test tubes

Have you come across Research and Development relief (R&D) before? If you own or run a company, this relief could be hugely advantageous to you.

HMRC are really keen right now to help companies in developing new and exciting products; these range from anything to developing mobile phone apps to creating a new part for a bike; if the product is new and innovative, it could be eligible for this relief.

If eligible, the company can get an additional deduction on the qualifying expenditure of 130% of that expense – that means that for every £100 spent on R&D, the company saves £24.70.

In addition, if the company makes a loss, which is common in the early developmental stages of a product, the company can turn a loss into an almost immediate cash repayment. of up to 14.5% of the R&D deduction.

Here at Frost Wiltshire, we have considerable experience in preparing and submitting R&D claims and have 100% success rate in doing so.

If this is of interest to you, give us a call and speak to our tax director, Mel Hackney, who will be able to provide more guidance as to whether the expenditure is likely to be classified as R&D.

Frost Wiltshire

Welcoming to Emma Hooper to the team

The last couple of months have seen milestones for Frost Wiltshire.

At the end of January, Anna Frost left us for pastures new, marking the end of an era for us.  We wish her lots of luck in her new role.

And then, at the end of February, we celebrated another milestone with the arrival of Emma Hooper, our first trainee Chartered Accountant.

Emma, who is part way through her ICAEW qualification, joins us as a Manager and will help us to deliver a range of services to our clients, with particular focus on accounts preparation, further strengthening our line up as we grow the practice whilst maintaining our focus on quality of service.  Emma joins us from another Bristol-based firm, to continue her training contract.

Steve Wiltshire, Managing Partner, said “We are delighted to welcome Emma to the fold, and feel confident that she will quickly settle into her new role and become a trusted and familiar point of contact for our clients.”

Frost Wiltshire

Auto enrolment is changing

Auto Enrolment is changing – Are you aware?

From 6 April 2018, minimum contributions are increasing for Auto Enrolment. By law, the employer must pay a minimum contribution of 2% and the employee has to top this up to the required total contribution of 5%, meaning employee contributions rise from 1% to 3%.

If the employer pays the minimum total contribution (5%) then the employee will not need to make any contribution, unless the scheme rules requires them to do so.

These increases are a legal requirement and changes will need to be made in April in order for the scheme to remain a qualifying scheme. If the contributions are below this level the scheme may not be used for automatic enrolment.

Both the employer and employee may choose to pay more than the minimum contributions if they wish. If your pension scheme already has contributions of more than the total minimum contributions no changes will be needed in April.

There are no additional duties requiring employers to advise employees of the changes, but it would be a good idea to do so to minimise queries.

Frost Wiltshire

New year, new look

Five years on from the start of the Frost Wiltshire story, we decided that it was time to refresh our look with a new website and logo.  Another six months on, and here we are: delighted to be launching our vibrant new logo, together with a brand new, fresh and modern responsive website.

The polished simplicity of the new website, and the vibrant new visual representation of the firm, are entirely consistent with our core values – delivering top quality advice and support in a straight forward, refreshing way.  We hope you like our new look as much as we do.

Frost Wiltshire

Welcome to Abi Purdy

Following changes to the Frost Wiltshire team over the summer, we are delighted to welcome Abi Purdy to the firm.

Abi joins us as a Manager, and will take responsibility for the day to day running of our payroll service.  She brings a wealth of experience in the payroll arena coming from a local firm where she has been responsible for payroll for over five years.  This experience will enable Frost Wiltshire to maintain and strengthen our established outstanding payroll service to our growing portfolio of clients, as they navigate the ever-increasing complexities associated with PAYE, and Auto Enrolment.

Excitingly for the firm, Abi’s role is full time and will extend beyond payroll, enabling her to support directors Anna and Mel with delivery of our accounts and tax compliance services.

Steve Wiltshire, Managing Partner, was pleased to welcome Abi to the team, saying “We are thrilled that Abi has joined the team, and are confident that she quickly will feel at home here.  Her deep knowledge of payroll will strengthen our offering in that field and her interest and enthusiasm for accounts and tax compliance will enable us to continue to grow our client base whilst maintaining quality of service and value for money for our clients.”