Latest news and industry views direct from Cypher HQ

You know the saying ‘fail to plan, plan to fail’. It’s true. And right now, there isn’t a better time to plan for you the future you want from your business.

Business owners will always try to understand who their competitors are, where they are stronger, where they are weaker, what their competitive advantage is.

I spoke to countless business owners throughout the various lockdowns, who all told me they were using their relative downtime to focus on their social media presence.

We’ve teamed up with Melu to offer you a special discounted rate for their amazing managed live chat service.

Earlier this month, Amazon opened its first UK till-less store. Shoppers at the new Amazon Fresh shop now scan a smartphone app.

This podcast episode was inspired by my first ever conversation with Alan Clark. I started Cypher by buying another business.

This blog from a Mind Your Business episode was inspired by the numerous stories we have read in the past 12 months about businesses having to pivot

The chancellor Rishi Sunak has released his much anticipated budget. Many of the headlines were trailed before today, so there were very few surprises.

Domestic reverse charge (DRC) is a new way of accounting for VAT, it will apply to all VAT registered construction businesses in the UK.

Businesses that deferred VAT payments last year can now join the new scheme to pay it in smaller monthly instalments.

They say two things in life are certain; death and taxes. Being an accountant, I focus on helping clients with one of those eventualities more than the other.

They say two things in life are certain; death and taxes. Being an accountant, I focus on helping clients with one of those eventualities more than the other.

VAT and Corporation Tax can now be deferred until March 2022.

At the start of the year, Alan Clark from Exponential Coaching and I decided to record a series of podcasts.

One of the on-going effects of the Covid-19 pandemic could be the creation of new, innovative businesses. 2020 saw a record number of companies created, with an extra 84,758 businesses starting up compared with 2019. We shouldn’t be too surprised; every economic downturn in history is accompanied by a rise of entrepreneurship.

Let’s face it, 2020 has been a year like no other. Instead of the perfect 2020 vision, we experienced a year that has changed the way we work, live, interact and shop like no other time in history. But there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Last week I was delighted to speak at this year’s Digital Accountancy Week. It was a virtual event and I enjoyed a ‘fireside chat’ with a representative of Fathom, who provide our state-of-the-art business performance and planning software.

Earlier this year, as business owners struggled to come to terms with the impact of Lockdown 1.0, we hosted a webinar on this very topic. As the UK enters Lockdown 2.0 we wanted to revisit one of the most critical issues for small business owners: managing their cash flow.

From the 1st September, the new 70 registration plates have been released, as the DVLA makes a change to its car registration system. This new system will see 2s and 7s in the number plate throughout the 2020 decade.

In September, the Government announced the launch of its new £2billion Kickstart scheme which is designed to fund six-month, paid, job placements for people aged between 16 and 24 who are on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment.

Whether you want to set up a side hustle or create a start-up company for yourself, there are some key decisions you must make first.

Let’s be honest, the reason any business is set up is to create wealth for a business owner and their family or to create funds to give away or invest into other ventures.