Business costs and Christmas closing dates - 1st Dec 07

Email Footers
You may not be aware but as a condition of the new Companies Act it is a requirement from now on that email footers, as well as company letterhead, detail clearly the identity of the sender. So you should state in your email footer, whenever you are communicating on behalf of your company, the company name, registered office or trading address and company number. You can obtain all this information from your personal portal on the 'Company Details' tab.

Although it sounds like more red tape, I would suggest that if you always use a signature for your emails that states your name, qualifications, company name, home address (being the trading address) and company number, then for IR35 protection it is a strong and consistent indicator of your business status.

Orange & Gold is proud to have been identified in Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100; a league for Britain's 100 fastest growing private companies.  Placed at 37 this is a fantastic testament to our passion for success and commitment to delivering a fast and efficient service aimed to exceed our clients' expectations.

Insurance renewals due 9th December 2007

For those Orange & Gold clients who have company insurances, including Professional Indemnity insurance, under the old block policy, please be aware that the policy expires on the 9th December. You will need to renew DIRECTLY with the insurance company of your choice as a result of the new MSC regulations. (If you attended one of the Autumn Roadshows you may recall me discussing this issue.)

However, to make life a little easier I have negotiated preferential terms from Hendersons Insurance Brokers at the following rates that can be paid by direct debit from your company bank account.

Turnover  < £50K              £250 plus £131.25 = £381.25
Turnover  £50K - £100K     £375 plus £131.25 = £506.25
Turnover £100K - £200K    £550 plus £131.25 = £681.25
Turnover > £200K will be individually priced but likely to remain at £681.25 level.

The process will be that you complete the short application form attached and email it back to Hendersons DIRECTLY. Hendersons will confirm the quote and request a Direct Debit form. This requires the COMPANY BANK ACCOUNT details to be used. The forms will be available for download from your portal too.

Please action this immediately to ensure continuous cover, as required by the contracts you will have to supply services to your client.

Registered offices and issues around addresses

If your company registered office is your home address you will receive correspondence that requires our attention. Please remember to forward the correspondence on to us immediately so that you do not miss any filing deadlines. Alternatively, you can change the registered office to our Princes Risborough address and we will handle the correspondence directly. Let Emma Humphreys know if you want to change it.

Could you also please ensure that you no longer use the Wingrave office, which we have now left, and instead send any communications to: Orange & Gold Accountancy Ltd, 2 Redman Court, Bell Street, Princes Risborough, Bucks HP27 0AA.

Fees and direct debit plan

We will write to you in December outlining our quote for fees for the year ahead. We will also enclose a direct debit form that you will need to sign so that we can collect fees on a monthly basis from the end of January 2008. Fees that have not yet been billed to your company for 2007 work will be invoiced and drawn by BACS in early January and the new direct debit scheme will kick in from the end of January.

Christmas closing dates

Finally, early warning that Orange & Gold will be closed on the following days over the festive season:
24th 25th 26th December (working as normal 27th, 28th December)
31st December and 1st January (working as normal again from 2nd January 2008)