Google Apps - Free Email for your Business

Your email address is often one of the first pieces of information a potential client finds out about you and your business when that first message pops up in their inbox. Many people continue to use an existing email address when they first launch their small business or freelance career, but evidence suggests that the use of a proper business email address inspires confidence in new business contacts.

Google provides a free service to businesses, offering use of the leading Gmail service for their company email, but incorporating their own unique company domain name. So instead of being janedoe@gmail.com, your clients and customers will see an email from janedoe@yourcompanyname.co.uk, which looks much more professional, but retains all the advantages of web-based email.

Over four million businesses are already using Google Apps, attracted by the fantastic, absolutely free email solution, which has none of the glitches and costs associated with accessing email via Outlook / MS Exchange. Plus there are a whole range of other features that businesses may find useful, such as web-based document storage and editing, calendars and other web-based apps, which all integrate smoothly and help you communicate with colleagues and clients also using the Google system.

It’s also worth noting that all your emails are stored online, so there’s no need to worry about losing your valuable contacts and important messages when your computer crashes or gives up completely!

Tempo is already a huge fan of Google Apps, and you can find more info here. However, don’t get tricked into signing up for a free trial of the paid for version – we recommend using the completely free version to start with!

If you don't have a domain name yet for your business or need help setting this up – just get in touch. We are very familiar with the whole process and are happy to help you get started.

Tempo's 2012 Budget Summary

Here's our summary of the main points in the budget that may effect freelancers, contractors and SMEs.

• Personal tax free allowance.   This increases from the current £7,475 to £8,105 in April 2012 and then up to £9,205 in April 2013 towards the longer term target of 10K.

• Higher rate tax boundary. The 40% tax bracket changes from the current £35,000 to £34,370 for the tax year 2012-13.

• Dividend tax for higher rate earners.  No changes here.  Higher rate earners will still incur a 25% personal tax charge on net dividends.  Higher rate earners are those grossing more than £42,475 in the tax year.  April 2013 sees a reduction of this threshold to £41,450.

• Corporation tax.  This will still be 20% for the majority of small businesses.  Business with profits over £1.5M will benefit from a 1% reduction (to 25%) in April 2012 and an additional 1% the following April.

• Child benefits.  Recent changes to proposals now mean that there will be a phased reduction in child benefit when one of the household's earners has an income of more than £50K, with only those earning above £60K losing all of the benefits.

• Pensions.  The annual higher rate tax relief allowance for pension contributions remains capped at £50K and the benefit of a tax free lump sum withdrawal at retirement still remains as a great incentive to save.

• Property. An increase in stamp duty to 7% effects buyers spending in excess of £2M on a property.  Plus strong measures are bought in to clamp down those using a Limited company as a tax reduction mechanism for buying property. 

The good news for small business is that the tax rate remains at 20%. We feel this is essential for stimulating a major source of innovation and competitiveness for "UK PLC".

Tempo recognises that the staffing industry is one sector with a fighting entrepreneurial spirit and it's top earners will benefit from the reduction of top rate tax to 45p along with the reduction in corporation tax for big business. Hopefully this will encourage the nation’s entrepreneurs and wealth creators and will lead to improved job creation in the UK.

The budget report also mentions that IR35 is to be simplified and has identified a new regime to monitor it.  This is generally good news as complete replacement would cause more upheaval and cost to the industry. 

Client Profile: Ready Writer Ltd - Website SEO and Copywriting

We've have an excellent bunch of clients here at Tempo and every so often we like to showcase an example.

www.thereadywriter.co.uk

Abidemi Sanusi, The Ready Writer Limited

Abidemi Sanusi is an author and director of The Ready Writer Limited, a copywriting company that provides content for small and medium-sized businesses. The Ready Writer’s primary focus is website content, using in-depth SEO knowledge to create fresh, exciting and hard-working copy for its client websites.

We talked to Abidemi to find out more about The Ready Writer and how Tempo provides the right accounting solution for her business. 

Firstly, can you tell us a little about The Ready Writer?

I believe that high quality, well-written content that is fully optimized for search engines will help drive traffic to my clients’ websites and consequently generate more potential leads and revenue for them. I have a passion for the psychology of the internet and love tracking website traffic and exploring how people like to communicate and share information. My business is all about harnessing this knowledge and applying it to enhance my clients’ websites.

Why did you choose Tempo to manage your accounting?

I previously used a traditional accountant but found that online accounting suited my needs far better. Spreadsheets were not working for me! I’m a ‘virtual’ business and an online accounting system seemed to be a better fit.

Which features make Tempo work well for The Ready Writer?

What I love about Tempo is that although it’s an online system, the level of service provided is fantastic. They always respond very quickly to my questions and nothing is too much trouble. It’s not a one-size-fits-all service either. I’m an author as well as a contractor, so I have specific needs related to managing book royalties, and they’ve helped manage this side of my accounting too, talking to my agent and adapting the system to suit me. Their flexibility has been brilliant.

What’s the system like to use?

I find Tempo very easy to use and love the intuitive interface. My favourite aspect of the system is how easy and efficient it is to generate personalised invoices and fire them off immediately to my clients.

Have you found the Tempo system easy to use?

Accounting isn’t my thing, I’m a writer, but the Tempo system, and the team, genuinely inspire confidence and anticipate your anxieties. No question is too silly to ask, and I especially like the fact that no action is undoable, so HMRC isn’t going to come down on me for making a mistake! I’m fairly computer-savvy so I’ve found it very easy to use, but even if you’re not particularly technical, they will hold your hand and do a run-through of the process, so it’s not terrifying at all.

Any other benefits you’d like to tell us about?

I have found that Tempo is definitely more cost-effective. When you’re a small business you need an affordable service, and it works out better for me than paying a book keeper and an accountant. But you also save money by making your business more tax efficient. Tempo is always suggesting ideas to save money wherever possible, so it’s been great to get the benefit of their expert knowledge.

www.thereadywriter.co.uk