News - Small Business Insider

Bottled water in the workplace

Posted on March 30, 2020 Written by Administrator

It’s time for the board meeting. Or another of the regular get-togethers for the work team. And what invariably goes centre-table? The answer, of course, is a selection of bottled water.

No speaker wants to go dry-mouthed. Every participant needs to be sufficiently hydrated to stay focused, concentrate, and keep their mind on the matters in hand. If you were in any doubt, the Association of UK Dieticians (BDA) reminds us how drinking water keeps a dry mouth, lethargy, poor concentration, and dizziness at bay.

It’s for essential health reasons that you are legally required to make clean drinking water readily available for all of your employees.

So, the bottled water in the centre of the table plays a critical role. That role is made all the more important by the nature of the water you serve and the type of bottle you use.

The water

Few self-respecting offices these days are likely to leave jugs of tap water on the boardroom table – directors, clients, senior executives, and your workforce as a whole may reasonably expect better.

You – and they – want water that is clean and pure, free of the impurities that even British tap water may contain. It must have a great taste and, preferably, can be served still, sparkling or chilled.

The way to get your drinking water that clean is to install a drinking water filtration system. Modern systems can remove up to 99% of all impurities – and leave you with a refreshingly clean and great tasting drink of water.

Filtered water systems such as this connect directly to your mains water supply, so that once the system is installed, you fresh, clean water is going to cost you little more than the current price of tap water – less than 5p litre.

The bottle

If you are looking for any sense of corporate social responsibility, you will avoid the use of plastic bottles at all costs. Not only are they inelegant to look at, but plastic bottles are also widely acknowledged as the scourge of environmentalists because of the extremely long life before they degrade, together with their lasting and harmful pollution.

Consciousness about sustainability and eco-friendly solutions is now widespread, so you may demonstrate your commitment to just such concerns by doing away with single-use plastic bottles and replacing them with reusable, dishwasher-safe glass bottles.

You can even go a step further in the way you serve your bottled water. Some companies that supply elegantly designed and stylish glass bottles on which you can print your company logo – and a message reiterating your commitment to environmental sustainability.

A special printing process ensures that the logo – together with any message – is indelibly printed on your glass bottles, serving a reminder of your commitment to values of corporate social responsibility.

The next time you are setting up the board room or arranging an office meeting, consider whether the drinking water you are serving is the freshest, purest and tastiest that can be. If not, it may be time to find out more about filtered water and in-house bottling solutions.

The positive impact of tech in sports

Posted on March 20, 2020 Written by Administrator

In the world of sports technology is gradually bringing in changes, with small pieces of new tech being incorporated into old ways of doing things. In sport, this helps preserve the tradition while slowly improving every aspect.

As an ex-pro basketball player and Olympian, I avidly follow developments, particularly the use of technology in sports. Here are five areas where tech is having an impact and improving sports…

Funding

Talent and effort should be all it takes to become a professional athlete. Unfortunately, funding tends to be a major deciding factor. Those without the funding can’t afford to take time out from work to train, can’t afford the best trainers, and won’t be able to access the best technology.

Until fairly recently, however, top athletes and teams have taken the lion’s share of funding and sponsorship opportunities. Less well-known athletes along with those just starting out have struggled to get the funding they need to break into the professional leagues.

The good news is that, in recent years, new sources of funding have arisen, allowing fans to financially support clubs and athletes in return for a share of future incomes. Not only does this provide an additional avenue for fans to get involved but it also provides a way for up-and-coming athletes and clubs to raise unrestricted funds, helping them to go pro.

Sports Equipment Design

While computers have been at the forefront of a lot of changes in sport, one of the most significant comes from the world of materials and product design and engineering.

Tennis rackets and golf clubs, for example, have seen some huge technological leaps, using new graphite shafts for better weight to strength ratio. Computers have, of course, assisted with these new designs, improving performance through the use of aerodynamics.

The deployment of new materials, such as kevlar, have also dramatically improved the strength of sails, bicycle helmets, and even football boots. Kevlar is a fibre that is around five times stronger yet much lighter than steel, making it ideal in these heavy-use situations. I see many of these new materials being applied to sports equipment in the coming years, helping to make it stronger, longer-lasting and safer.

Training & Nutrition

What separates the amateur and pro athletes is training. More, better training will create professional athletes out of even the most modest spark of talent. A lack of or low-quality training will hamper even the most promising of players.

Computer-aided training programmes now integrate live data into sports science models to help improve every aspect of the athlete’s performance. Tennis player can improve their services, swimmers their technique, and footballers their strike rate. What’s more, computers are now beginning to spot areas of weakness and suggest improvements, potentially helping to avoid long-term injuries building up.

New technology also makes it easier to monitor an athlete’s nutrition, computer programs have improved nutritional advice, and developments in food and drink production allow for very precise nutritional balance as well as new protein bars, energy drinks, etc.

In the future, I see more wearable technology being integrated to utilise live data and provide immediate feedback to athletes and coaches. Training and nutrition can then be quickly adapted to the athlete’s needs, improving performance while helping to avoid future injuries.

Engaging Fans

There has been a proliferation of new ways to watch sport ‒ from HD streaming to watching via betting sites. This has allowed fans to get involved in the action, betting on in-play odds, commenting on streams, and even just seeing more detail of the game.

There have also been now ways for fans to get involved in the action, such as fantasy leagues and in-play betting, engaging fans through personal investment. Fans can also support individual players and teams financially, through sites like Globatalent, as well as trading player-based stocks on sites like Sports Stack and Football Index.

Platforms such as Twitter have also made it easier for fans to connect directly with athletes, getting immediate responses and exclusive opportunities to meet their idols. I believe this interactive element is responsible for the resurgence of interest in sports over the past ten years and is helping athletes to build a business around their sporting career.

Fairness

While we’d all like for players to be good sports and professional in their attitudes, we also want to see passion bursting forth through their performance. We want them to push as hard and as far as they can go in order to surprise and delight their fans.

However, the downside to all this passion and performance has been athletes cheating or claims of unfairness in referee decisions. We’ve all been aware of the controversies surrounding goal-line decisions in international football games, for example, and Lance Armstrong’s doping scandal shocked and shook the world of cycling, damaging the reputation of the sport.

Fortunately, however, technology is improving every aspect of fairness in sport. Video referees can now be called on to make decisions using slow-motion cameras at every angle, goal-line and hawkeye technology can now deliver uncontroversial decisions in football and tennis, while anti-doping techniques can now spot a huge range of illegal performance-enhancing drugs before a scandal breaks out.

Not only will this new level of fairness help keep controversy and scandal away, but it will also bring a renewed enthusiasm for sports that have been plagued by unfairness in the past.

We still have some way to go, but now that the technology has been accepted in the sporting world, I believe we will see the rapid adoption of new technologies across every aspect of the sporting world, helping to improve everything.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ferran Martínez is one of the co-founders of GlobaTalent. He is a former pro basketball player for FC Barcelona and Spanish National Team, a Laureus member, led sports entertainment at several private banks and is now a successful entrepreneur. He also has experience in advising in terms of investment and has done so for FC Barcelona players.

Web: https://globatalent.com/

Web: https://globatalent.envestry.com/deals/2987

Twitter: https://twitter.com/globatalent

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/globatalent.official

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/globatalentsport/

Payroll Mistakes Businesses Make When Running Payroll That Can Lead to Unnecessary Tax, Penalties and Costly Staff Relationship

Posted on March 12, 2020 Written by Administrator

On the face of it Payroll should be simple. Once you’ve registered for PAYE and HMRC has approved your application, all you need is some software and you can start entering the pay details for your staff. Once all the data is in – voila! – you get a payroll summary and payslips to send to your employees. All that is left to do is to make payments to both your staff (net pay) and to HMRC (tax and national insurance.)

However, Payroll can be difficult and errors are costly in both financial and emotional terms. That’s why there is a whole professional body and exams (CIPP) behind payroll professionals.

Let’s review some commonly made payroll mistakes so you can get things right and avoid unnecessary stress and upset.

1. Failing to review and report tips and gratuities as earnings

A classic mistake some employers in the hospitality industry make is to assume incorrectly that they do not need to run PAYE on tips and gratuities. The tax treatment depends on the specific arrangement regarding the distribution of the tips.

Where the employer is involved in the distribution of the tips, then they need to include the amounts on the payroll. Where employees receive the tips directly from customers, then the employees would need to declare this on their own tax return and the employer does not need to run payroll. This is an area you will need to take further advice on.

2. Not declaring personal bills as earnings

Personal bills incurred by employees and directors (for example payment of credit card or utility bills) that are paid by the employer will normally be liable to tax and NI. The tax treatment depends on who the contract is with and how payment is made. So, where the contract is between the employee and the supplier, the employee pays the bill but then gets reimbursed by the employer, the full cost is treated as earnings (salary) for the purposes of tax and NI. And this needs to go on the payroll.

3. Forgetting to claim the £3,000 employment allowance

There have been cases where small businesses have missed claiming this allowance for a period of four years. That’s a lot of money to waste. If you employ staff, do not forget to claim the £3,000 cash off your payroll tax bill. This is not an automatic allowance and must be claimed by ticking a box or making an application depending on how you run your payroll.

4. Incorrectly claiming employment allowance

The employment allowance rules can be easily misunderstood. If you’re a sole director and the only person on the payroll, you cannot claim this allowance. So do not check or tick any relevant box on your payroll software.

Failing to appreciate these five payroll risk areas

The following five areas deserve an article on their own as they are known to cause major headaches and errors when it comes to running your payroll.

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
Termination Payments
Share Schemes
Pensions and Student loans

With SMP, SSP and Termination payments, it’s really important to ensure that the qualifying conditions are met. Always seek specialist advice before proceeding.

6. Overpaying or underpaying staff

This is a very common and sensitive payroll mistake employers make. And where over payment has been made to staff who have left, it becomes impossible to get the overpayment back especially if the employee can show that they didn’t know they were overpaid.

To avoid this error, it’s important to use a checklist and do reasonableness check on net payments made to staff.

7. Breaching the minimum wage legislation

By not observing the minimum national wage, it’s not only the employee who is affected and might bring a claim; HMRC has been known to bring cases successfully against employers who pay below the minimum wage. HMRC do this because they too have a vested interest in the form of PAYE tax. So, the unsuspecting employer gets clobbered twice here.

8. Not reporting benefits and expenses

Most benefits you give to your staff get taxed. For example, car benefits, holidays, school fees, medical insurance and the like. At the same time some expenses you pay on behalf of your staff also get taxed and subject to national insurance. However, the way these get taxed is not through the monthly payroll but through the Benefits in Kind system. A classic mistake here is forgetting to report and declare these benefits.

9. Missing the filing deadlines

Where you’ve paid your staff but not sent in the payroll returns (Full Payment Submission), HMRC will send you a late filing notice. Unless you have a reasonable excuse for filing late, they may charge you £100 a month penalty if you have fewer than 10 employees.

10. Over reliance on payroll software

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, there is a reason why payroll people take exams and become members of the CIPP (Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals) – any Payroll system used can only be as good as the person using it. Ensure that all relevant data is entered so that the system can calculate everything correctly. And do use a checklist and do reasonableness checks.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jonathan Amponsah CTA FCCA is an award winning chartered tax adviser and accountant who advises business owners on entrepreneurial tax reliefs. Jonathan is the founder and CEO of The Tax Guys.