Ten Tips for effective time management

“In life we only get one chance with our time – we cannot go back and use the last ten seconds” – Nigel Risner

Shift to valuing your time – this is an important change and you will never waste another minute!  In a pound sense, this should mean that you are comfortable charging for knowledge and experience, after all it has taken your time and energy, so don’t let clients or anyone take you for granted.  Remember, we cannot go back and use the last ten seconds, we only get one chance.

Get the most out of every day – ask yourself: am I making the best use of my time?  If not, STOP whatever you are doing and then continue to work on a project that will allow better use of your time.  Get up and for a walk if you are ‘bogged down’ with a specific situation and then return to tackle it.

Goals – work with goals in mind, it makes a difference.  If you don’t know what these are or don’t have any, spend some time working out what they may be.  Examples could be professional (such as project deadlines, sales targets, career enhancements) and personal goals (fitness, health, family and relationships, financial goals).

Handle things once only – you’ve heard it before never handle a piece of paper twice, if it is paper use the ‘three d’ rule, i) do it, ii) dump it, iii) delegate (we all like that one).  The same rule can be applied to emails (action, delete or forward).

What is your secret?  Ask someone you believe is efficient, what their secret is, how they developed their techniques, then establish how it could work for you.

Stop allowing time to be taken from you – if someone is late for their appointment and hasn’t contacted you, allow 15 minutes from the agreed time and then move on.  If you are stopped during the day by a colleague, client or telephone caller, ask them to arrange a meeting wherever appropriate.  You can decide how you allow other people to use your time.

Family and personal time – you do not want to finish your career and then realise that you have missed out on quality time with family and friends.  We all need this support so make sure you build time into your daily activities.

Health – it is important to maintain health and fitness and whilst we have been talking about time, knowledge and energy are also invaluable.  Being stressed/overworked will only hamper your health.  Take that break, go for a walk, spend time with family, have a massage and remember to have a yearly medical check up.

Remove clutter from office and home ­- the more you simplify your office and home, the more time you will create.  Clutter saps energy, creates more work thus allowing time to be wasted on non-valuable tasks.  Clear the clutter today!

Peak Performance – schedule those demanding tasks to the part of the day best for you and when energy levels are at their highest.  Some of us are larks and some owls so establish when your peak time is and then see how quickly you achieve results. 

Tips on maintaining business records

If you are not sure what information and detail is required- ask your accountant. Most will have a basic template you can use in Excel as a starting point.

Keep all the paperwork in monthly batches so it is easy to find if you need to go back to something at a later date.

Do little and often. Entering details of receipts and invoices can be tedious so don’t leave it until you have almost a years worth to do in a hurry. Try to do quick and painless chunks each week or at least once a month. The benefit of this is that you not only avoid hours of mind numbing work but that you have an up to date picture of your financial situation, rather than operating in the dark until the year end.

If you are using a bookkeeper, outline in advance exactly what you want and get a cost agreed.

Get a couple of different quotes to make sure you are getting value for money.

Check what is being produced to ensure it’s what you were expecting, but also looking at the figures on a regular basis will help you understand your spend and income. It can help you spot patterns or possible cash flow issues.

Keep communication open; make it easy for the bookkeeper to ask about things as and when they crop up. 

You may get questions at the year end from the accountant and you will not remember any of the detail required especially if you have just been handing over any paperwork to a bookkeeper.

Negotiate a lower cost of year end accounts with your accountant due to you having fab and organised records and all the information they may need at their fingertips.

The cost increases...

If you hand over a box full of receipts and random paperwork to your accountant at the year end, the cost of your accounts is likely to spiral. Your accountant will then give all of that paperwork to someone to sort and process- the time it takes obviously attracts a cost which is added to the bill of your year end accounts.

Once the basic accounts are drafted your accountant will likely come back to you with questions, probably tax related. If you have kept enough information to answer questions quickly with the correct level of detail, the accounts will be finished quickly and the bill minimised. If you have not kept information regarding complex or tax sensitive issues, then the work your accountant has to undertake is more time consuming and may involve communications with the revenue which again pushes up the costs.

You may be thinking- not if I agreed a fixed fee! But the fixed fees are usually based on the assumption that you can provide required information, it can be argued that work resulting from missing information is additional work to the initial quote - so don’t get caught out.

Basic guide to National Insurance Contributions

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·         National Insurance for the Self Employed, Employees and Employers.

Self Employed people pay 2 types of National Insurance – Class 2 and Class 4.

·         Class 2 National Insurance is a flat weekly amount (£2.70 for 2013/14) paid monthly or 6 monthly by direct debit.

·         It contributes towards your entitlement to your basic state pension as well as some other, but not all, benefits.

·         When you first become self employed it is important to make sure you register to make these contributions either by:

-          speaking to HMRC (newly Self Employed Helpline: 0300 200 3505)

-          by using the Revenue’s online registration tool or

-          by completing form CWF1 which you should be able to find easily on Google.

There are a few exemptions available for Class 2 NI the most common being age exemption and small earnings exemptions. If you think you may not need to pay Class 2 NI then you should speak to your accountant.

·         Class 4 National Insurance is calculated via your Self Assessment Tax return and is based on your assessable profits and payable along with any tax due for the year. The current rates are: 

-          7,755 @ 0%

-          7,756-41,450 @ 9%

-          above £41,450 @ 2%

·         Using these rates a person profiting £50,000 during 2013/14 would pay £3,203 of Class 4 National Insurance and this would be due on 31 January 2015 - the 31^st January following the end of the tax year - along with any tax they are due to pay.

Again there are some exemptions and you should speak to your accountant if you think you might not need to pay Class 4 National Insurance.

Employees normally pay only Class 1 primary contributions.

·         These are deducted by your employer based on your gross salary before they pay you your net salary.

·         The current rates are:

-          7,748 @ 0%

-          7,749-41,444 @ 12%

-          above 41,444 @ 2%

·         The deductions made for Class 1 primary contributions contribute towards your entitlement to your basic state pension and HMRC keep track of these using your National Insurance number.

·         There are some exemptions and also some situations where lower rates may be paid. You should speak to your accountant if you would like to learn more.

Employers pay Class 1 secondary contributions for their employees, Class 1A and sometimes Class 1B National Insurance.

Class 1 secondary contributions are charged as a percentage of employee’s earnings over certain amounts. The rates are not included in this guide, as this type of National Insurance applies differently depending on whether the employee is also a director of the company.

Class 1A National Insurance is due on the value of some taxable benefits provided to employees during a tax year. These benefits are reported on forms P11d(b) and P11d and any National Insurance due must be paid by 19^th July following the end of the tax year in which the benefit has been provided. The rules can be rather complex and there are heavy fines for completing these forms incorrectly, so it is a good idea to seek advice if you are providing your employees with benefits in kind.

Class 1B National Insurance is paid by an employer who enters into a PAYE settlement agreement with the Revenue. This is where an employer provides a taxable benefit to employees but does not want the employees to suffer the tax themselves. If you are thinking of entering into such an agreement I would highly advise you to speak to your accountant.

 There are many exemptions and planning opportunities when considering National Insurance contributions for both individuals and employers. This guide has been intended to be used to explain the very basics and you should seek advice if any of the situations (below) apply to you or if you do not understand your obligations.

·         Both employed and self employed

·         Reaching state pension age

·         Not sure if you qualify for state pension

·         Employer wanting to provide benefits to employees

·         Under 16 years old

·         Low earnings

·         Women who applied to pay reduced National Insurance

·         Employers thinking of entering into a PAYE Settlement Agreement

If you have any questions/require further advice on any of the above, please do not hesitate to contact Robyn Milstead – Personal Tax Manager at Ward Williams. robyn.milstead@wardwilliams.co.uk