Not just Tax - the wider implications

The risks involved in advising an SME or a micro business


For business bank managers - Zero risk, as long as there is no bank lending contracts

For accountants: The risk is generally perceived as serious, because:

1. 40% of start ups fail within three years
2. Single owner businesses without employees has grown by 1.2 million in ten years (1998-2008)
3. Bookkeeping Software and "in-the-cloud" computing options are only as efficient as the knowledge of the end-user (your client).

According to the UK government's 2008/9 statistics, there are:

• 4.7 million enterprises
• just over 1.2 million employers
• 0.2 million employers have more than 9 employees

We may not have all the answers, but there is no doubt in our mind that the demand for skilled bookkeepers and accounting technicians will continue to grow.

A BBC report in September 2010 reads as follows:

Tax gap has reached £42bn, says HMRC

Copyright 2011 - Aernout P A Fabius on behalf of the Bookkeeping Connections Technical Community of Practice