Hi Long time no speak...or at least, it seems a long time since my update last Saturday. Apologies for the radio silence - this week has been the craziest yet - but remember you can always book a call with me using this link if you want to chat. There physically aren't enough hours in a week for us to call every client, but we will always make time for you if you let us know you need it. (The picture above? Yeah, admit it, there's been enough photos of me now...these are the office dogs) The Portal Did Go Live As Promised! (Who Knew??) This week has been rather brutal for us, largely concentrated around making applications for clients to claim the grant for their furloughed staff. But we're still alive and there's still gin in the cupboard, so things could be worse... Credit where credit is due, though, to HMRC (and I don't often say that); in three weeks, they have built from scratch the claim portal and it went live, as promised, at 7.00am on Monday 20th. It crashed at 7.10am but let's overlook that for now! Clearly it's not the finished article but I would say 95% of applications are accepted online, with the remaining 5% needing manual intervention from HMRC. If you're going to make the application yourself - and we don't mind, really! - I can say it hasn't been without its challenges. From time to time the system will get overloaded and kick you out half-way through with no warning. You can't save your application so you need to do it start-to-finish in one go, and you type every employee's details in manually - a refresher of Mavis Beacon (if you're as old as me?) might be in order. ⌨ If you have staff without National Insurance numbers (e.g. under 16s) then the system won't accept your claim and it'll need to be a conversation with HMRC to get around it. The calculations themselves, around average and reference pay to date, are rather convoluted where you have staff with variable pay (overtime/bonus/commission etc), and GSheets or Excel will be your friend here - HMRC just ask for the final figures. Now, all that's left to do is wait for the cash. We expect the first tranche of payments - from Monday's applications - to arrive in your bank on Tuesday 28th. 🤞 Ok, enough about furlough for now...what else is in the news? CV19 Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) If you're considering a loan under CBILS, you'll have seen from my earlier update that govt-backed loans are available even if you wouldn't normally meet the bank's own lending criteria. If you can show that, if it weren't for CV19, your business would be profitable, this scheme may help you. So far around 16,000 businesses have received nearly £3bn in funding, with another 20,000 applications in process. To recap, it'll be a loan of up to 6 years, with no interest repayments for 12 months, and no personal guarantees will be required. The minimum loan value from most banks is £10,000, and any arrangement fees will be paid by the govt 👍 Of course, it is still debt, which will need to be repaid when the good times (hopefully) return. Not all banks have signed up to CBILS - it's optional for them - so here is a current list of who you can speak to - and you can filter the list based on your circumstances. Wrongful Trading Regulations Temporarily Suspended I'm sure you all know and love s.214 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (no, me neither), which basically tells directors that if the company is insolvent (i.e. more liabilities than assets) and there is "no reasonable prospect of avoiding insolvent liquidation" then directors could be personally liable for the debts of the company on winding up. That's a pretty big pill to swallow right now, when nobody knows when lockdown will finish, and could force some directors to liquidate purely to avoid them being liable for the company's debts, when nobody knows what next week, let alone next quarter, will hold. Good news: Alok Sharma has temporarily suspected the regulations, effective from 1st March to 31st May, with a potential extension if required. It's certainly no magic wand but it does at least give you a little more breathing space. Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS)
No more news here, other than to say the scheme should be ready "mid-May", but of course when we get more information we will share it with you. Payments are expected early June. For clarification, if you are employed by your own limited company you are NOT self-employed, in HMRC's eyes; you are an employee, and help is potentially available under the furlough scheme. Give me a buzz if you're not sure. Supporting Each Other If your business has been hammered by CV19 but is still able to continue trading in some capacity, can we use the power of everyone in this group, and their contacts, to generate some work for you? Regardless of whether you're a client or not - it really doesn't matter - tell us about your business, how it's been affected, how we can help and what services you are still able to offer under lockdown. Perhaps, someone might just be after that right now... 🤞 | 
