Ignore the post at your peril!

We all hate to deal with paperwork, especially when it is from the taxman, or maybe from Companies House. It usually means bad news or a bill, so the best thing to do with it is to put it aside in the “I’ll do that later pile”. Of course. we all know what can happen to that pile, it becomes forgotten as we deal with the more important aspects of our businesses.

Sometimes we think we have got away with it, because nothing nasty happens, so it must have been ok to ignore it, mustn’t it. What a relief, what could possibly go wrong?

Let’s look at a possible scenario.

You have an old dormant company that you no longer use, you are busy working on your new business, so you ignore any post relating to the old company, because you don’t need it any more. This must be ok, because nothing nasty has happened, so far. All of the post for this company is going into the “I don’t need to worry about this” pile, this continues for many months.

Then, one day, you get a letter from the bank. You open it thinking it is a statement, but to your horror you read it – it says that they have received notification from Companies House that your old company has been dissolved, therefore the £5000, that you had left in the account for a rainy day, is no longer yours, the account has been closed and the balance transferred to “The Crown”

You ask yourself, “how on earth could this have happened”?

Well, it turns out that some of those letters, from Companies House, that you had ignored, were chasing you for outstanding accounts and annual returns. But, because you hadn’t replied, Companies House have assumed that the company was no longer required, so they have started the process of striking off the company. Some of the “filed” letters would have informed you, but of course you didn’t see them, “what could possibly go wrong”? After a few months, the process is complete, your company is dissolved, the bank are notified and the rest is history.

This “nightmare” scenario is one, which we at BirchCooper Accounting Services will help you to avoid. We specialise in offering a full compliance service, to make you are aware of all the important dates and to make sure you don’t miss them. Of course, we can’t make you open your post, but we have other “ways and means” to make sure you do (with our help), whatever is necessary to negotiate the minefield that is compliance.

Don’t get caught out like this, we all have a myriad of dates and deadlines to remember – let us do it for you.

About the author:

Henry Cooper has been involved with accounting and finance for over 30 years. He is an experienced Non-Executive Director, Board Chairman, owner of a successful High Street Accountancy practice and part-time university lecturer

Henry is passionate about small and micro-business compliance, and has regular motivational speaking engagements, where he talks to potential and current small business owners about the practicalities and pitfalls of starting and growing a business.

He is regularly involved in consultations with HMRC, Companies House and other Government departments and is a Past President and Board Chair of the Association of Accounting Technicians, a global membership body for accounting professionals, with over 130,000 members in over 90 countries.

Contact details:

Telephone: 01280 817799
Email: henry@birchcooper.com
Twitter: @birchcooperh
Linkedin: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/henry-cooper/15/7a2/860