Category Archives: Blog

Financial planning for University – “Today playgroup, tomorrow university”

Financial Planning Student

Someone said this to me about 18 years ago when their daughter, a similar age to mine, had just started playgroup.  This mother, so upset about losing the company of her toddler, not long after started to home-school – successfully, huge admiration.  At the same point, I practically jogged to […]

Xero for healthcare professionals

Xero for Healthcare

Due to changes in NHS contracts practice mangers are facing increased financial pressure; mainly the need to sustain a similar level of profit despite funding being reduced. This then puts pressure on patient care, and so the domino effect begins. How can we make lives easier for all here? Looking […]

Coast to Coast – Charity Cycle

Here at Robson Laidler we have a strong focus on giving something back to the community.  We have regular charity fund raising activities as well as volunteering opportunities. I’ll be honest I often ignore the requests for help with this or that charity effort but when someone suggested a charity […]

Receipt Bank for Practice Managers

Receipt Receipt Bank for Practice Managers

Imagine the scenario; you’re a busy practice manager, it’s the final month before your tax is due and you’re in a panic trying to pull all of your accounting records from the previous financial year together to send to your accountant. Sound familiar? Receipt Bank is the answer. Receipt Bank […]

Amanda’s Great North Run Training Update

Great North Run

I agreed at the start of the year that I would join the rest of the team at Robson Laidler in running for our charity of the year – Freeman Heart and Lung Transplant Association.  I’ve done a couple of half marathon’s before, the GNR in 2010 and the Sunderland […]

North East business advice – what is a dividend?

Dividends

A dividend is a payment from a limited company to the shareholders. There are some rules about when and how much the company can pay. Rule 1 – There must be sufficient reserves available to distribute. Put simply, the company has more assets than liabilities. If you have accounting software, […]

Advice for North East small businesses – should I go to a Limited Company?

Should I go to a Limited Company?

A lot of people ask if they should incorporate – (start to trade through a ‘limited company’ rather than a sole trade or partnership). I can’t stress enough the importance and value you will have from a proper consultation with a qualified accountant or tax specialist to make sure everything […]

Self employed millennials heading for a rocky retirement

Millennial retirement planning

Recent research from Fidelity suggest that those who are self employed between the ages of 23 and 38 (millennials) are not saving enough for retirement. Two in three young self-employed workers surveyed by the investment firm and pension provider said they had no pension savings whatsoever, with nearly three-quarters of […]

Later Life Care – a financial time bomb?

Later Life Care - a financial time bomb?

Local authorities are cash strapped – fact.  The Dilnot Report capping the cost of Later Life Care fees keeps being delayed.  Something has to be done to address this. The Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) has published ‘Care in later life: incentives to use assets to pay for care’ sponsored by […]

Future proof your lifestyle

Future proof your lifestyle

It feels like there’s a lot of uncertainty about at the moment – whether it’s Brexit or our next PM or the state of the economy.  It may be concern about climate change, job security, lifestyle.  Although these things seem big and out of our control there are steps we […]