Member Spotlight

Market SectorAccountancy
Lives – Basingstoke, Hants
Web: www.tax-sorted.biz

When I left school I went to work for the tax office but only hung around there for three years before I decided to go travelling! A desk job was just soooo boring then! I spent some time working in the music industry doing PA & Lighting for a variety of bands before moving to Basingstoke where I have lived for the last 22 years with my wife Carole and daughter Pauline.

I spent a number of years running a cleaning business and then qualified as a driving instructor before I went back to college to train as a tax accountant. After a hard slog of working by day and going to college at evenings I passed my tax and accountancy exams and I am now a member of the Association of Tax Technicians (ATT) which is part of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. I have been working as a tax accountant since 2000.

Because of my experience of being in business myself – I DO understand the hassle and frustrations of running a business.

Most business owners I speak with say they pay too much tax. Does that sound like you?

At Tax–Sorted our approach is a little different to most firms of accountants. For a start – we remember who pays our bills – you! Not the taxman.

Why would you appoint us?
Well, the first thing we do for any client is to review the previous year's accounts and see if we can claim more legitimate expenses to reduce the tax bill. We reviewed the last set of accounts for our latest client and discovered a way to claim some extra expenses which created a tax refund for the previous year of over £2,500. Then we made the same claim for the current year and will be making the same claim each year from now. So my new happy client will be saving £2,500 each year from now on.

Ok – I will put my neck on the line and say this "If we can check your previous year's accounts and cannot find a way to save you tax we will complete the current year's accounts and tax return completely FREE!"

A bold statement I know but I'm willing to back this up!

How do we do this?
Because we are Tax Reduction Specialists we are constantly updating our tax knowledge and looking for legitimate ways to reduce our client's tax and apply these methods each time we do any work.

We also give our clients free easy to use bookkeeping software and offer free training how to use it. This means you (the client) take some of the responsibility for completing the records. This allows us to complete the accounts quicker and we can spend more time talking to you through the year. It also helps to keep you protected from the TAXman and the VATman should they come snooping!

On top of this we also offer six monthly tax forecasts as part of our service so you have no nasty surprises when the tax bill arrives.

Who are we?

My name is Shaun McGuinness and I started this business with my wife Carole just over three years ago. Before then I was employed at a firm of accountants in the small business & tax department. Situations changed and I decided to "take the leap" and go it alone – I have never looked back!

How are we different?

Firstly we realised our dreams of moving to another country. We live in the Pyrenees mountains in the South of France and have a small office in Basingstoke which handles our post and phone calls. Our clients are UK based businesses and I travel to the UK each month to meet clients when needed. We also use email and online meeting technology to help clients with their accounts and bookkeeping too.

As entrepreneurs there is no reason why you need to be geographically located in the UK to trade with other businesses. It doesn't suit all people but then we only want to work with likeminded entrepreneurs.

Of course this means I can start and finish early in the winter and go off snowboarding for a few hours at the end of the working day!

Who can we help?

We specialise in owner managed businesses turning over between £50,000 and £750,000 a year. Don't worry if you earn less – we all had to start somewhere and we would be pleased to help you grow! Even if you have an accountant you are happy with we can also take away the hassle of doing the books too – contact us for more information. You don't need to change accountants to do this.

We do have some clients in specialist industries including Pubs, Hairdressers, Coaches and NLPers, Consultants and also Designers.

When we take on any client we complete an extensive tax review to see if there are any ways to save money on tax and VAT. We also help clients who claim Child Tax Credits too because there are a few clever ways to get more from the system which are not obvious!

So just to recap:

We don't just "do the books" and let you know what your tax bill is at the year end. We offer much more than the usual service you expect to get from an accountant. Some of the benefits for you are:

• The use of plain English with our dealings with you at all times.
• Fixed fees. We quote a fixed price at the beginning of the year and guarantee this is what you will pay.
• FREE bookkeeping software. Our software is tailored to each clients' individual needs and usually means you cut your bookkeeping time in HALF! We train you how to use it and set up all the columns for you.
• Guarantees. If you are not 100% happy with our work we will refund the fee in full - no questions asked.
• FREE reports and resources. Our website is packed with resources for you to use and you can also sign up for FREE reports on subjects like "How to pay less tax" and "How to make more profit."
• FREE monthly tax tips and news e–zine.
• Unlimited phone and email support. If you need to ask us any questions just email us or pick up the phone – we won't charge you any extra!
• FREE initial tax review. We will identify any tax planning opportunities you are not presently taking advantage of. This covers business structure, tax on profits, taking money from your company and many more.
• Protection from tax investigations. With our help you can significantly reduce the chances of being investigated by the taxman. And even if you are selected we can usually help to close an enquiry very quickly.

Contact Shaun
Pinewood, Chineham Business Park, Basingstoke. RG24 8AL

E-Mail: taxsorted@googlemail.com
Web: www.tax-sorted.biz
Phone – 0800 634 4476
Mobile – 07941 757762

Tax Sorted Limited – Company in England No 05419622 – VAT No 878489933