FEBRUARY 2019 | 17
News
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
FIRECO COLUMN
‘
Everything is
in one place
How to comply with the
MTD requirement
Surprisingly, 98% of VAT returns
are already submitted electroni-
cally. This is done either by the
business directly or by their ac-
countant using a web form. Unfor-
tunately that isn‘t MTD compliant
as the figures aren’t linked back
to sales and costs and HMRC are
going to be withdrawing the web
form. Currently only 8% of VAT
registered businesses submit VAT
returns using accounting software
that they directly control and that’s
likely to be disproportionately by
larger businesses.
The key point to understand
is that VAT registered installer
businesses must make sure their
’
individual sales and costs get into
some system with an MTD for VAT
interface. However, they do not
need to run it themselves. There
are several ways to achieve this:
• Pass all sales and costs to your
accountant who puts them
into the accounting system
they run. If you already use
an accountant for your VAT
return things may not change
other than cost.
• If you use an accounting
system to do your own VAT
return, your supplier should be
MTD compliant and can help.
• If you do your own VAT
return manually you either
need to implement a complex
accounting system or imple-
ment a system designed for
installers, like that from my
company, Powered Now.
The key take-away is that if you
manually add up your sales and
costs and put the figures into the
HMRC web form for the nine-box
return, from now on you will have
to use some sort of system.
Why it’s not all bad news
There are some large benefits
from implementing a system and
these include:
• Not only can you do VAT
returns, CIS returns can be
produced automatically and
MTD for profit and loss will
be available in the future.
• Quotes and invoices can be
produced faster and to a pro-
fessional standard and will al-
ready be on the system ready
to go. Calculations, including
VAT on invoices and totals are
done automatically. Emailing
or texting these documents is
quicker, easier and cheaper
than paper.
• Putting expenses onto a
system allows you to see the
profit on individual jobs.
• Everything is in one place and
you don’t have bits of paper
all over the place.
The final thought
It’s hard to find people in busi-
ness who like regulation and it’s
even harder in smaller companies.
That’s because compliance over-
head always helps the bigger guys
who have more people to spread
the burden across. However, now
MTD is the law it’s a little bit late
to moan about. Ignoring it will
only hurt ourselves. Even delaying
may be to our disadvantage be-
cause as we get caught in the rush
we are more likely to be charged
a premium for help. Really, the
best approach is to get on with it
as soon as possible. All of the best
with that.
About the author
Benjamin Dyer is CEO and
co-founder of Powered Now.
Powered Now’s mobile apps aim
to make it easier for installers,
builders and other trades to run
their businesses.
www.powerednow.com
WHAT IS MORE DEADLY
- SMOKE OR FIRE?
Fire and smoke are a deadly duo.
Most indoor fire deaths are not
caused by burns, but by smoke
inhalation. The spread of smoke
and fire throughout a building can
lead to devastating consequences.
The dangers of fire
Fire reduces oxygen levels
dramatically, which is deadly
for anyone in the room. The
air outside is normally around
21% oxygen. If the oxygen level
goes down to 17% people can
experience impaired judge-
ment. Less than this has more
serious effects: down to 9%
causes unconsciousness and at
6% death.
When air is hot enough, one
breath can kill. Superheated
gases burn the respiratory
tract.
The dangers of smoke
For a fire to grow inside a
building there needs to be ox-
ygen. The more the fire burns,
the more oxygen is removed
from the air, making it diffi-
cult to breathe. Fire will often
consume most of the availa-
ble oxygen, and so the burn-
ing process will slow down.
However, this ‘incomplete
combustion’ will release carbon
monoxide into the air, which is
deadly. Toxic gases are also cre-
ated by fire burning different
objects. For example, burning
plastic can produce hydrogen
cyanide.
Smoke leads to disorienta-
tion and clouds your vision,
making escape difficult.
Smoke inhalation is even
compared to the feeling of
drowning.
It is important
that buildings
have appropriate
safety measures
for preventing the
spread of smoke
and fire. Fire doors
should never be
wedged open.
There are many
alternatives for
holding open a fire
door that complies
with fire safety
regulations.
For more fire safety
information go to
www.fireco.uk/blog/