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A Bigger Pizza the Profits?

Domino's Pizza have been accused of misleading investors over relations with some of the franchisees who own the outlets. Last year, 11 of the company's biggest franchisees wrote to the Domino's board threatening to 'declare war' on the firm unless they got a bigger slice of the company's profits. The Domino's Franchise Association (DFA) warned that they could stop opening new outlets if their demands were not met. Domino's released their results last week and acknowledged that relations with fr...

Top Dog

Dylan the Papillon has been crowned Best in Show at this year's Crufts. The name Papillon derives from the French word for Butterfly, in reference to the shape of the ears of this toy breed. According to the Urban Dictionary, 'Papillon' also symbolises freedom. 'There are no chains on a Papillon as they go where they want and do whatever they choose' Sadly this is not true for the many people living in the UK who have fallen prey to modern slavery, particularly in industries such as domestic wor...

Falling Short

Bohemian Rhapsody actor, Rami Malek won the Oscar for Best Actor at last night's award ceremony. Sadly his triumph was somewhat  marred when he fell off the stage and took an embarrassing tumble into the audience. Thankfully the only damage incurred was to his pride.Equally red faced must be HMRC who have admitted that they will be late in sending out penalty notices to the estimated 746,000 taxpayers who missed the 31st January deadline for submitting tax returns. HMRC normally sends out w...

Labour Contractions.

Seven MP's have resigned from the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's approach to Brexit and anti-Semitism. They are Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Ann Coffey, Gavin Shuker and Mike Grapes. The MP's, who all back a further EU referendum, will sit in Parliament as The Independent Group. So is this the birth of a new political party? Apparently not, however Chuka Umunna said they had 'taken the first step' and urged other Labour MP's and also members of other...

6 Nations

English Rugby fans celebrated a comprehensive win over France in the second round of the 6 Nations yesterday at Twickenham. Winning by an impressive margin of 44 - 8, the victory saw England move to the head of the leader board. Man of the Match, Jonny May scored a hat trick in the first half - the first English man to score a hat trick against France since Jake Jacob in 1924.  Fans now eagerly await the next match against Wales later this month. In form Wales, described by England head coa...

Deal or No Deal?

With time running out to finalise a Brexit deal the Alternative Arrangements Working Group will meet today to discuss alternative arrangements for the Irish Backstop. The Working Group, consisting of a mix of leave and remain MP's are tasked with finding an acceptable solution to the Irish border question.  Under the current Brexit deal, the 310 mile Irish border would become the only land border between the UK and the EU. The backstop 'insurance policy' will kick in if the two sides are un...

Baking Bad

After nearly 100 years of trading, Patisserie Valerie has collapsed into administration after it was unable to extend its bank facilities due to 'significant fraud' in the company's past accounts. The crisis started last year after accounting irregularities left the luxury bakers with a tax bill of more than £1m, a winding-up order and a £20m deficit in it's accounts. The irregularities had led to the company significantly overstating its cash position for years. Earlier this month, Patisserie...

The Rise of the Greek

In a thrilling fourth round match at the Australian Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas beat defending champion Roger Federer to become the first Greek to reach the last eight in a grand slam tournament. He will now go on to play Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarter finals.Whether or not he will go on to win the tournament remains to be seen but as the Greek philosopher Aristotle once said 'well begun is half done'A good beginning for Making Tax Digital preparation could be to sign up for the MTD pilot. If...

Game, Set and Match.

An emotional Andy Murray announced that he will be retiring this year due to a hip injury. The news was greeted with dismay by British tennis fans and many fellow professional players, including Roger Federer also expressed their shock and surprise at the news.Andy Murray may be uncertain as to his future plans but presumably thanks to his past successes, he will not have to worry too much about his finances once he retires. Sadly that is not the case for most of us and saving for our retirement...

British Gold

British stars shone brightly at the 2019 Golden Globe Awards. Olivia Coleman was named best actress in a musical comedy for her role as Queen Anne in The Favourite and Christian Bale won best actor in a musical / comedy for his portrayal of US Vice President Dick Cheney in Vice.Bohemian Rhapsody won Best Film Drama and musician Mark Ronson won the best song, along with Lady Gaga for Shallow from the film A Star is Born.  In the TV category, Richard Madden won best TV drama actor for The Bod...

New Year Resolution

Happy New Year from all at The Accounts Place.Traditionally the New Year is a time to make a resolution for change. However recent research shows that only 8% of people achieve their New Year goals and staggeringly most people report failing their resolution by as early as January 12th.If you are one of the 5,552,000 taxpayers who have not yet completed their 2017 -18 tax return then one resolution you cannot afford to fail will be to complete your return by the 31st January deadline. Penalties ...

It'll be lonely this Christmas ....

Parliament is scheduled for winter recess from 20th December to 7 January 2019.  However in view of the Brexit deadlock there are increasing calls to cancel the Christmas break until the vote is done. House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow has publicly stated that he is 'happy to chair debates over Christmas' if MP's decide the decision cannot wait.  Liberal Democrat MP, Tom Brake tweeted 'At a time of so much uncertainty caused by this Brexit mess, it is an insult to the British people...

Long Live King Harry!

Harry Redknapp has been been crowned King of the Jungle. After 3 weeks of camp life and bush tucker trials, Harry was voted the winner of this year's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. After winning Harry said 'I'm amazed. I'm amazed I survived 3 weeks to be honest with you' and in a tribute to his fellow camp mates, Harry added ' They were amazing. Without them, I would never have survived' For many small business owners, one of the biggest trials to face can be keeping all the necess...

Christmas is coming - fast!

The countdown to Christmas has officially started with  advent calendars being opened across the country. However for some it seems Christmas may be coming slightly earlier than planned as according to some John Lewis customers the message inside door number 2 of their advent calendar reads 'only 16 days to go'  Oops.  ...

Nothing is Certain.

In a surprising turn of events in Strictly Come Dancing this weekend, Ashley Roberts and her professional partner Pasha Kovalev found themselves in the dreaded dance off, despite consistently being placed near the top of the leaders table. Whilst they were unanimously saved by the judges it just goes to show that nothing can be taken for granted. Uncertainty has also been cast over the introduction of Making Tax Digital with a report today that a parliamentary Select Committee has implored HMRC ...

No Confidence

As Theresa May enters what she calls a 'critical' week for her Brexit deal amid criticism on several fronts, speculation is increasing that she may be facing a vote of no confidence from dissatisfied Conservative MP's.After a week which saw Cabinet Ministers resign over the Brexit deal all eyes are now on Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee. If he receives 48 letters of no confidence in the Prime Minister, a challenge for the leadership can be made. Sir Graham is not revea...

Xerocon 2018

Only 2 days to go till the start of Xerocon 2018 at the Excel Centre, London. Bookkeepers and accountants from far and wide will be attending the world's most beautiful and innovative conference for cloud accounting leaders.In addition to inspirational speeches from industry professionals, business leaders and thought makers, there are so many other reasons to attend. It's an ideal opportunity to check out the latest technology which could help to make your practice even more efficient and with ...

Never too early for April Fools

April 1st may be synonymous with practical jokes but next year April 1st also sees the introduction of Making Tax Digital.  All VAT registered companies with a taxable turnover above the £85k threshold need to be aware of how MTD will affect them. From 1st April 2019 it will no longer be possible to file VAT returns through the HMRC website and many desktop accounting software packages will also require upgrading.  The good news for clients using Xero to submit VAT reurns is...

Christmas Countdown

It is hard to escape the fact that there are only 57 days until Christmas. The shops are filling with festive goods and there always seems to be someone in the office keeping a daily / hourly countdown.  Some people may start preparing for Christmas sooner than others but most people will have everything ready by the time the big day arrives albeit with a few last minute panics.On the other hand people are less prepared when it comes to filing their Self Assessment tax return. Tax payers ca...

Strictly Surprising

Social media is abuzz following last nights Strictly Result show. Controversial couple Seann Walsh and Katya Jones have been making more headlines for their activities off the dance floor than on it. and their quickstep on Saturday failed to impress the judges leaving them near the bottom of the results table. The public vote failed to save them from the dreaded dance off and it was left to the judges to decide between them and fellow contestants Vick Hope and Graziano Di Prima. 3 of the 4 judge...

Spring Fever.

Spring Fever is defined as 'a feeling of restlessness and excitement felt at the beginning of Spring' and 2019 is promising a larger than usual outbreak.The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have announced that they are expecting their first baby in the spring. There will be much suspense amid the royal baby fever as to what Harry and Meghan will call their baby, who will be seventh in the line of succession. Will they opt for a traditional name or go for something more unusual?  Bookies are alrea...

Farah as Long as it Takes.

Congratulations to Mo Farah on winning the Chicago Marathon this weekend and for setting a new European record in the process. Now speculation is rising that he could be a contender for the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This would be an unprecedented achievement and one that would solidify Mo as the most outstanding distance runner ever. Also giving rise to speculation; Philip Hammond has announced that he will be presenting his Autumn budget to Parliament on  Monday 29th October. ...

Food for Thought.

In a recent survey of supermarket shoppers 4 out of 10 people reported they were concerned about the cost of food. A concern which in recent years has seen a rise in the number of discounted retailers, most recently 'Jacks' a 'value-orientated' chain' launched by Tesco.Statistically, Britons only spend an average on 8% of their total household income on food to eat at home. This is lower than any other country apart from the US and Singapore according to data from market research firm Euromonito...

Winds of Change

Two topics continue to dominate the news headlines this week - Brexit and the weather. Both seem to be equally unpredictable and depending on whose forecast you listen to, both promise to have devastating consequences. Jaguar Land Rover Chief Exec, Prof Speth has been the latest industry boss to go on record warning that a hard Brexit would result in the 'worst of times' for the UK and predicted the cost to Jaguar Land Rover would be more than £1.2 billion a year. Prof Speth is not alone in his...

Not so Serena.

Serena Williams was far from serene at the final of the US Open on Saturday. Williams was issued a code violation for what the umpire deemed to be coaching, and a point penalty for racquet abuse led to her branding the umpire a thief and a liar. She was then docked a game after which she called for the match referee, alleging that she was being treated differently to the male players.Not only did Serena lose the match to Naomi Osaka she was also fined $17,000 for her mis-conduct.Serena is not al...