ICAEW reports to help SMEs

This is a one-stop guide for busy business owners looking to maximise their financial wellness.n

• The Guide to Financial Fitness in Business

Getting to grips with the General Data Protection Regulation

• The Essential Guide to GDPR

Information for those ready to start your business, or have just started operating your business and need to register for VAT.

• Basics of VAT

Information for businesses considering exporting for the first time. While exporting can have significant benefits for a business there are some risks associated with it.

• Export finance

Information on how to monitor the progress of your business.

• How do I monitor the progress of my business?

A business plan is essentially the route map that helps you establish a viable new business. It will also be essential if you need to raise finance for your business.

• Why write a business plan?

Information on why you should manage your cash flow and what you should do to achieve this.

• Managing cash flow

Information on key questions with regards to business taxation.

• Questions about business taxation

Whitepaper which sets out to explore the nature and challenge of ‘Red Tape’ to SMEs and startups in the UK.

• Red tape: A big problem for SMEs?

Outline of the main points of each business structure.

• Sole trader or limited company

EFG facilitates lending to smaller businesses that are viable but unable to obtain finance from their lender due to having insufficient security to meet the lender’s normal security requirements.

• The Enterprise Finance Guarantee guide

We explain below why you need to notify Companies House and the tax implications for running your business as a limited company.

• The limited company and tax

Information on why you need to notify HMRC and the tax implications for running your business as a sole trader.

• The sole trader and tax

When starting your own business, you may end up using a spreadsheet package for everything from accounting to expense reports, from order tracking to reporting. This guide highlights five common mistakes in spreadsheet thinking.

• Top five spreadsheet errors guide

Information on why you need good accounting records to satisfy HMRC.

• Why you need good accounting records for HMRC

ICAEW has joined with Barclaycard to produce this guide which explains the key aspects of business credit and charge cards – the benefits, reporting, control, security and risks.

• Small business credit and charge cards guide- access the full report

An awareness and basic understanding of the threats posed in a cyber-world will help protect your digital assets, intellectual property and your business.

• Cyber Security guide - Top five cyber risks - access the full report

The most important challenge that small businesses face in their early years is to survive. in this publication we highlight some of the key areas which we believe are important for their survival and put forward ideas for helping them to compete more effectively.

• Audit Insights - Small Business Guide - access the full report

Since the British Business Bank and ICAEW’s Corporate Finance Faculty jointly published the first edition of The business finance guide in summer 2014, a growing number of alternative finance solutions have become more established, mainstream and accessible for the UK’s smaller businesses.

• Business Finance Guide 2016 - access the full report

International trade involves buying and selling over extended periods of time to countries and regions with very different business cultures, legal systems and environments. A range of financial products and services – from bank guarantees to specialised loans providing exporters with working capital – have developed to allow businesses to trade with confidence. This guide covers the area known as trade finance and its associated field of credit insurance.

• Competing in the Global Race - access the full report

This guide sets out the benefits of asset finance to help business-owners decide if it could help their businesses grow.

• Asset Finance Guide

The Department of Energy & Climate Change have produced this publication to help SME owners find ways to save money and energy of interest.

• SME Guide to Energy Efficiency

A guide for small and medium enterprises on crowdfunding and how to use it.

• Crowdfunding guide

If you are starting a business, planning to grow your business or running an established business – or a business adviser or investor – this guide is essential reading. It outlines the alternative types and sources of finance – from start-up loans to venture capital. It includes sections on peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding which are growing in popularity.

• Business Finance Guide

As international trade involves buying and selling over extended periods of time across oceans, borders, legal systems and regions with very different business cultures and environments, a range of financial products and services – from bank guarantees to specialised loans providing exporters with working capital – have developed to allow businesses to trade with confidence. This guide covers the area known as trade finance and its associated field of credit insurance.

• Competing in the Global Race - access the full report

Access the individual sections of the report below:

• Exporting - setting the scene
• What is trade finance and credit insurance?
• Getting access to working capital
• Export insurance
• Making sure you get paid
• How to raise contract bonds
• How to secure buyer finance
• The role of UK Export Finance
• An overview of UK Export Finance products
• Case studies
• An overview of UK Trade & Investment
• Exporting - information on brokers and insurance companies
• Exporting - advice from the banks
• Exporting - help from Council of British Chambers of Commerce in Europe

Information on the financing of a growing business.

• Financing a growing business

Information on the things you should consider before taking the plunge into business.

• First steps in business

Information on all the issues you should address when considering business premises.

• Looking for business premises?

Information on start-up finance for new businesses.

• Start-up finance

Report which explored the role of business guidance in start-up success.

• The role of business guidance in start-up success

This special Finance & Management Faculty report highlights the issues which you might face in the first year of operating a new business so that you might be in a stronger position to know how to deal with them. It is aimed at those seeking to work for themselves, but it should also be of assistance to those looking to improve their business performance. 

• Starting a Business Guide

Five practical issues to consider before you start trading. The report covers who to notify, accounting records, accounting software, whether to work from home and the use of private vehicles.

• Starting up your business: Practical issues

This booklet examines the challenges involved in setting up a business: the issues that you need to resolve before starting up and the questions you need to answer in order to make those crucial first steps and then grow your business with confidence 

• Run a Successful Business Guide

This report has been produced by the Finance & Management Faculty and is primarily aimed at smaller businesses seeking to grow and develop. To achieve their full potential through practical guidance and advice. 

• Growing your Business

Over the last decade, the ICAEW/Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) has grown from strength to strength, and has consistently provided a unique perspective into how businesses view the environment in which they operate and the direction of the UK economy. 

• 10 year BCM report

Articles, reports and other resources that enable accountants in business to make a real difference to their organisations by providing them with practical information on the latest thinking in pensions. 

• Business FAQS  
• Practice FAQS

Continuing the ICAEW’s policy leadership on the issue of SME access to finance, the research presents a snapshot of the availability of credit for SMEs. 

• SME Access to Finance report November 2012 
• The SME Access to Finance report January 2011