To ask for your recommendations, if you own a business

[Goostacean]

Hi, looking for recommendations for insurance, bank account, HR support and policies, rota-ing software, and accountancy software, if you own a small business...

Business is a community interest company ie not-for-profit, providing care for vulnerable adults. Just starting out so all leads appreciated!

Hopeful bump.

You could approach a local business networking group and ask if they have any accountants in their group who work with charities- they would be able to give you advice about all the above I imagine.

Some accountants may charge, but I have friends who work in the voluntary sector and most of them have links with professionals who provide them with ad hoc free advice.

We have used Metro Bank for our small business for some years now, very happy with them, especially if you live near a branch, the staff are really good in my experience. Our local HSBC are good too, but I think you have to check out your individual branch really.

Have used Metro for a community group too.

As to accountancy software, I hear good things about Xero from actual accountants. Most accountants have software they prefer though, so it might be worth asking accountants what they use before signing up with them. I would avoid SAGE like the plague though!

A good accountant should be able to recommend most of the other things you want.

I do know a good independent HR consultant should you need one.

I use Hiscox for insurance, Starling for banking and Xero for accounting software - really happy with all of them.

Thanks! Will check out all these ideas

Perfect! Have just signed up with Starling. One thing ticked off!

I've switched to Starling for banking this year and it's a vast improvement on Santander! I use Kashflow for accounting.

Thanks, haven’t heard of Kashflow, will look into it now... Very glam Friday night in my house!

I’ve just started using Free Agent software this year (for Making Tax Digital, grrr). Our small family business has used old-fashioned paper ledgers for over 50 years — I was dreading having to use accounting software but so far it’s been pretty easy. FA have a great support team and between them and our accountant I’ve navigated the change without any major hiccups. Good luck!

I can recommend Xerox for accounting and Making Tax Digital is so easy

Starling offer free business banking - I don’t use them though.

We use Xero for our accounting software.

Good luck!

Thanks! Waiting for Starling to verify the business, and then I need to take a closer look at accounting options. Won’t actually be up and running til March, but want everything sorted ahead of time obviously.

I offer remote bookkeeping services and work with many charities - feel free to PM if you have any questions at all. I can sort you out with Xero or QuickBooks licenses :)

As a PP said, avoid anything by Sage. Their software is dated, expensive and the support is poor. We're now using Brightpay for payroll and it's far superior to Sage Payroll, cheaper and the support is good.

We're also using Xero for one of our companies - again, far cheaper and more intuitive than Sage 50.

We use a local independent HR consultant for HR needs. We used to use one of the big national helplines but they got so expensive with horrendously long and inflexible contracts - and you had to wait ages for anyone to answer their advice lines. Our local consultant is so much better and knows our company more intimately.

Xero is much easier than kashflow, I've used both in our business (and sage one, that's the worst!)

Thanks everyone! Am surprised that Quickbooks hasn’t come up, I thought they and Xero were the main players in this space.

Bumping for further suggestions, especially for insurance providers? Thanks so much for all the comments so far!

We just opened a starling account for business and it was astonishingly efficient we had the cards for the accounts THE NEXT DAY we did it for a sole trader and opened a personal, business and business euro account - only that one costs us anything and that is £2 a mth. We also use rvolut where you load up and use the card and get a statement. We use HSBC elsewhere and are seriously thinking of moving ovr totally - banking via POffice.

I use Xero accounting and it has some niggles for me - but I haven't used anything else, I would say 8 out of 10 as I hate the way they handle expenses and we get alot of those.

Insurance be clear what you need and shop around every single time - we also use brokers who can do some of that for you.

Don't forget Health and Safety issues - so working alone, lifting and handling, Infection prevention, blood borne diseses etc you will need to have policies in place to cover that and also what to do in an emergency and you will need to train staff on these as well.

Sage also has a small business accounting version

Oh and make sure you have a good phone with plenty of space on it for all the apps, secure log ins and email - about to upgrade mine

Contact your local council. Ours has a proactive economic development team who will guide you through and make introductions.

I’ve fab remote accountants called Crisp Accountancy. They have been invaluable and are always great support for doing my books and answering any questions about anything company structure wise. Great company.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

@RB68 Thanks for your long comment. I started y he process to open a Starling account but am missing some key info they need, so that has stalled. My bad, though! I don’t blame them. You make a good point re the policies, and I have some options to buy them and customise them. I suppose I’m just a bit nervous that I’ll have missed something- it’s not clear to me how to confirm I’ve covered all my bases? Same with the insurance, although I guess that’s industry-specific.

@Rosspoldarkssaddle Thanks, that’s an interesting idea, I’d not thought of that.

@Happyspud Thanks, will look into them. Do they just provide support and then sign off the accounts when you file? And you do the rest in between?

Re covering all bases - its worth having a business adviser from local groups - LEPs and various enterprise type groups are usually pretty good - small business forums and the like have lots of info but its going to vary slightly by business so there are no set rules.

Once you start employing people then the stakes go up e.g. the H&S requirements are quite onerous once you reach 5 people, although it depends on the business - building - stringent and lots for e.g.

The gov website is quite good for which HR ones you need and if you are employing people for e,g, they should have JDs person specs and a contract and contract within 1st month etc

We use NatWest for banking, which links up nicely with FreeAgent. Free Agent is really easy to use.