It’s been a frantic few weeks and it looks like it’s not getting better anytime soon. The news is full of the latest numbers infected with coronavirus and those that have sadly lost their lives to this virus. Sadly we are unable to help with anything medically but we can offer financial guidance to you and your business in these worrying times.
Below is a list, in no particular order of actions you can take:
- Stay in touch with us, we have our contingency plans in place with all of us able to work from home, that means we are still here to advise and support you.
- Cashflow: now is the time to look at your cashflow. On Tuesday 17th March 2020, the government announced £330billion of loan guarantees. The package of measures are as follows:
- Larger business will be able to access a lending facility through the Bank of England, the Chancellor has said the government would guarantee “low-cost, easily accessible” commercial loans.
- For small and medium-sized businesses, he will extend the new business interruption loan scheme announced last week so that businesses can now borrow up to £5 million with no interest due for the first six months.
- The Chancellor has said that both schemes will be running by the start of next week (w/c 23/3/2020).
- We will endeavour to ensure clients get details of their/companies tax bills as soon as possible which gives time to plan, and don’t forget, HMRC are operating a time to pay scheme for those who can’t pay in full as a result of the coronavirus.
HMRC Coronavirus Helpline: 0800 015 9559
Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm
Saturday 8am to 4PM - Time to pay arrangements also exist even if it’s not as a direct result the coronavirus, details can be found here.
- Check your insurance policies, business and personal. It is worth checking with your insurers if you or your business are covered against the financial fallout from coronavirus, although most since the 2003 SARS outbreak do not cover communicable disease outbreaks.
- We advise you to read the government guidance issued as part of the 2020 Budget Report, it covers, amongst other matters, situations such as if you suspect a staff member has COVID-19.
- A mortgage payment holiday of up to 3 months was announced on Tuesday 17th March 2020, this will not affect your credit rating, but the interest will be recovered later.
- For those who don’t need to use the above point, now could be a good time to consider remortgaging for a better deal.
- Supply chain, this is time to check your supply chain, this means asking your supplier who their supplier is, and ensure continuity of supply.
- Review who owes you money and contact them directly and request payment be made within your payment terms, remember ‘cash is king’ and that is never truer than at this time.
- Review your business costs and look to ‘trim the fat’. This doesn’t mean removing the costs, this can be spreading payments, for example, insurances can be paid monthly rather than annually.
- The government has a dedicated page for business, we suggest you bookmark it and keep up to date.
- The government website for guidance on Covid-19, bookmark it as it is updated regularly.
- Remember, this crisis is going to end, make sure you are planning for this. Get your staffing, marketing, finances inline so that once this crisis is over you are ready to take full advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.
Finally, there is a lot of confusion at present, many don’t know what to do. Our advice: stay calm, stay in touch with those you do business with, including your accountant, and above all – Plan.
If you need to seek our advice, or if you just want to chat to a friendly voice please ring.
