Every firm can benefit from having a skilled accountant on hand to make sure they are not paying too much tax. Indeed, for tax accountants in Manchester, this is a primary function of their role.
This is not just to help ensure a firm is not disadvantaged by overpaying; ultimately, the money saved can be critical in helping manage the finances of an enterprise if it faces difficult economic circumstances.
Nobody likes to mention the ‘R’ word, but with inflation eating into real incomes and reducing consumer spending, recession is a real prospect.
The latest data to show this has come in the form of the S&P Global/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index. The May reading of 53.1 still denotes overall growth, but this has been weakening and that suggests the trend is for fewer and fewer orders to be placed – a recipe for economic shrinkage.
Equally, while the first quarter of this year saw GDP growth of 0.8 per cent, that will not have been affected by the latest pressures brought by the war in Ukraine.
Most notably, the rising cost of food caused by the conflict has started to impact on retail sales, with these falling by 0.5 per cent in May.
Every recession sees a number of companies fail because they are not equipped to handle the situation they are faced by. In the 2008-09 recession, for example, big names like Woolworths were joined by a vast number of smaller casualities.
By the end of 2009 nearly 27,000 firms had already gone to the wall, according to the insolvency service. Many thousands more were to follow.
Of course, the 2008-09 recession was an exceptionally deep and protracted one, bringing the longest depression since the 1930s. If a new recession is on the way it may be nowhere near that bad.
Even so, it is by managing your finances well, not least your tax liabilities, that you may be able to give your firm the best chance of coming through the crisis in good shape to make the most of the subsequent recovery.