Spire Accountants

It has been a very busy year at Spire Accountants - one in which our focus has been on getting our clients and their businesses onto a cloud accounting platform.  We are partners with both FreeAgent and Xero - 2 leading cloud accounting providers.

What is cloud accounting?  Cloud accounting means using internet based software to access your business's financial records, including data on income, expenses, assets and liabilities. The data is stored remotely on servers which can be accessed via an internet connection, rather than on the hard drive of your device.  Users can access this information any device with internet access whether it is a laptop, desktop, mobile phone or tablet.

Many of our clients have gone from having none or very basic accounting systems to having a system which allows them to track their business cashflow on a real time basis and allows expense/sales records to be recorded by using mobile apps which tend to come with most cloud based platforms. We can then take the numbers and give them meaning in order to allow our clients to make the best decisions for their businesses.

One of our clients who has benefited from being introduced to cloud accounting is Michelle Farrell, of Michelle Farrell Online Business Management.  Her business has grown tremendously in that last year and she recently won an award at the Hyndburn Business Awards. Here is what she had to say:

"Over the last 12 months, my business has gone through quite the period of transition! At the star of 2023, I was working as a freelance Virtual Assistant, supporting my clients in all sorts of ways, but not feeling completely fulfilled.. I met Shakeela from Spire Accountants and, listening to her talk about how she helped her clients, I quickly realised that the accountant I was working with at the time just didn't have the same passion about my business that I could see Shakeela had for her own clients' businesses.

Shakeela moved me onto a new accounting software and showed me how to use it and got everything tidied up for me. This has been an absolute game changer for me - I used to spend hours sorting out my invoices and receipts, now it barely takes me any time at all so I can use that time to focus on growing my business!

My business has grown and grown over the past 6 months. Every month Shakeela sends me a report showing me how my business is doing. This isn't something I've ever had before and it really keeps me focussed on what I need to do to keep growing.

2024 really has been a fantastic year for my business so far, and this month I was delighted to receive the Social Media Champion Award at the Hyndburn Business Awards 2024! I can't wait to see where I can take the business next, and having the support of Spire Accountants by my side, I feel confident and clear on my numbers!"

If you would like to learn more about Michelle and her business, please visit her website at https://michellefarrell.co.uk/.

For more information on how we can help your business  please email us at Shakeela@spireaccountants.net.

Spire Accountants were invited by Humraaz Support Services, a Blackburn based charity, to host a workshop on how to set up a business. 

Humraaz is a  charity is aimed at helping women from a black, asian and minority background escape domestic abuse. In addition to helping them escape abuse, they also help them gain skills.  They have been helping women for over 20 years and we were delighted to be able to offer our services.

We took the women through the main stages of setting up a business:

(1) Business idea

(2) Ideal Customer

(3) Start up costs

(4) Funding

(5) Pricing

(6) Marketing

(7) Legalities and

(8) Tax compliance

The women attending were either in the early stages of having set up their business or in the discovery phase of contemplating setting up a business. It was fantastic meeting them and leaning about their businesses which ranged from events management to translator services.

Humraaz said that the feedback to the workshop was really positive:

"Huge thanks to Shakeela and Spire Accountants for delivering an informative and engaging workshop for women to start their own businesses and all tax related information. We look forward to the next workshop soon."

Firoza Mohmed, the chief executive officer for the charity, added:

"Huge thanks Shakeela Yaqub very well received and great feedback from the women."

If you wish to contact Humraaz Support Services for more information relating to the services they offer, details are provided in the link below:

https://humraaz.co.uk/

We are happy to provide the slides used in this workshop to anyone who would like them - please email us at Shakeela@spireaccountants.net

Spire Accountants were delighted when we were nominated for a Hyndburn Business Award recently - we were not expecting it given that we are just coming towards the end of our first year.  We did not make the list of finalists for the big ceremony held in June 2023 but were, as cliched as it sounds, truly just delighted to be nominated.

However, we could not have been more proud of our client, Bold Moves Coaching Ltd, who came up top.  Bold Moves is a company which provides business coaching to women in business and helps them speak about their businesses with confidence. Bold Moves is a company founded by Liz Boswell who is also a director of the company. 

If you need help with public speaking, Liz can be contacted via the Bold Moves website which is shown below:

https://www.boldmovescoach.co.uk/

Spire Accountants have been very busy working with our  self assessment clients to prepare and file their income tax returns for tax year 2021/22.  We are delighted to be able to say that we were able to submit all of our clients return on time - this is something that was only possible because of the close co operation we received from them which was much appreciated.

Tax filing season can be stressful for those having to submit a filing and this is one of the reasons we try to make it as easy as possible. How do we do this? Well we explain to clients what the legal requirements are, what we need from them, why we need it and we encourage them to ask us any questions regarding the return once we have completed it prior to submission.  Empowering people with knowledge often makes the scary not so scary.

Louise Magee from Tropic was one of our income tax clients. Louise is an executive ambassador for the skin care range Tropic - Tropic produce their own products using only naturally derived ingredients.  She is hugely passionate about her business. Here is what Louise had to say about her relationship with Spire Accountants:

 "I used Spire Accountants for the first time this year to help me with my self assessment tax return. 

Shakeela is friendly, helpful and always on hand to answer any questions I have. 

It’s been such a relief to have someone so knowledgeable to help take the stress out of the task. 

She  has also been advising me on “Making Tax Digital” and how I can get my  business prepared early so I’m feeling much more confident about it. "

We always like to champion our client's businesses and anyone wanting to know more about Tropic skincare can contact Louise at Louiseattropic@yahoo.com. 

Thank you once again to all of our self assessment clients for working with us to make it a successful filing season. 

Spire Accountants were invited by Dawn Roberts to give a talk to her networking group which is designed for women in business - the group is called Unique Ladies.

Spire Accountant's Shakeela Yaqub gave the presentation at the network event held in Hyndburn and was delighted that the group found it informative.  Shakeela said that:

"There was so much confusion caused by the budget announced in September 22 by then Prime Minister Liz Truss that I felt it was important that the keys facts regarding what has and has not stayed from the September 22 budget were clearly communicated. The November 22 budget was so vastly different in tone from the September budget and I covered the key announcements by the government under the leadership of the new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. 

Unique Ladies is such an important business network for women out there who want to start their own businesses. I met women from various sectors (legal, skincare, marketing, business coaching, ceramics and utilities) who have successful businesses and want to know what the economic outlook is for both themselves and their businesses.

I would like to thank network leader Dawn Roberts for inviting me to speak and for her warmth and kindness."

Dawn Roberts had the following feedback for Spire Accountants:

".... thank you so much for talking about the budget. Not many  people can make accounts and budgets sound interesting but your talk was  certainly to the point and without the waffle was easy to follow. Thank  you for your blogs and contributions to our group..."

Dawn can be contacted on the details provided in the picture should you require help with networking.

Spire Accountants were delighted to be appointed as treasurer and accountants for the Accrington Stanley Womens Football Club in October 2022.  

The football club was set up in December 2021 by the founders of a growing Lancashire tech company Sundown Solutions Limited.  The chairwoman of the club is Kelly Ann Groves and she had the following to say about the club's relationship with the firm:

“I  have been working with Shakeela only for a couple of months now and  already have settled into a great relationship.  If I had to sum my  experience up in three ways I’d say Professional Knowledgeable  No-nonsense!

I  have received valuable advice and delivery regarding running a  grassroots football club and also for an established business, two very  different requirements covered with ease.

I  recommend Spire accountants to anyone looking for solid representation  with a compliance focused delivery with qualitative client value at the  forefront.”