Helpful hints

If you're a Plus or Premium client then inniAccounts can automatically keep track of repeating payments - for example phone or broadband bills, loan repayments, insurance premiums, bank interest or even oboe lessons (assuming you're a professional oboist). You'll get a reminder on your homepage when the bill is due and you'll also find the accuracy of the 'available cash' report improves as inniAccounts is better able to forecast upcoming payments. You'll find the feature by clicking on 'Money Manager' on your company's admin page.

Now that the iPhone is available on all mobile networks it seems to be taking over the communications world - day by day it grows more ubiquitous, especially amongst business people. As you’d expect with an Apple device, the iPhone looks great and makes you feel flash just by pulling it out of your pocket, but it’s not just a pretty face: more and more applications are being created for busy professionals, aimed at doing everything from keeping track of your calendar to finding your client’s new offices. So here’s our review of some of the best iPhone apps on the market.

Our guide to identifying this sought-after breed

It recently came to the attention of the inniAccounts statisticians that, every month, 4000 people conduct Google searches for online accounting services using the term ‘contractor accountant’. This seems fair enough: you’re a contractor, you need an accountant…typing the two words makes perfect sense, and as a result the internet is full of sites containing ‘contractor accountant directories’ or similar such tools.

But descriptions of what a contractor accountant actually does seem to be thinner on the ground. So what the hell do we do? What can you expect from us? Why choose a contractor accountant over a non-prefixed accountant? Do we have special powers, like superheroes (sadly, in my case, the answer to the final question is no, but I can help with the others)?

We all know that claiming for your business mileage is a simple and effective way to reduce your tax bill. HMRC's mileage rate is fixed at 40p per mile (for the first 10,000 miles) so, to maximize your savings, it's definitely in your interests to find the most efficient car with the lowest possible running costs. However, it's a big job to work out the true efficiency of your prospective vehicle, especially if you want to consider all bases – including depreciation, road tax, insurance, servicing, fuel efficiency and all other running costs.

Fortunately, not only are Dean and I true petrol heads, we're also pretty handy with excel, so we've selected ten cars, loaded their vital statistics into our spreadsheet and created the ultimate efficiency barometer, calculating the true running costs per mile for each of our chosen cars.

Here’s the result: inniAccounts’ top ten cars for contractor and freelancers:

The latest email based scam is in circulation whereby people are receiving an e-mail that claims to come from HM Revenue and Customs, which advises recipients they are due a tax refund. The mail directs users to a fake web site (hosted outside the UK) designed to have the same look and feel as the genuine HMRC site, using the same logos etc. The scam attempts to take advantage of the imminent deadline for online applications of tax returns (31st January 2009).

HMRC are warning taxpayers that they are aware of a high number of emails being sent out offering a tax rebate. The warning confirms that HMRC do not email taxpayers advising them of tax rebates or invite them to complete an online form to receive a rebate.

The advice goes on to say that anyone receiving such an email should not visit the website contained within the email or disclose any personal or payment information.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/security/fraud-attempts.htm