Paul Donno & Co Ltd February 2010 Newsletter
February News from Paul Donno & Co Ltd Accountants and Business Advisors
St Nicholas Hospice - Team Target
In December the Paul Donno & Co Ltd team decided that 2010 should be the year we take a different perspective on life and move our Corporate Social Responsibility higher up the list of priorities. We have embarked upon a fundraising campaign, to run throughout 2010, in support of St Nicholas Hospice Care.
The campaign is in memory of Denise Sheridan who lost her battle against breast cancer in October 2009. Denise ran The Clare Physiotherapy Practice Limited and was one of our clients for many years. Denise was not just a client she was a great friend to all of us. Denise would fix Paul's aches and pains when he was refereeing rugby matches for the Rugby Football Union and would generally have a laugh at his expense.
Denise received wonderful care from St Nicholas Hospice Care before she passed away and we felt raising money for the Hospice in her name would be a fitting tribute. This will very definitely be a team effort as everyone in the office plays their part in the campaign to achieve a target of 10,000 GBP by the end of 2010.
Paul and Sandra Imrie visited the Hospice recently and were very impressed by the facilities that are available to people with life-threatening or terminal illnesses and their families.
The Hospice, like all charities, has been affected by the recession. But thanks to the generosity of supporters, many from the business community, as well as the hard work and dedication of staff and volunteers, the organisation has been able to meet challenges head-on. As well as the inpatient Sylvan Ward, the Community Hospice Team is supporting more than 300 people and their families in their own homes at any one time.
The fundraising has already kicked off with a contribution of 150 GBP which we donated to the Hospice instead of sending Christmas cards to clients.
A further 25 GBP has been donated by the Account Manager of the firm which manages the Paul Donno & Co Ltd website - Practiceweb - with the home page now carrying the Just Giving link as another way of raising funds.
Events already scheduled in for the year include accountant Michael Ford taking part in the Sudbury Fun Run on 2 April, Good Friday, and Paul Donno attempting the London Triathlon for the second time on 7 August.
Other events which are still in the planning stage include a team golf day in June, female employees taking part in the Girls Night Out event in September and a go-karting evening in October.
We also hope to raise money through offering free credit checks for clients and passport application signing for existing clients, who have been with the company for three years or more, in return for a donation to the fund.
We will be working closely with Abby Hunt, Hospice Corporate Fundraiser who has offered her support to help us achieve our target of 10,000 GBP.
If you would like to find out more about the events that are being organised, take part in an event or have ideas for an event please contact Sandra Imrie on 01787 281688, visit the website: www.pauldonno.co.uk or visit justgiving.co.uk/paul-donno to make a donation.
The wonders of..Sage Pay
In the November newsletter we introduced Sage Pay - an online payment service which enables businesses to accept card payments from customers via the internet, over the telephone or by mail order.
Paul Donno & Co Ltd has initially started to use Sage Pay to process credit card payments over the phone instead of using our PDQ machine. The advantage of Sage Pay over the PDQ machine is that anyone in the office can process payments from their PC or laptop.
In the near future we will start to use Sage Pay as an online payment service, making it easier for our customers to pay in response to emailed invoices and statements or to make payment via our website, www.pauldonno.co.uk.
According to research carried out by Sage Pay, following their study of 27,000 UK businesses currently trading online, the UK online payments market will experience unprecedented growth in 2010. The total volume of transactions is expected to exceed 20 billion GBP.
During 2009 Sage Pay helped over 10,000 new businesses and their customers make and receive electronic payments in a safe and secure trading environment.
Sage Pay is an affordable asset for you business - with prices from 10 GBP per month for 300 transactions a quarter or 20 GBP per month for 1000 transactions per quarter it really does make it easier for your customers to pay.
The latest news from Sage Pay is that they will soon launch an iphone application that will enable businesses to securely accept credit and debit card payments via iPhones and iPod Touches from anywhere with a mobile/wireless connection - now that is making it easier to get paid!
Call Sandra on 01787 281688 or email sandra@pauldonno.co.uk if you would like to find out more about Sage Pay or if would like to place an order.
We're saving time and money - are you?
Many of you will be aware that you now receive your fee notes and monthly statements from Paul Donno & Co Ltd by email. Whilst using the email feature on Sage 50 Accounts 2010 has been great for our business - saving money on postage, envelopes, printing and paper what has it meant it for you?
Do you print off our fee notes and monthly statements and then file them away? If this is the case then we have effectively transferred some of our costs to your business, which was not our intention!
In order to provide an audit trail should HMRC ever conduct an investigation into your business you should keep a record of any invoices received via email. Our suggestion is to set up a folder within your accounts files on Microsoft Office and file any electronic accounting documents under the relevant supplier name.
This way you will have a record of invoices received and you will save paper and ink!
If you would like to find out how to send your monthly statements by email using Sage 50 Accounts 2010 please contact Sandra on 01787 281688.
Follow me!
Paul Donno is now on Twitter. Although he actually signed up for Twitter in June last year Paul has only just started to use it regularly. You can "follow" Paul at http://twitter.com/pauldonno. Apart from his blow by blow account of the team's management of the annual January tax return epic there are also "retweets" of some useful articles. It is Paul's intention to use Twitter for short, sweet and free communication with his clients and contacts! The idea is to pass on links to information, ask for opinions, let people know what's happening at Paul Donno & Co and, occasionally, promote the company!
Reminder - VAT increase
Remember to increase the level of VAT from 15% to 17.5% when doing your invoicing for January.
If you have any questions regarding the change in the rate of VAT - how to implement the change in your accounts software, timing issues, how to account for it or anything else please do not hesitate to call Sandra on 01787 281688.
For the Hugo fan club
For all those clients who found the photo in the December newsletter of Paul's puppy Hugo so adorable - here he is again.
<img src="http://www.pauldonno.co.uk/download/12241/Hugo27012010.jpg" alt="Hugo at 16 weeks old" border="0" class="medialibrary" />
Hugo aged 16 Weeks
