Coronavirus: How accountants can prepare for a crisis
As the coronavirus spreads across the UK, businesses face a pessimistic start to 2020. Richard Murphy explains how accountants can help businesses survive the outbreak.
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The government has no contingency plans, yet the consequences of an epidemic should have been high up on their risk planning.
I am still waiting to hear the details of the new statutory sick pay arrangements, financial support for businesses, whether HMRC, Companies House and Charity Commissioners and other statutory bodies will allow extra time for filing without imposing late filing penalties. It is difficult to plan when the government is not taking the lead.
All politicians fiddle while Rome burns.
Perhaps the accountancy bodies, or more likely accountingWEB, should ask the Government for answers to these questions.
SSP is paid by employers so that's really just government saying "business pays more". Zero cost to the exchequer.
I thought it was obligatory for RM to mention nasty tax avoiders in all his posts. What's going on?
Fear not. This article may read as if it's been written by a wise and friendly tax-Yoda (even if it is stating the bleedin' obvious) but over on his blog he's suggesting that because of the Coronavirus, all tenants should get a minimum statutory 3 month rent-free holiday and if this causes financial hardship to landlords (who are all evil rentiers (and probably nasty tax avoiders anyway)) then that's tough.
Thank you for your reassurance that all is stable in the world again and that the balance of the universe as a whole has been restored to its natural, ordered state (I assume he cannot afford to step out of line for fear of losing his Marxist trade union paymaster funding).
It seems that the reason that a minimum 3 month rent holiday is Ok is that according to Mr Murphy
"as a matter of fact (even if most were dispute it) landlords are wealthy. They have the means to ride out a short-term loss of income which the vast majority in the population do not have."
So if you think are a financially struggling landlord, rest assured, you aren't.
"Then ask some obvious questions. For example, is there capital expenditure that can be deferred now? If so, why not do so, immediately?"
Those of us in the capital goods supply business will be grateful for this wisdom and insight.
"Then ask some obvious questions. For example, is there capital expenditure that can be deferred now? If so, why not do so, immediately?"
Those of us in the capital goods supply business will be grateful for this wisdom and insight.
Quite, Especially as business investment is the most variable of GDP components and is also the leading indicator - and cause - of a recession when it slumps. All that Keynes and animal spirits stuff.
Murphy is thus advocating exactly the action that will cause a recession. Well done.
Is this person for real? I would hate to have his outlook on life!! Do we all just give up on everything and believe all the hype people like this like to wip up!!
Most if not all of my clients are self employed so I can forsee pretty much all of them continuing to work to pay bills thus I do not see a knock on affect resulting in any issues for me.
Furthermore a lot of them are black cab drivers and I have been told there has been a big up take in their services since people are wanting to travel with a shield between them and the driver, so it's a win win all round.
Even if some of them decided to not visit me I can not see why I could work and get paid remotely so in all I don't see an issue.
Side note, it's all scaremongering propaganda anyway.
Who can we sue when this bizarre (bizarre) over-reaction is seen for the emperors clothes it is? Just because you can watch Contagion (whatever, some stupid Hollywood movie) and hit the re-post button...Honestly, I thought we retained some intelligence. Clearly not. Instead businesses will go under, people will lose their livelihoods for something that is nothing worse than a once a decade flu bloom.
we currently have a member of staff in Greece, can we ask them to self-isolate on their return rather than come into the office, several members of staff are concerned.
Does the bit of Greece they went to have a bad outbreak then? In which case, probably a sensible arrangement.
Or is it just an idly racist "they went to where foreigner's live?"
they are in Rome, but also they have been & will be on an aeroplane with people from anywhere & also at an airport both in Greece & here in UK where there also many other people from all over the world. we have staff with heart problems & asthma who are becoming increasing concerned as the date for the other member of staffs return to work draws closer!
could our staff with underlying health problems reasonably ask to work from home in this situation?
Id suggest your elderly staff all put down their Daily Mails, or they will have a heart attack worrying about it.
On a serious point id suggest if the old boys in your office are allowed to work from home now, when are you going to ask them back? When there are a thousand of cases a day in a couple of weeks time? Or of tens of thousands in a months time? If they are scared now, they are going to be white with fear and shaking by Easter.
In my opinion this will just be a practice for the threat we've known about for 40 years but have done little to prepare for https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/05/governments-corona...
Shouldn't you have the decency to pay the site owners for advertising, rather than this lame attempt at joining the conversation to promote your product.
I wonder how this sort of marketing approach works as it just gives me the impression that those involved are leeches.