SEARCH, INDEX, UPDATES, CONTENTS, SERVICES, TAX COMPLIANCE, TURNOVER
You keep checks on your managers and staff, you know every penny goes in the till, and you record every penny of your turnover. You do not have any worries about an Inland Revenue or Customs & Excise investigation? You might be right, but read on and you might want to think again.
Both the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise have specialist investigation teams. Most of the people in these teams are likeable and human. We know because we meet them. Unfortunately, some of the people they meet have been known to distort the truth. Those people make inspectors suspicious. They like to see evidence for what they are being told. If you were doing their job, so would you. Can you provide it?
Perhaps with your private bank account, when you make a mistake writing a cheque, you tear it up and throw it away? Probably no-one will ever be interested, but you could fold it up and staple it in the cheque book, or keep a file of cancelled cheques. How much trouble would that be? Can you always anticipate when you might require evidence? Evidence can be very important in respect of all business transactions.
When you make a mistake on a sales invoice, do you write cancelled across it and keep it? Do you use invoices from a book, or prenumbered by a printer? Have you got evidence that no invoices have been issued but not recorded?
Do you keep a strict control over the issue of invoice pads?
Do you keep your daily till rolls? If not, why not? Do those till rolls run in sequence? Most till rolls have a Z number. We have known the Z key to be pressed twice and a report showing nil takings produced. Would you keep that report? If you do not, there will be no evidence to show investigators that it was nil. Will they think it might have some undisclosed takings if the Z numbers do not run in sequence?
Overrings occur on any till, but especially a busy one. How do you evidence them? You have 100% trust in a member of your staff, especially if they are also a member of your close family. Do you insist that they adhere to your overring procedure? If not, what about other members of staff? What happens if the person with authority to use the void key is not immediately available? What possibilities does that suggest to an inspector?
Do you keep records of every change in your selling prices? Investigators often carry out a business economics exercise. This can be very effective evidence if based on facts. If facts about your selling prices are not available, the inspector will use estimates - their estimates!
If you ask us to review your systems and records, we could identify procedures you might decide to change.
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