Carol Cheesman on owner-managed businesses (video)

My name is Carol Cheesman. I’m the Senior Partner of a firm of accountants based in Islington – right opposite the Business Design Centre in Islington.

We’ve been going just over twenty years. In fact we’re about to celebrate our twenty-first anniversary.

We’re a little bit unusual as a firm of accountants. In that we have three divisions.

The first division is as you’d expect Audit and Accounts. We audit or prepare accounts and audit for any corporate entity however large or small, with the exception we do not audit quoted or AIM listed companies.

The second division is the unusual one, really.

It goes under the banner of Company Secretarial Services and covers: company formations, company structures, restructuring – that’s in particular, memorandum and articles share structures, types of share, directors, and also wills, probate, partnership agreements, leases etc.

Thirdly we have a tax department that covers all aspects of Tax. That’s corporate tax, personal tax, income tax, VAT, inheritance tax, stamp duty land tax.And we can advise both in an advisory role or for compliance areas in all of those aspects of tax.

We specialise in particular with owner-managed businesses and try to be a one-stop-shop for those owner-managed businesses. So particularly looking at peoples personal tax affairs, their personal financial affairs, albeit NOT investments or pensions. That’s a completely separate area to which we recommend other BNI members.

Having looked at that, we then link in peoples personal and their family situation with their company – looking at particular share structures that may suit and trying to mitigate tax over all. And ensuring that we have the right structure, whether that be a sole-trader or incorporating that business into a limited company. Or increasing it to be a partnership. All in all, always keeping an eye to mitigating the tax. And with that in mind, I always have a little motto that I say, which is, “Please don’t let the Tax Man get you over a barrel…

…but please call Carol.”

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