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• Author:Balloon Accounting
• Published:September 2022
• Country:

Balloon Accounting professional Accounting, Business and Advisory Services to Independent Fostering Agencies & Foster Carers

Balloon Accounting helping you unlock the potential in your business and your life

Setting up and running a foster care agency is not easy…

Setting up and running a foster care agency is a vocation and not a money-making exercise yet it is after all a business.

That means numbers, payroll responsibilities, profits and tax. We have been foster carers and have sat as an integral part of the panel for an independent foster agency panel.

We have scores of IFAs and we are uniquely positioned to offer our specialist knowledge towards supporting your independent foster agency, whether you are just starting out or are already established.

Working with other agencies we have found the common themes were:

• Paying your Carers accurately and on time.
• Paying your staff.
• Maintaining accurate financial records to show viability to Ofsted.
• How much and how to pay yourself as Director.
• Getting YOUR time back to focus on the carers and children rather than being bogged down with the admin.

We can help you with all this, help guide you and moreover become the entire finance function for your agency.

Our Virtual Finance Office can do all this and more, acting like a virtual financial director but for a fraction of the cost. You can find out more by clicking here
.

Take a look at the video and then grab our FREE eBook on what accounting challenges Foster Care Agencies face by clicking here
. Or if you are ready to explore how we could work together, get in touch by clicking here
and sharing a few details.

Balloon Accounting – Business Advisory or Helping our Clients Do Better!

So how does it work ?

If your “TO DO” list is anything like this one then our Virtual Finance Office solution is right for you.
Our Virtual Finance Office Service was designed for business owners who want to spend less time gathering together the paperwork and more time growing their business.

• Your financial records and accounts are maintained in real-time using industry-leading software.
• Staff payroll processed for you where staff can download payslips and documents from the cloud.
• VAT Returns are prepared and submitted to HMRC.
• Payments to suppliers are processed for you.
• Personalised credit control – get cash in your bank rather than your customers.
• Preparation of budgets and cash flow forecasts.
• Monitoring of budget spending.
• Monthly or Quarterly Management Accounts.
• Monthly or Quarterly meetings to dive into the numbers.
• Two-page business plan.
• Annual goal-setting meeting.
• Attendance at Board Meetings if required.
• Statutory Annual Accounts prepared and submitted to HMRC and Companies House.
• Tax planning for the Company and Directors.
• Retirement/exit planning.

Don’t worry if your bookkeeping has fallen behind. We provide a catch-up service as part of our Virtual Finance Office service, so we’ll have you back on track in no time.

Business Plans and Cash Flow Forecasting

In this climate of uncertainty, many banks and other financial institutions like to see professional business plans setting out the full facts before a lending proposition can be considered.

A business plan will highlight any weaknesses that may occur and can often mean the difference between a business growing or actually failing.

The business plan details the envisaged financial performance including cash flows and projected profit and loss accounts and balance sheets. The plan can cover a few months, 1, 3 to 5 years of business operations. The report outlines your objectives, your strategies, your strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats and your understanding of the marketplace you operate within. It will demonstrate what funding is required and whether you have the financial clout to see it through. Profits can look great but overtrading may cause cash starvation and be unworkable.

You need to provide us with information but worry not, we will ask you the necessary questions for data extraction. We take the time to listen to you, we will analyze past financial achievements and absorb your future expectations, we also use our databases for implementing key statistical information.

Finance for Business

Whether you are a sole trader or the managing director of a large company, you may find at some stage you will need corporate finance advice. You may need access to actual finance and we have bespoke portal access that can offer you different lending facilities away from the traditional High Street Bank.

Balloon Accounting Providing Foster Carer Tax Services

There are few vocations harder yet more rewarding than being a Foster Carer, it’s certainly not easy.

We know that your role as a foster carer is extremely demanding and rewarding and the last thing you want to be is bogged down with income statements and tax returns.

So we can help you by taking care of all your paperwork and compliance obligations.
Foster Carers receive favourable tax treatment from HM Revenue and Customs Foster Carer Tax Services.

We have been Foster Carers ourselves and working Accountants whilst we worked in fostering and the Childcare sector for many years.
We bring our experience in helping you to navigate the complexities of this specialised area in accounts and Tax Return preparation.

Please read on for information about Foster Carer tax allowances and if you require our services then we would be delighted to assist you.

All for a fixed, no-surprise fee.

The Fostering Allowance

The allowance covers two parts, a maintenance allowance which covers the cost of looking after a young person and the reward element in recognition of the foster carer’s skills.

The income that you receive covers the cost of living for both you as the carer and the child or young person you look after. The fostering payments will cover the following types of expenditure:-
Food, Clothing, Household bills, Travelling Expenses, Other such as payments for birthdays, Christmas, school dinners and religious festivals.

If your total receipts from qualifying care in the tax year do not exceed your qualifying amount, those receipts will be free from income tax for that year.
Your total receipts from foster care are all the payments you receive from your local authority, health service body and independent fostering agencies.

This consists of two parts which you should add together.

• An annual fixed amount of £10,000 for each household, If you are a Foster Carer for less than a year then this amount should be apportioned for the year.
• A weekly amount for each person placed with a Foster Carer.

The Options for calculating you profits

You have two options for calculating the Foster Care tax you have to pay.

The profit method – this is where you pay tax on the actual caring receipts minus your actual expenses and capital allowances.

The simplified method – where you pay tax on your actual receipts minus your qualifying amount. If you use this method then you don’t have to consider your expenses and capital allowances.

You must consider the best method to use as your taxable profit will be less with one of the options available. You must inform HMRC if you want to use the simplified method.

Let me work through the complexities for you, decide which is the best method and undertake the Accounting and Tax Return obligations for you.

As a self-employed Foster Carer in receipt of a fostering allowance, you will be unable to claim Child Tax Credit or Child Benefit however you may be able to claim Working Tax Credit and other benefits such as income support and council tax benefits depending on your individual circumstances.

We charge a fixed fee of £175 per Tax Return (+vat)* so you know exactly what it will cost with no nasty surprises.

Find Balloon Accounting on our FosterWiki Business pages here.