“A budget tells us what we can’t afford, but it doesn’t keep us from buying it”. William Feather

When the Chancellor presents his Budget to Parliament on 18th March he will, for “UK Ltd” be doing what every finance director, finance partner and business proprietor does in some way – setting out his plans for the financial future.

If you step away for a moment from the political platform you will see that the Chancellor faces the same challenges as anybody running a business. Prices (taxes) need to be reviewed in the light of what the market will stand. Sales (tax yield) need to be estimated and decisions need to be made about the priority given to various items of expenditure – so you see no difference there.

Just as any business budget is never 100% correct the Budget is only an estimate, not a prediction. Sometimes there are pleasant surprises such as this year’s “over budget” Income Tax receipts and sometimes the surprises are not so pleasant and, of course, are always pointed out with glee by the Opposition of the day.

There is one big difference between the Chancellor and the business owner: skilled resources available to improve the chances of getting the Budget more right than wrong. The Chancellor can draw on over 1,200 Treasury staff but what about the business owner? One thing is for sure they won’t have the same level of support but nonetheless they will have the support and the skills of a professional to help them with their budget – which is probably one of the most important assets of their company.

If you like the way we think – you will like the way we work.

AIMS Accountants for Business are the largest independent association of professionally qualified accountants in the UK specialising in accountancy for small, local and independent businesses. AIMS are no ordinary accountants and we are more than just number crunchers! Find your local AIMS Accountant.