Micro Multinationals: A guide to international finance for small businesses

A plain English guide to international finance for small UK-based businesses, this book is essential if you're considering exports. The world is shrinking. If your business has a website, or if you're using Twitter or are on LinkedIn, then you and your business can be seen by people right across the world, and lots of them might be your potential customers. There are lots of exciting opportunities out there. But there is always a catch. Keeping on the right side of the taxman can be time-consuming enough if you run a small business and don't sell or buy anything outside the UK. When you look outside our borders, there are even more tax traps waiting for the unwary small business owner. What should you do to make sure you don't fall foul of not only HM Revenue and Customs, but also the tax authorities in the countries where you're buying and selling your wares? What would it mean for tax if you're travelling overseas yourself to carry out a project for a customer, or if you want to be based in the UK and sell goods or services to customers abroad, or if you want to set up a satellite business outside the UK? How should you deal with selling to customers, and buying from suppliers, in foreign currencies? You may well want to keep your business small, but what if you want to have a local staff member or agent abroad? What are the pitfalls? And are there any grants or help available for small businesses who want to look beyond the UK's shores for customers? Emily Coltman answers all these questions and more in this brand new book. Packed with useful guidance and case studies from UK small business owners who have either spent time working abroad or who are based in the UK but still trade with the world, this book is a must-read for any small business owner who would like to take their business global but is worried about what this would mean for tax.

Table of Contents:
1. The Practicalities Costs Funding 2. Foreign currency Invoicing Accounting 3. VAT Summary Selling Goods Overseas Buying Goods from Overseas Selling Services Overseas Buying Services from Overseas 4. Tax on Profits Sole Trader or Partnership Limited Company Setting up an Overseas Company 5. Record-keeping Conclusion Case Studies Bbiliography

About the Author :
Emily Coltman, Chief Accountant to FreeAgent, is a very unusual chartered accountant - she speaks plain English as well as accounting-speak! After graduating from the University of Cambridge, she trained and qualified with growing accountancy practice Cannon Moorcroft, where she looked after accounts and tax for a portfolio of micro-business clients. This gave her a keen interest in accounting software and training, which led to starting up her own business making screen-capture tutorial videos, and later to joining FreeAgent, where she works with small businesses worldwide. Emily is passionate about helping the owners of small and growing businesses to escape their fear of 'the numbers', and believes that, with the right tools and guidance, anyone can learn to look after the finances of a small business. She is the author of Finance for Small Business (Brightword Publishing, 2011).