Business Blog

Debt collection laws – Protective armor for American consumers

admin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:13:03 +0000

Debt collection laws – Protective armor for American consumers

FDCPA is the abbreviation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which was passed in order to watch over the business of debt collection. The main objective of this Act is to prevent and redress any kind of unethical debt collection practices in the country. These laws are a boon for the consumers who want to become debt free without being exploited by the scheming debt collectors. A summarized version of these laws is mentioned below:

Communication with the third party – A debt collector must introduce himself clearly and politely before enquiring about a debtor’s residential details. During his enquiry process, he cannot state that a particular consumer owes any kind of debt to consumer’s acquaintances, relatives and neighbors.

Communication for debt collection – Debt collectors are barred from calling at unreasonable hours of the day. This means collections calls are not allowed before 8 a.m and after 9 p.m according to local time of the debtor, or when the debtor is with family and friends. Moreover, a debt collector should not make calls during a debtor’s working hours without prior permission.

Harassment to the debtor – Debt collectors are strictly prohibited from conducts that result in aggression, causing intrusion into a debtor’s privacy. They cannot publicly abuse him to collect debts. Debt collectors cannot use violence or other illicit means such as physical harm or damaging anyone’s property that forces a debtor to make the payments.

Misrepresentation of facts – It is deemed as an offence by the federal law when collecting debts. A debt collector cannot provide false personal details while introducing himself to the debtor. Moreover, he cannot threaten legal action for non-payment of any dues; he can only suggest such step to the creditor.

Use of unfair means – Debt collection practices that amount to violation of this clause are collection of debts for services like interests and fees that are not legally approved by the creditor.

Conformation of debts – Debt collectors are entitled to convey the debt amount in a formal notice within five days of their first communication regarding the consumer’s debts with all the essential details of the debtor’s credit account. Debt collectors are obliged to reveal the name and contact details of the creditor on receipt of a written notification from the consumer. An individual’s debt amount will taken as valid if he doesn’t dispute the alleged debt amount within 30 days of the initial communication from the servicers, whereas if a debtor disputes the debt amount, then the debt collector has to cut off any kind of further communication regarding debt collection.

Consumers with debts who suffered harassment at the hands of debt collectors can lodge their complaints to the state Attorney General’s office and the Federal Trade Commission.

Google Doodle Gideon Sundback

admin — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:40:38 +0000

Google is the most used search engine on the web today, and one of the most viewed websites on the world wide web. Occasionally you will notice that on a particually significant day, the google homepage changes its theme. It so happens that today, Gideon Sundback, business man and inventor of the zipper, would be celebrating his 132nd birthday. To commemorate him, Google have set a special theme consisting of a zipper which unzips through the Google logo, opening search results for Gideon Sundback. Search engine optimisation is the practice of learning the algorithms that search engines use to display results, and optimising a website around it. Because Google is the most popular search engine out there, Webmasters are constantly figuring out more behind how they display their results, therefore Google are constantly changing things to make the most relevant sites show at the top of the SERP’s.

Stoke On Trent Budget Cuts – An Easier Option Than Collecting Unpaid Council Tax?

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:51:48 +0000

Last August Stoke On Trent council announced that the budget cuts they have planned for the coming year, 2012, are in fact equal to the amount owed in unpaid council tax. The figures from Stoke Tax Accountants and the local council show that they have already made cuts cuts accounting to about £10m, but with more than double that owed in unpaid council tax, they still plan to make a further £20m in cuts. Included in these cuts are libraries and care homes which many would agree are important to the community and should be saved if they can.

Many councils in the UK have a bad reputation when it comes to being on top of collecting their council tax but I can safely say that the Stoke council are one of the worst.

Julie Latham campaigned against the closure of the Shelton swimming pool said ”Yes, cuts have to be made but cuts in the right places.” I agree with this completely, as do many Stoke On Trent tax accountants, so why do the council think it’s easier to make cuts than collect the money that is already owed?

Tax Accounting Advice

admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:46:37 +0000

Pretty much every business across the world needs help with their tax accounts in some way, shape or form. Whether its year end tax return, Payroll services, VAT or just tax advice their looking for, they will need to find an accountant to help them get their accounts straight.

Many small businesses don’t understand the concept of finding the right accountant for them, but it is definitely very important. Most just believe that any accountant will suffice, with many people turning to the big expensive accountancy firms for help. This is usually the wrong decision.

By choosing a smaller firm, who specialise in small enterprises, can completely transform your business. Generally speaking, these firms have much more time to invest, not only in your accounts, but in your overall business as well, almost assuming the role of a business adviser.

By not choosing to work with a Tax Accountant, you leave yourself open to a lot of extra responsibility. If you miss tax induced deadlines etc. you could be liable for penalties which can incur additional charges. Tax penalties and VAT penalties are amongst the most common to produce extra charges, but things like missing invoices etc. can also cause big problems with the accounts.

Finding Small Business Accountants Online In The UK

admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:18:27 +0000

A lot of small businesses in the UK struggle to find the right accountant that meets their specification. To put it simply – most of the bigger and more established accountancy firms choose to work with mainly the bigger and more established businesses. This makes perfect sense as bigger companies bring in more money, and therefore their accounts are harder to manage and involve more work, which in turn, means more money for the accountancy firm.

The problem is, this means it is harder for small and medium sized enterprises to find a suitable and experienced accountant, in their area, willing to work with them. The truth is, smaller businesses may only need help with the smaller jobs like their year end return or simply just tax advice, however, there are ways to make this job of finding an accountant, much easier for these businesses.

By searching online you will find endless lists of directories and contact details for accountancy firms all over UK, but this doesn’t help you filter the results into the smaller firms that might be willing to help, and the big firms that will be less inclined to help.

Small Business Accountants specialists can be more easily found through online customer finder sites where the consumer submits their details and then receives responses from registered chartered accountants with quotes about how much they will charge for the job. They also provide responses from multiple firms at once, cutting your time involved in the searching process.

Manchester Office Of Accountants Predicts Tough Year For Manufacturers

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:47:42 +0000

Key economies and markets with the lack of access to capital will make 2012 a very difficult year for the majority of north west manufacturers, say the Manchester office of accountants and business advisers BDO. However, the firm said government initiatives to promote innovation and export opportunities in emerging markets provide some rays of hope.

Manchester partner Philip Storer said: “After 30 years of decline, there is now widespread consensus that a strong and vibrant manufacturing sector is fundamental to the economy.”

“In 2012 we expect that the government will continue to focus attention on the rebuilding of manufacturing.”

Recent Report Suggests Poor Accounting Advice Ruining Small Businesses

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:38:41 +0000

Careless mistakes made by some accountants throughout the UK (which means from Guildford Accountancy Firms in the South, to Carlisle in the North and beyond) are allegedly causing problems and harming small businesses.

Large parts of the accountancy profession are costing clients a huge £1.8bn in poor advice. The entire accounting profession has to sit up and do something about this as a matter of urgency.

In a surprising private survey, figures collected by Wickersham and Pipe seemingly evidence accountants making mistakes with 40% of the 4.5m private sector businesses in the UK, therefore affecting 1.8m clients. We are unaware whether this report is mirrored by IACEW research which is one of the leading accounting authorities here in the UK.

If this research is typical of the UK, the data supports the innovative activities such as that of Accountant Now, the free service to start ups, as well as small and medium sized enterprises in the UK, with its assistance in helping SMEs find the right accountant is one of the critical success factors in business success. Accountant Now also benefits accountants by helping them find the right kind of clients with significant savings in time and inconvenience.

IsoCool Improves West Yorkshire Manufacturing Productivity By 10%

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:53:14 +0000

From its UK-based manufacturing site in Normanton, West Yorkshire, Really Useful Products produces and distributes a large range of innovative storage products, including plastic storage boxes, craft boxes, archiving solutions, trays and racking.

Originally, the mould circuit was cooled by a single water chiller with a 316kW cooling capacity, plus an air blast cooler for the hydraulic oil cooling circuit – a system that cost approximately £33,000 a year to run. Based on the chilled water system working 8,400 hours per year at 85% load, IsoCool calculated that the IsoFC would lower the running costs of the cooling system to approximately £14,500 a year.

London Figures Show Global Accounting Sales Growth

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:31:12 +0000

The world’s fourth-biggest accountancy and consulting network said its member firms collectively reported sales of $22.7bn.

Big accountants have been expanding aggressively in consulting in recent years through internal investment and acquisitions – such as KPMG’s purchase of EquaTerra, an outsourcing adviser, earlier this year. However, the conflicts of interest that can arise when an auditor offers consulting services or tax help to its audit clients has prompted the European Commission to push for a crackdown. KPMG’s main offices are in London and these figures are collect by certified London accountants.

Business Consultants Advise When To Listen to Experts

admin — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:30:23 +0000

Charles Dunstone of CarPhoneWarehouse has written an article for James Hurley’s Telegraph Business Club entitled ‘Don’t listen to the experts’ suggesting that entrepreneurs should not listen to management consultants in the main, and goes on to suggest that small might be beautiful.

Well, small may not be necessarily beautiful. It perhaps might be in terms of people, but business economies of scale are often vital for competitive advantage.

The truth is entrepreneurs often do not know how to grow, and end up filling offices full of people, increasing the vulnerability of the business and working for little of the benefits. This is often why business people revert to a small size.
Dunstone hasn’t done this. He grew in a chaotic way, upsetting millions of telecom customers along the way, and not focusing on customer value.

I am pleased he has survived. He might have done better to have humbly asked for and accepted help from the right business consultants, nearer the beginning of his empire building. He highlights that this is difficult to do.