Responsibilities Of An Accountant: You Are More Than Just A Number Cruncher

December 1, 2020

In today’s dynamic business world, entrepreneurs have a plethora of responsibilities on their shoulders. Some are trying to keep up with ever-changing technology, while others have to make challenging decisions every day. Between signing deals with new clients and purchasing equipment – many entrepreneurs forget to maintain records. Here, the role of accountants kicks in as these professionals are responsible for crunching numbers.

An accountant records every business transaction – income, expenses, sales, profits to assess the company’s financial performance. Is that all an accountant does? In addition to bookkeeping, accountants comprehensively assess finances and create forecasts to avoid financial setbacks. Similarly, they closely monitor bank statements and reconcile them with ledger entries to close doors for frauds and theft.

If your company is leveraging tech-savvy tools, accountants can collect big data to evaluate financial health. They will also examine the proficiency of accounting software to ensure there are no loopholes or errors. However, if you don’t want to share financial information with a third person, consider learning the ropes yourself. Here we are unfolding the responsibilities of an accountant that are beyond crunching numbers.

1. Performs Statutory & Internal Audits

With complex business infrastructures, maintaining records is not enough. Companies have to ensure compliance with federal, state, and accounting standards to close doors for discrepancies. Therefore, a Chartered Accountant performs a statutory audit for the company. They dig into books of entities – limited companies, public firms, and understand the legal regulations. After all, they have to ensure companies prepare financial statements as per accounting standards and legal considerations.

Moreover, an internal audit is also one of the many types of accounting jobs that accountants have to perform. It ensures all accounting transactions are of the current year. For instance, if the organization incurred a loss in 2015, they can’t treat it as an expense in 2020’s income statement. It is not only against the accounting policies but also unethical since it artificially reduces annual profits.

2. Prepares budgets

Today, we live in a VUCA world – a place that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Thus, it has become essential for businesses to prepare and plan for the future. Budgeting refers to the planning of business activities and transactions before their occurrence. It enlists all targets and expenses, helping you stay one step ahead. But do you know how to prepare budgets?

An accountant is well-versed with all budgeting protocols. They prepare forecasted financial statements by utilizing the past year’s stats and figures. If the sales are increasing by 20% every year, they will follow the same pattern. Simultaneously, suppose actual results are not the same as the budgeted figures. In that case, they inform the upper management to take relevant initiatives. Moreover, accountants also identify potential bottlenecks that are limiting the company’s capacity to increase profits. It could be a hefty insurance premium, utility bills, or high excise duties.

3. Plans Tax Liabilities

Unfortunately, taxes take up a significant chunk from profits that no company is willing to lose. Although you can’t skip tax obligations, an accountant can help plan for tax liabilities. They will assist with tax calculations, filing returns, and making representations in front of the tax authorities. Most importantly, they know how to settle tax liabilities to close doors for potential legal penalties. After all, a small mistake can land your business into hot water while putting your business reputation at stake.

Besides tax planning, accountants can lower taxable income to minimize tax expense. Have you heard of tax deductibles? These are expenses that can significantly lower corporate taxable profits. It includes depreciation, charities, donations, and import duties. However, accountants ensure these deductibles don’t impact business profitability as low profits can reduce investment prospects.

4. Manages Business Cashflow

Unsurprisingly, managing cashflow is every business’s utmost priority. At times, the company reports sufficient sales but still doesn’t have any cash available due to excessive credit sales. Annual cashflows display how much money is available in your business and whether it is sufficient to incur day-to-day business expenses. An accountant reports all inflows and outflows of the company to identify any shortfall of working capital.

Simultaneously, they negotiate payment terms with customers and vendors to ensure cash flows positively. If any customer is delaying payments, they offer cash discounts to reduce the chances of bad debts and losses. Similarly, accountants give early-bird discounts if debtors make payments within 30 days or less. These practices make sure companies are liquid enough to foot their bills for another six months. After all, liquidity issues can drown businesses into loans that can result in bankruptcy.

5. Assists in Decision-Making

Every business owner wants to calculate the potential consequences and implications of making significant business decisions. Fortunately, having an accountant by your side can you help with all financial decisions. If you are thinking of purchasing a new plant, they will conduct a thorough cost-benefit analysis. They will calculate whether returns are higher than the investment costs. Similarly, when it comes to taking a loan, accountants calculate the potential risks and returns.

Firstly, they evaluate market conditions to understand interest rate movements. If the market seems volatile, they will ask the management to reconsider their financing decision, protecting the company from default. Accountants also leverage the latest data, facts, and figures to make business decisions and navigate real-time hurdles. Therefore, every company should take a collaborative approach with accountants to make the right decisions.

6. Appraise & Evaluate Assets

At one glance, financial statements seem relatively straightforward. You record sales, deduct costs, and expenses to get annual profits. Likewise, balance sheets seem like a comparison of assets and liabilities. Honestly, calculating these figures is quite challenging, especially for a business that owns many fixed assets. Every year accountant has to evaluate and appraise the asset’s value to record gains and losses on revaluation.

If you own a property or land, the asset’s value is likely to increase over time instead of depreciating. Therefore, accountants don’t charge depreciation on such assets and use the statement of equity changes to record the changes on such investments. Alongside this, accountants have to appraise the value of inventory regularly to account for any potential damage.

Wrapping Up

Believe it or not but having an accountant has become inevitable. These professionals ensure the company’s optimal financial health while handling all money-related matters. In addition to maintaining records, they oversee operations to ensure regulatory compliance. Likewise, they perform an audit, evaluate assets, and plan tax liabilities to maximize profits. Whether it is financing a plant, opening credit of line, or acquiring a business loan – they assist companies in every crucial decision.

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How to Perform a Technical SEO Site Audit

December 1, 2020

Do you think a treasure would be worth anything if it never gets discovered? Indeed, not. The same is the websites that put in an enormous effort to get noticed but aren’t. The question that emerges here is why would a website not be seen? It’s because it doesn’t employ the SEO tricks and tactics to stay on the surface and in the search engine rankings.

If we look at the present-day business scenario, we will find out that it is all about staying relevant. If your business is appropriate, then it will continue to impact the market and fetch revenue. If this isn’t the case, it would just prove to be a waste of time and energy. The comprehension of an optimization technique is essential.

The role of content and design is essential, but the need the coordinating factor of optimization. Your content must contain the relevant keywords and key phrases as well as pertinent information. Also, a website must have simple and to the point content to make it to the search engines.

The next is an analysis of your website. Unless you know how well your website is performing, you will not succeed in making an impact. It is essential to understand what is going on in terms of user traction and engagement. It’s a must to gauge every bit of the web page’s performance. A site audit enables you to assess your website and know where it stands continuously.

Now, you are probably wondering about how you can hire SEO services to perform a technical SEO site audit. That’s what we’ll discuss in this article. We will look at the step by step tips to get it done. So, let’s start looking at them.

1. Crawl It Up

The first step to carry out a technical audit of your site is to crawl it up. You read it right because it is a step by step check of errors on the website. You can spot any broken links, faulty keywords, low-quality images, or page title issues using any popular software or tools.

Using the tools, you can easily remove any duplicate content, disallow individual pages from search results. It also adds URL parameters for Google to understand that it is crawling the same page and reducing the redirects’ frequency.

2. Clean Sitemap

Your sitemap plays the role of the backbone for your organization, and it should be top-notch by all means. So, if you want your audit to be to the point and successful, you must make sure you do a comprehensive review of the sitemap. You will have to set some parameters to do it successfully.

Firstly, make sure you clean it up, meaning that there are no errors at all. Secondly, make sure that it is concise and does not contain a large number of URLs. Third, it is a must to incorporate your latest content in the sitemap to keep it updated.

3. Make it Searchable

The whole concept behind optimizing your website’s reach is to make it searchable. Your website should pop up immediately and be in the reach of the visitors. It is imperative to ensure that the website has just one version during the audit to do this. It may have many due to the separate traffic on the desktop and mobile versions. It could also happen due to duplicate HTTP vis-à-vis HTTP versions.

This step in the technical audit aims to ensure that only one version of your website remains browse-able. It is a crucial aspect, and we shouldn’t overlook it at all.

4. Rejoin the Links

Like any organization or set of things, your website also has a particular hierarchy. It plays a vital role in search rankings. The audit will focus on the internal and external links to make sure it is in order. A link could break if a webpage is erased or moves from its original address.

The emphasis should primarily be on the internal links. In this regard, the audit needs to find the click depth. It tells us about how many clicks it will require from the homepage to reach a page. If there are no broken links and the click depth is good, your website is better optimized.

5. Make it Speedy

Site speed is one of the most important things you, a website manager, need to review during an audit. If your website or one of the web pages takes too much time to load, it will drive the visitors away. So, make sure it loads as quickly as possible. It is true, especially in the current competitive environment, when a slow website could mean losing a business deal.

To ensure the website is fast enough, you may enhance the bandwidth and remove some of the rich multimedia content. If you have a business that has a rapid turnover, look in the audit for the possibility of a website crash.

6. Track it Down

Analytical tools play a significant role in gaining insights, and so it is essential to ensure that it’s functioning correctly. A website manager should make it a vital component of the audit because it matters to its survival. If the tracker code gets placed above the web page’s header, then it’s all good.

It is also essential to determine during the audit that the website bounce rate is not high. An optimized content and website’s speed are some of the factors contributing to a low bounce rate.

Final Word

The success of your business and, ultimately, your business depends on the periodic SEO technical audit. It helps identify loopholes and enables one to overcome them in time. It ensures that all components are in place and playing their role. A website manager should consider audit results as the key progress indicators to transform the performance.

Lastly, it is essential to know about the changes brought to your website. You can do this by having Google re-crawl the website. Go to Google Search Console, choose Crawl, and, after entering the URL, hit the Fetch button. Once you complete it, the Submit to Index will request Google to do the re-crawling.

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How To Beat Business Competitor’s Strategies?

November 30, 2020

Attracting competitor’s customers toward your brand is one of the most lucrative ways to win over other’s strategies. But it is not as easy a game as it seems to be. A businessman needs to prepare and follow game-winning strategies. You need to give them pretty good reasons to switch to your brand. Hence, business without leaving any unturned stone focused on all aspects from manufacturing to marketing.

Here, we will share 9 amazing steps to win over competitor’s strategies. Remember, these steps are to win battle not war, as war is a never-ending process. But following these tips can make your progress easy and faster.

Understanding Your Business’s Expertise

Knowing about your product and services is the major responsibility of every businessman. Because no one can know and understand your business or product. Based on your area of expertise, you can choose marketing strategies. To know more, you can study competitors’ products or services but do not copy them. Create your own identity based on product differentiation approach. This will help to keep the wider target customer approach by defining to the audience how your product is different from others.

Pay Attention To Staff Training

The staff acts as an asset for every business and plays an equally important role in your business as of yours. Hence, employees need to understand your target audience’s needs, expectations, and business. This makes their selling power easy and lands more customers on business. One of the best techniques for staff improvement is to provide training. You can also conduct a certification method, call experts as speakers, or promote self-study plans for their self and business improvement.

Building a culture with staff for self-improvement always presents positive results. The more they will learn the better your business will earn. So, if you are calling an expert as a speaker, schedule a monthly meeting to guide the latest know-how in the industry.

Keep on improving

The improvement cycle in business is a never-ending process. This does not involve one segment of life, but can be the product, price, business policies, website, employees, or improvement for marketing strategies. For example, if you are using an app to promote and sell business products, there is also scope for improvement. You can refer to the app design guide to know trending themes and designs customers looking into your app.

Remember, improving does not mean, changing your business or product, it involves only adding the latest trends or techniques to your existing products.

Focus on Brand is Essential

The brand does not involve only appealing website creating and eye-catchy logo. It involves much more!! How you are focusing on customer needs and expectations, the way you are dealing with their issues, and your strategies to readdress future problems. All you need to focus on all these minute details that can become big blunders for your customers.

Keep in mind, if you do not pay attention to these details, customers won’t rely on your brand or services. Therefore, check out your response given to customers and your way of answering them. Try to give more customer care support rather than adding chatbots for every answer. Do not forget to take their feedback.

Do not be ONE MAN ARMY

One cannot be an ARMY in itself. Therefore, do not try to be. Rather than spreading your roots to all spheres of services or products, try to focus on one aspect only. Give your 100% in your product. Try to improve and add services to your current product. This also eliminates market confusion regarding your product or services. So, stay focused and make necessary amendments in your way of product and services to hit competitors’ strategy.

LEARN selling techniques

Selling is one of the obvious, but most difficult tasks in business. Because selling does not involve pushing the buyers to buy a product or service for one time only. Whereas it is in recurring nature and involves motivations to people. Therefore, it is a challenging job for the businessman to make their product needed for others.

To achieve this objective, the best part is to make your business presence on all online platforms. These days, content marketing (to provide product knowledge), and hiring social media influencers are most trending. You can choose any of the ways to reach your target audience.

Find an accurate platform to sell

Nowadays, there is no death of a product advertisement platform. One can start from anywhere like social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit), pay per click on search engines, or choose traditional ways like TV, radios, or banner ads. The motive of every ad is to aware and motivate customers about products and services and how they are different from others.

The motive of every media is to create a need for products among customers. All you need to do is choose the right platform where you can grab the maximum target audience’s attention. For example, if you are selling baby products, find out new mothers bloggers to promote new products. Likewise, your promotion method can vary based on your audience presence.

Leaning in the ONGOING process

Learning is a never-ending process, it may involve knowledge for new products, services, technology, or market reach. All these help your business to build a solid base for attracting new customers. Remember, most companies become lazy when they start getting the desired profits and stop learning something new. This is the time when they give scope to new players to enter the market with something new. Apart from this, motivate your employees for learning new skills and provide training. Because training is a strategic weapon that helps in beating competitors’ policies with brainpower.

Bottom Line

Winning does not involve copying your competitor. It contains creating something new and better than what your competitors are offering in the market. The simple steps for this policy are to focus on your business proficiency, update your business and staff with the latest technology. Most importantly, do not ignore the importance of an online platform, create your website and business app. This helps the customers to be more connected with your brand and services.

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High Cost Credit Options – UK Review

November 30, 2020

The high-cost credit market helps people with low credit scores when they need the capital, allowing them to obtain the services or goods they need even if they don’t have the funds to hand themselves. For many, seeking a loan and completing a credit agreement can even help them avoid more financial difficulties, such as keeping on top of bills. However, what lenders are still in this market, who remains active, and who should you turn to?

In this review, we will determine all of this.

Have any lenders left the market?

In industries all over, it is common to discover that companies have left the market. The high-cost credit industry for the UK market has been no different. In the past year, we have said goodbye to multiple big names in the business that have exited the UK market, including:

Enova

The US company Enova decided to leave the UK market due to “regulatory uncertainty” almost a year ago, taking with it what was considered to be one of the UK’s biggest payday loan providers, QuickQuid. This lender was even bigger than Wonga (that had fallen the previous year) but faced many complaints during its time. The company is confident that its decision to leave the UK market is the right one.

Curo

In February 2019, Curo Transatlantic Limited entered administration. They operated Wage Day Advance in the UK but were bought out by Morses Club. The reason for leaving the UK market could be down to this entering administration and the new company pulling out.

Elevate Credit

Elevate Credit left the UK market in June 2020, after it stopped operating its UK owned unit, Elevate Credit International Limited (ECIL), and was placed into administration. Leaving the market was down to the lack of regulatory clarity in the UK.

Who remains active?

Despite many lenders leaving, the high-cost credit market has plenty of trusting, big names in the business that are still available to turn to in times of need.

Cash Lady

Often needing capital can be a timely matter, but lenders out there can help with this matter. Cash Lady is a leading short term loan website that can help you secure short term and payday loans in just a few minutes. The company first started in 2008 (Cash Lady is the oldest online credit broker) and is located in the UK, unlike many of the lenders who have left the market. In 2016, they were awarded the Credit Broker of the Year award and came runner up in the two subsequent years, and have so far had over 3 million payday loan applications approved, even those with bad credit.

Cashfloat

For credit seekers in the UK, another company that allows quick ways to finance your emergency is Cashfloat. The company was formed in 2014 and still holds a commitment to help people in their time of need to ensure they can get back on track financially. You can access payday loans, short term loans, or bad credit loans.

Little loans

Little loans is a fully regulated and authorized credit broker that allows you to be introduced to lenders who can allow you to borrow up to £10,000. They are a registered company in England and Wales.

Choosing a lender

These are just some of the biggest names in the high-cost credit market that you could turn to. Choosing often comes down to personal preference, so spend plenty of time looking into your options in more detail.

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A surge of confidence: Businesses and the economy respond to vaccine news

November 30, 2020

As the UK and wider world continues to weather the storm of COVID-19, we are seeing worrying news each day of damage caused to the UK’s economy. With much of the year fraught and defined by uncertainty over the future of vaccines and a pragmatic solution to living with the virus, we are now closing 2020 with eagerly accepted news of potential vaccines as early as next spring.

With that said, we are still seeing the impact of almost a full year of damage to our economy. Experts are predicting damage that may last for several years, with estimations of a recession unlike anything experienced in over 300 years, according to Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

With the government spiking borrowing levels to an unprecedented £394 billion in 2020 alone, we are also seeing unemployment figures spike as businesses struggle to remain closed or to operate in a limited fashion.

A new hope

Fortunately, we’re now seeing real hope for the future – and for the safe reopening of business properties across the country. News of vaccines has reinvigorated the economy to a degree, with many entrepreneurs and business owners now looking to prepare their premises for a safe return to private or commercial operation.

We’re now seeing reports of vaccine trials from the incredibly hard-working scientists in areas like Oxford and overseas – and it’s causing our businesses across the country to react. Confidence is surging, with new predictions from experts claiming that the ‘second wave’ of the pandemic will be more manageable than the first. While confidence is high, challenges are arising for these new vaccines. None more prevalent than the vaccines’ storage and transportation, which require incredibly cold conditions to last. If production begins in Oxford or the USA and vaccines need to be shipped to Melbourne, Australia, we rely on dry ice Melbourne suppliers and stocks to ensure they are safely delivered.

Businesses prepare

And with this news causing a wave of new confidence and planning, businesses are using the downtime imposed upon them to reshape and improve their operations. With many companies across the UK owning office space, commercial space and manufacturing premises, the time is now to put in place a plan for their safe reopening so that business can return to something approaching normal in the early months of 2021 if a vaccine is made available.

With estimates from the UK parliament placing the number of UK businesses in the private sector at almost six million in 2018, there’s plenty of managers and entrepreneurs gearing up for a better new year. And with the prevalence and danger of injuries at the workplace always an important point to address, health and safety should be high on the opening list of an office or building refresh.

The consequences of failure

The danger of electrical injuries can’t be understated. Fatalities occur each year due to safety-related electrical incidents in the UK, with hundreds beyond this suffering debilitating and serious injuries due to similar causes.

If you are the owner of a building and are planning a return to operation in 2021, the months ahead are an ideal time to ensure that you, your staff and your clients or customers don’t become part of these statistics. Electrical shocks and burns can be extremely dangerous and, as the aforementioned numbers show, even fatal. Fixed wire electrical tests are vital.

Help at hand

Fortunately, the process of ensuring your electrical health and safety compliance is simple, straightforward and affordable. A trusted electrical testing provider will work with your company directly, helping you to create a testing schedule that allows your business to operate or return to operation with minimal disruption and expense.

And better yet, they can help to recommend improvements to your electricals that will ensure you operate safely and with as much power efficiency as possible. In this way, you can plan and prepare for a better 2021 ahead – and you can even expect to save money through the recommendations of an experienced electrician or engineer.

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Best Christmas Present Ideas For Smokers

November 30, 2020

With the holiday season fast approaching, people have begun to seriously think about what they can get their loved ones who smoke for Christmas. If you are one of those who are completely void of ideas then you are in the right place as below we have put together a list of the best presents that even the biggest Grinch out there will love.

Cuban Cigars

Cigars are considered to be luxurious gifts for any occasion. So any smoker will appreciate receiving a quality cigar or a box of it. Types of cigars are various and can match anyone’s smoking experience and tastes. If your celebrant is a real cigar aficionado, he will be delighted to have Hoyo de Monterrey Double Coronas in their collection. They are perfect for long smoke sessions, provide chocolate, honey, or cherry flavors, and have some strong spicy notes. As for beginners, you can consider choosing VegaFina Coronas Tubo which is ideal for its milder yet flavorful, balanced smoke.

Christmas PJs

If your loved one has the same old pyjamas that are tatty around the edges and smell of smoke, then getting them a pair of Christmas inspired pyjamas will not only make them nice to be around at bed time, but will also succeed in getting them in the xmas spirit. There are a number of companies out there that specialize in making pyjamas, although our favorite place to find them is on the handmade market place Etsy.

Vape Pen

Bringing smoking into the 21st century, a vape pen is an electronic device that heats up to turn a flavored oil into a gas for you to then inhale. As well as adding different flavors, you can also add different chemicals to the vape pen, such as CBD, so that you can reap all of the many benefits that the substance has to offer. With the substance becoming increasingly popular it is now even being used to make CBD treats for dogs.

Chewing Tobacco

Some smokers may already use chewing tobacco in those environments where smoking is not permitted. It is also a great product for those smokers who are either trying to or intend to give up smoking in the near future. For those who want to give up using tobacco products all together then a tobacco free dip will be a welcome gift to receive. After all, what better gift is there to give you someone than the gift of good health and a long life.

Fragrances

Other than those people who smoke, no one likes the smell that cigarettes produce. This is especially true when that smell works its way into their clothes, skin, and hair. With a fragrance being something that you either get right or incredibly wrong. That is why it is good to take your time with choosing one and base your decision on the smell rather than what the bottle looks like or which celebrity is endorsing it.

Alcohol

Nothing quite compliments a cigarette like a nice glass of southern malt whiskey or cool beer on a summer’s evening. A bottle or bottles of alcohol is always a great go to present for any smoker at Christmas time – especially with all of the parties happening at that time of the year.

So there you have it, hopefully after reading this you now have lots of ideas as to what presents you can get for your grumpy uncle, annoying brother, or loving spouse that smokes. Try not to get too worried about getting the perfect gift, as we all know that what matters most at Christmas are not the material things but the immaterial things, such as love, kindness, and spending time with your family and loved ones.

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Registration of collective investment schemes on a global scale

November 29, 2020

By Josef El Semari

Do you want to distribute your funds in the European Union (EU), Asia or Latin America? ACOLIN can take care of the cross-border fund registration process of Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities (UCITS) and Alternative Investment Funds (AIF) in the EU as well as in selected international markets.

What service does the Global Fund Registration at ACOLIN Europe AG provide?

With the ACOLIN Group as your one-stop shop service provider, we enable smooth and fast market entry, allowing asset managers to focus more on their core competency – the managing of assets.

While the European investment fund market remains strongly nationally fragmented from a regulatory point of view, ACOLIN Europe AG as your provider of global fund registration services takes care of the entire cross-border fund registration process and on-going fund governance of UCITS and AIFs in the EU as well as in international markets abroad.

How do asset managers deal with challenges of complex regulatory frameworks?

As an asset or fund manager you might be interested in distributing funds to multiple countries. However, entering new markets can be time and resource intensive due to complex and varying regulations within different countries.

Although the respective country laws within the EU are based on the UCITS Directive and AIFMD, they are significantly lacking harmonization. This leads to a complex regulatory framework that differs from country to country within the EU so that each individual notification process varies according to the regulatory requirements of the relevant host country.

There is for example the legal requirement in the UK to appoint a so-called “Facilities Agent”, in Germany the “Information Agent”, in France the “Centralizing Correspondent Agent”, in Luxembourg the “Paying Agent” and in Spain the “Spanish Representative” in order to distribute UCITS funds in these countries.

This creates a need for foreign local agencies, with varying functions and of course different prices, which has been a big obstacle for the cross-border distribution in the past. At least 17 Member States currently require that local facilities are present on their territory in case of cross-border distribution of UCITS funds, while other Member States do not require a physical presence.

For this reason and due to other hurdles as country supplements or further specific additions to the fund documents and a large discrepancy in the registration and maintenance fees of the respective supervisory authorities, most of the funds in Europe are only distributed within the home country of the manufacturer.

As a result, according to the data provided by the European Commission, in 2017 70% of the assets under management in the EU were owned by investment funds that only operated in their home countries. Only 37% of Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities (UCITS) and 3% of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) were registered in more than three EU jurisdictions.[1]

By what means does Global Fund Registration at ACOLIN facilitate cross-border registration for its clients?

ACOLIN takes care of the entire cross-border fund registration process of UCITS and AIFs within the EU as well as in selected international markets.

As elaborated before, for several states it is also necessary to appoint local representatives which need to be listed in the legal documents. Therefore, ACOLIN ensures that the fund is compliant with the respective legal requirements, it submits the necessary documentation in the correct form to the relevant authorities and will support you in selecting and appointing local representatives, agents or paying agents.

In this context, for Germany ACOLIN Europe AG acts as the legally mandatory Information Agent and for UK, our subsidiary based in London can act as the legally mandatory Facilities Agent.

Even more special cross-border registrations, such as AIFs to retail investors is feasible, as has been demonstrated by our previous pioneering work.

Once the funds are registered, mandatory regulatory filings will be automatically executed via our state-of-the-art internal database and related overviews can be provided on a regular basis. The latest regulatory amendments are closely monitored and all communication with the national supervisory authorities is managed.

With ACOLIN’s officially recognised electronic publication platform fundpublications.com we can even help you to fulfil your fund publication requirements.

You mention the UK: How will Brexit effect you and how are you prepared for a NO-Deal scenario?

Even though some possible future scenarios are at this stage not foreseeable, we are well prepared.

Since the UK has left the EU it entered an implementation period, which will operate until the end of December 2020. During this time, EU law will continue to apply in the UK and a so-called Temporary Permission Regime (TPR) will take effect at the end of the implementation period. It will allow the continuation of operating in the UK for a limited period while seeking full UK authorization if necessary.

Therefore, on one hand we have already notified our German MiFID entity for the Temporary Permission Regime (TPR) and on the other hand, we have notified the UCITS and EU-AIFs we manage for the TPR as well.

Since we also support funds whose Management Company/ Investment Fund Manager (IFM) has made the TPR notification by themselves, we have exchanged and are exchanging information with them accordingly.

Some questions cannot be answered yet as we do not know which law will be implemented in UK post Brexit, but we surely closely monitor the latest developments and are in close contact with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

To summarize, ACOLIN is well prepared for all the possible scenarios.

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About the Author

Josef El Semari is Vice President and Head of the Global Fund Registration Department of ACOLIN Europe AG, based in Konstanz, Germany. In this function he is responsible for the Global Fund Registration Department of ACOLIN Europe AG which is taking care of the cross-border registration and ongoing fund governance of mutual funds in the EU and in selected international markets. Josef joined ACOLIN more than three years ago and supports company’s clients with his expertise in cross-border registration. He holds a Bachelor of Business Law.

How Brexit Will Affect the UK Immigration

November 29, 2020

Top Ways on How Brexit Will Affect the UK Immigration

What is Brexit? Brexit stems from two words, Britain and Exit. On 31 January 2020, the UK left the European Union under a withdrawal agreement, but this is not all. This agreement covers aspects such as a transition period and how to prevent checks at the Irish border and the UK’s financial settlement with the European Union. The transition period was agreed to be 11 months, and the changes are expected to take effect from 1 January 2021. The new relationship between the UK and EU will affect many life disciplines from trading to immigration. Brexit majorly affects the immigrants as it has clear terms and conditions that they need to follow. Here are a few ways that Brexit affects UK immigration.

Visa Reapplication

According to Brexit, any immigrant working in the UK may face some new regulations and rules. An immigrant will be required to reapply for their visas after a specific period. If you are an immigrant and desire to work in the UK, you must show a valid work permit to be allowed in. This will prove to be a little complicated, especially if you intend to work in the UK permanently. The visa policies application process is a little lenient as it does not require one to have secured a job in the UK as in the past. However, it is worth noting that the visa’s validity period has been reduced to one year. Once the period elapses, an immigrant should exit and reapply for the visa. Analysts have termed this as time-consuming and inconveniencing mostly for people who already have a permanent job position. In addition to this, the visa reapplication process is set to 12 months, and this creates uncertainty for the immigrants.

Regulations on Workers Moving into the Country

The exit aims to reduce the number of labourers coming into the country. This is following the new White Paper developed by the UK government. Reading through it, you understand that all the rules are to reduce the number of workers in the country. These rules apply to both workers and investors. Investors are required to acquire an investor visa to operate in the country legally. This visa states that no investments should be run to a minimum of GBP 1 million. Experts have said that this is a hard tackle for most business owners, especially with the expected inflation rates compared to the previous regulations.

The Status of the UK Residents

UK residents should also brace up as they will also be affected by Brexit. The new regulations state that any residents who have lived in the UK for more than six years have to reapply for UK citizenship. Anyone residing for five years or more must get legal documents to show that they have permanent residency. If they have been in the country for less than five years, they are required to apply for the Registration Certificate to prove that they are nationals of the European Union and have a legal right to be in the United Kingdom. This makes living in the UK hard as immigrants must begin the registration process newly even after having settled in the UK for a considerably long time.

Border Control and Restrictions on the Freedom of Movement

Brexit restricts movement at the borders whereby one must show a return or onward ticket, show that they have enough money to stay in the country as well as demonstrate the ability to use separate queuing lanes from the EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens. If the deal or no deal impact is passed, there will be a restriction on the free movement. This means that free movement will cease, and there will be more massive movement regulations on tourists, business owners, and students in the European Union.

Conclusion

Reading through all the above-discussed information gives you a deeper understanding of Brexit’s effect on UK immigration. The set policies will affect not only the immigrants but also the entire country. However, according to numerous studies and assessments, some of these policies have been discovered to do more harm than good. As such, any person who wants to move into the UK needs to carefully read through these changes and know what is required from their end.

Gabriel Ted writes for immigrationnews.co.uk. This is a media platform that helps to raise awareness about migrant injustices and news around the world.

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How Should You Choose a Betting Company?

November 27, 2020

Sports betting is enjoyed by millions of people around the world, and there are many bookmakers out there who will take sports bets off players. But how do you choose where you want to place your bets?

This can be hard and what makes this even tougher is that the decision you make will be one of the first you have to do when you are a complete newbie and don’t know too much about the industry.

Luckily for new gamblers, you can read sites such as Smart Betting Guide to get help with your betting and the choices you make, which include who you bet with.

It is important to get off on the right foot, this will give you every chance of making a success of your betting, rather than struggling to get to grips with things and losing value by making bad decisions.

Why Gaining Value is Important

When you bet, you must gain value every time you do so. This is with the betting odds you take and also the offers that you can take advantage of. Specifically, when it comes to offers, you want to be looking for something big, but also something that you can use properly.

For example, some bookmakers will have betting offers based on football, perfect for those betting on big competitions such as the Champions League. If you bet on tennis, cricket or golf, a football offer is no good to you, regardless of how big it is.

Then you need to look at the odds on offer. You won’t get the best odds every time, even though that would be great. Instead, look around for a good deal every time rather than the best one sometimes. This should give you a balanced, positive deal and good returns on your bet when place one that wins.

If you can get the value right, you give yourself the best possible chance of winning while betting. Get this wrong and you will find yourself leaving profit on the table and missing out on big offers that other people are taking advantage of when they place their wagers.

Look at Features of Each Site

Every bookmaker offers a variety of different features as part of their service, look out for these and make sure any that are important to you are covered. One main one is the ability to bet on a mobile device. Almost all bookmakers offer this, but only some offer a mobile app which is the most convenient way to bet.

If you are placing all or some of your bets on a mobile, finding a bookmaker with an app is best for you. It also shows that the bookmaker is at the forefront of mobile betting, so any further advancements in the future will be on their radar.

Other features to note include the ability to live stream events, betting in play, payment methods accepted and the opening times of their customer service team.

Live streaming and betting in play are both important, many people are turning to these and some see in-play betting as the future of the industry. If you don’t use them yet, you may do in the future when you understand their potential so look out for them.

Customer services is often an area overlooked by those looking for a bookmaker. However, if for example, you bet overnight, having 24-hour customer service on hand is important.

This all depends on your circumstances, so there is no right or wrong answer here, you just need to judge what you need and look for it. Another area to look at is payment methods. This is especially useful if you want to use a particular method, make sure the bookmakers that you are choosing from all allow this, and if they don’t you can rule them out.

With these checks, even though there are many bookmakers out there, you should be able to narrow the list down. Every time you do a check, you are making a service more personal to you and your needs, if you get that then you know you are going to find yourself a good bookmaker.

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What Chance Do You Have of Winning Money Inside an Online Casino?

November 27, 2020

Online casino gaming is a pastime that many people enjoy. From playing slot games that are based on popular themes to games like roulette and blackjack that involve card and a table. There is certainly a lot of choice out there, you can pretty much get any type of gaming you want.

But what are the chances of winning money inside an online casino? Is it as easy as it looks, are the odds stacked against you and what game offers you the best chance of winning? Should you seek help from people such as the Smartcasinoguide expert team, or can you go it alone and get lucky?

Here we take a look at all aspects of this, in a bid to try and point new casino players in the right direction.

Are Online Casino Games Fair?

First of all, let’s clear one concern up that some players have. Yes, online casino games are fair, and they have to undergo tests to prove they are fair before they hit the market. This is done between the developers of the game and regulatory bodies such as the UK Gambling Commission, so it doesn’t even involve the casinos themselves.

The games you see on offer if you play inside a regulated casino will have all faced scrutiny and passed the test needed to be made available to players. You can play these with confidence and without worry that there is something underhand going off.

What Games Offer the Best Chance of Winning?

There are two ways to look at this, the first is your chances of winning back what you spend and the second is your chances of winning a big prize.

First up, your chances of winning back what you spend is determined by the RTP% on offer. For example with slots, a game that has an RTP% of 96% means that the machine pays out 96% of what it takes in. A higher RTP means you are more likely to see smaller, regular payouts from the game.

A game with an RTP% that is lower, such as 92% for example, means that it is likely to be more volatile, but with bigger wins on offer.

This depends on how you want to play, do you want to try and land regular, small wins or are you prepared to risk losses in the hope of landing a big prize?

The same principle as that can be used for table and card games too, they all have an RTP% attached to them for the same reason. However, how you bet also affect this. For example, bets on red or black in roulette are going to pay you small and regular wins. If you bet on individual numbers the chances of winning are lower but the prize on offer is much greater.

Is There a Strategy to Follow?

In terms of a strategy, yes this will help you but much of your success will depend on the game at the time and if you drop on it when it wants to payout. This isn’t as strong for games like roulette, where people will use things such as lucky numbers to try and win.

When it comes to slots, rather than trying to fathom a strategy, it is better to just work out a gaming style you want a match the games you play to that. Want regular wins? Go for high RTP% games that are out there. Want a big win? Look at lower RTP% games and even progressive jackpots if you want something huge.

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