Taking a break, not trading, salary?

[bownyboy]

So I queried this with my accountant and they reiterated their position that as ‘I’m no longer trading they don’t recommend taking a salary as it’s a trading expense’ but then they did ask me to send them the link where I’d read otherwise ?♂️

FYI Even though I’m taking some months off I’m still in touch with recruiters / my network / colleagues and responding to requests for work (yesterday) and reviewing VAT returns, sorting self assessment, updating LinkedIn etc.

[northernladuk]

So I queried this with my accountant and they reiterated their position that as ‘I’m no longer trading they don’t recommend taking a salary as it’s a trading expense’ but then they did ask me to send them the link where I’d read otherwise ?♂️

Very odd that. Ask if it can be refered to the Ops Manager to look at and get one of the senior accountants to review.

reviewing VAT returns, sorting self assessment, updating LinkedIn etc.

Which takes 5 mins once every three months and the other once a year. Hardly resource heavy... but we get what you mean.

[eek]

I'm glad gorilla don't run an umbrella - sorry we can't pay you holiday pay, you were on holiday and not working...

Either the OP asked the question in a very strange way or the advice being given by the "accountant" is very wrong.

And if Gorilla have got to the point that they are a factory production line I would be going elsewhere regardless.

[pr1]

I'm glad gorilla don't run an umbrella - sorry we can't pay you holiday pay, you were on holiday and not working...

Either the OP asked the question in a very strange way or the advice being given by the "accountant" is very wrong.

And if Gorilla have got to the point that they are a factory production line I would be going elsewhere regardless.

Yeah, after 7 (happy) years with Gorilla I'm beginning to get nervous about how "production-liney" they seem to be getting at distributing advice and answering queries in the last couple of months, especially since the CK/Boox saga has cropped up

[WTFH]

OK, I'm just wondering if it's about the terminology you are using and how they are interpreting it.
If you say to them that you're taking a break for a couple of months, but are still looking for new work, I expect they'll say OK.
If you are using the word TRADING (or possibly even mentioned CEASE TRADING or DORMANT), then they may be interpreting your words differently.

Even though you are taking a break, the company is still trading, it's just doing very little business.

I realise some on here will shoot me down for semantics, but there are plenty of debates (in business, in real life, and on the internet) where one person using a word to mean one thing is interpreted differently by another, just because of how the word is emphasised, etc.

[jamesbrown]

I realise some on here will shoot me down for semantics, but there are plenty of debates (in business, in real life, and on the internet) where one person using a word to mean one thing is interpreted differently by another, just because of how the word is emphasised, etc.

I wouldn’t exactly shoot you down, but an accountant basically has one job, namely to provide coherent advice, and they should be able to cut through the fluff, so we’re really talking about a degree of failure here. Either they understood the real question and provided incompetent advice or they failed to see the real question.

[Maslins]

I realise some on here will shoot me down for semantics, but there are plenty of debates (in business, in real life, and on the internet) where one person using a word to mean one thing is interpreted differently by another, just because of how the word is emphasised, etc.

Part of our role is translating what clients say to us. They'll use incorrect/poor terminology.

Eg with IR35, the number of Ltd Co contractors who will talk about the "salary" from their "employer" when they mean "day rate" and "client". Does it matter? Not really, when they're talking to us, and we know what they mean. However if they're using that terminology everywhere, HMRC enquire and see some of it, it doesn't help their case.

"Self employed" when they're a Ltd Co owner. "My company" when they're a sole trader. "My company will be dormant" when they mean it'll have no income for a fortnight cos they're going to Greece for a break. Etc etc.

Just yesterday a potential MVL Online client asked if we can liquidate their PLC. We checked, and (of course?!) it's not a PLC, it's a normal Ltd Co, and there's no reason we can't assist. Had we answered the exact Q the client asked without any sanity checking, we'd have replied that we can't liquidate PLCs.

My point is a decent accountant will read between the lines of the words a client uses, and look at the bigger picture. Not criticising the client here, I'm sure we've all bought something from a provider where they had to interpret our daft layperson explanation of what we need/want!

[jamesbrown]

Exactly, Maslins. Eliciting the real question is part of the job. If a client says they “want to take a capital gainz” from their company, you don’t immediately direct them to an MVL. Also, FWIW, the OP does not sound like an idiot and managed to communicate fine with us, so they probably did the same with their accountant.

[WTFH]

I wouldn’t exactly shoot you down, but an accountant basically has one job, namely to provide coherent advice, and they should be able to cut through the fluff, so we’re really talking about a degree of failure here. Either they understood the real question and provided incompetent advice or they failed to see the real question.

(EDIT: note, I was very slow at typing this reply, so it was before I'd read yours and Maslins replies above)

I agree, I'm just trying to provide a bit of context. If you phone your accountant and say "I want to cease trading can I still draw a salary?" then there's one response.
If you say "I'm going to take a few weeks off", the accountant will probably say "you don't need to tell me"

Sometimes it's the choice of words, their repetition in a message, or the lack of clarity in the message that causes the problem.
I see it frequently in business meetings when a non-technical person uses a technical term, and maybe the third party developers latch on to it, but then you ask a question and realise that the non-tech thinks they sound knowledgeable using what they think is the right word, but they mean something different.

I think Maslins has also picked up on the nuances.
The thread title mentions "not trading", the first post mentions the term "not trading", and the reply yesterday evening again talks about "not trading".
Except the company has not "stopped trading" or "ceased trading" or "not trading". The company is still very much in business and trading, but he, as an individual, is just not actively chasing new business. If he's gone to his accountant and said that he wants to stop trading, or that he wants to cease trading, or that the company will not be trading, then the accountant may have provided advice based on the OP's emphasis on certain words.

[JHamp82]

I agree, I'm just trying to provide a bit of context. If you phone your accountant and say "I want to cease trading can I still draw a salary?" then there's one response.
If you say "I'm going to take a few weeks off", the accountant will probably say "you don't need to tell me"

Sometimes it's the choice of words, their repetition in a message, or the lack of clarity in the message that causes the problem.
I see it frequently in business meetings when a non-technical person uses a technical term, and maybe the third party developers latch on to it, but then you ask a question and realise that the non-tech thinks they sound knowledgeable using what they think is the right word, but they mean something different.

I think Maslins has also picked up on the nuances.
The thread title mentions "not trading", the first post mentions the term "not trading", and the reply yesterday evening again talks about "not trading".
Except the company has not "stopped trading" or "ceased trading" or "not trading". The company is still very much in business and trading, but he, as an individual, is just not actively chasing new business. If he's gone to his accountant and said that he wants to stop trading, or that he wants to cease trading, or that the company will not be trading, then the accountant may have provided advice based on the OP's emphasis on certain words.

I agree with this and also we exactly don't know how he phrased the question to his accountant.

From memory, Gorilla provide reduced fee if you are taking a break etc however with this they will not process a salary so probably there is something on this as well.