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Business Risk Services
Our Business Risk Services team deliver practical and pragmatic solutions that support clients in growing and protecting the inherent value of their businesses.
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Corporate Finance and Deal Advisory
We offer a dedicated team of experienced individuals with a focus on successfully executing transactions for corporates and financial institutions. We offer an integrated approach, with our corporate finance specialists working seamlessly with tax and other specialists to ensure that every angle is covered.
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Economic Advisory
Our all-island Economics Advisory team combines expertise in economics and business with a wealth of experience across the public and private sectors.
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Forensic Accounting
We have a different way of doing business by delivering real insight through a combination of technical rigour, commercial experience and intuitive judgment. We take pride in delivering responsive and tailored solutions to all our clients, capitalising on the wealth of experience housed within our Belfast and wider Forensics team
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People and Change Consulting
The Grant Thornton People & Change Consulting practice works with clients on these issues as well as on all aspects of how they attract, retain, engage develop, deploy and lead their people.
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Restructuring
We work with a wide variety of clients and stakeholders such as high street banks, private equity funds, directors, government agencies and creditors to implement solutions which provide the best possible outcomes.
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Technology Consulting
Motivating and assisting our clients to pursue, maintain and secure the benefits of digital solutions is at the core of our Digital Transformation teams' agenda and goals. We work with business leaders to deliver efficient digital strategies and operating models that provide new or enhanced capabilities.
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Corporate and International Tax
Northern Ireland businesses face further challenges as they operate in the only part of the UK that has a land border with a country offering a lower tax rate.
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Employer Solutions
Our team specialises in remuneration and incentive planning and works closely with employers, shareholders and employees to ensure that business strategies are aligned and goals achieved in the most tax efficient, cost-effective manner.
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Entrepreneur and Private Client Taxes
Our team of experienced advisors are on hand to guide you through any decision or transaction ranging from the establishment of new business ventures, to realising value on exit, to succession planning and providing for loved ones.
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Global Mobility Services
Grant Thornton Ireland offer a different approach to managing global mobility. We have brought together specialists from our tax, global payroll, people and change and financial accounting teams across Ireland and Northern Ireland, while drawing on the knowledge and insights of our global network of over 143 offices of mobility professionals to provide you with a holistic approach to managing global mobility.
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Outsourced Payroll
Our outsourced service provides valued service to over 150 separate PAYE schemes. These ranging from 1 to 1000 employees, working for micro, SME and global employers. The service is supported by the integrated network of tax and global mobility teams and the wider Grant Thornton network delivering a seamless service. Experienced staff deliver a personal service built around your business needs.
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Tax Disputes and Investigations
Our Tax Disputes and Investigation team is made up of tax experts and former HMRC investigators who have years of experience in dealing with a variety of tax investigations. Our expertise and insight can guide you through all interactions, keeping your cost at a minimum while allowing you to continue with the day to day running of your business.
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VAT and Indirect Taxes
At Grant Thornton (NI) LLP, our team helps Northern Ireland businesses manage their UK and global indirect tax risks which, as transactional taxes, can quickly become big liabilities.
Cloud accounting for small businesses
20 Jun 2017As technology gains an ever-stronger foothold in our day to day lives, small business owners have been embracing cloud-based accounting solutions to manage their bookkeeping, payroll, and tax returns. But what makes it so attractive to small businesses?
Unlike traditional desktop accounting packages, cloud accounting software tends to be marketed as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, where a small monthly ‘licence’ fee is paid on a recurring basis instead of investing in hardware and software at the outset.
In the cloud computing world, data is sent to the cloud via the internet, and with the cloud accounting software, financial records are securely stored and managed ‘in the cloud’, meaning they can be accessed at any time and from any device. The result is that user friendly, real-time data can be accessed from anywhere there is an internet connection, making the workforce truly mobile.
For SMEs, particularly those in the start-up phase, a significant advantage of cloud accounting would be avoiding the initial outlay on computer hardware and accounting software and freeing up cash flow. For existing businesses, the move to a ‘pay as you go’ system with updates included and automatically installed at no extra cost has very few barriers, other than the initial migration of data.
Where cloud accounting offers real value however, is through the access to real time data by multiple users on multiple devices. Each user profile can be set to allow access to only specific information if desired, and the most sensitive information can be restricted to only the most senior people in the business. This flexibility offers real opportunities to think differently about how routine accounting processes are managed, for example efficiency can be improved by training sales people to invoice customers at point of sale, rather than relying on a central administration team.
In considering cloud accounting the main concern to most business owners is retaining the confidentiality of their data. By using a cloud accounting provider an SME will effectively be giving an external third party access to sensitive financial information and it is vital therefore to ensure that a reputable provider is chosen, with a good track record for security and encryption of data.
Business owners will also surrender control over backing up data to the cloud providers and although this ensures data is safely backed up, it is held off site by the cloud provider and can make data extraction difficult in the event that the business wishes to change providers.
The availability of good internet speed and reliability is clearly important and will affect the operation of cloud accounting. A poor internet connection can cause frustration and any outage in the internet will limit the accounting function of the business.
The move to cloud accounting is undoubtedly gaining momentum as a cost effective option for small businesses. In each case the benefits and drawbacks of cloud accounting should be considered and evaluated in light of individual circumstances of the business and its accounting requirements.