Ever made a phone call, been in a meeting, – discussed price, details, commercials, and then later regretted not evidencing what you’ve just done?
Let’s face it, we’ve all done it. Agreed something either over the phone or in person, then realised how you would prove it if it all went pear shaped. It’s something that has happened to me a few times, and it’s as lesson learnt when it does.
“You said its taxed and MOT’d – no I never, -I never said that”
or how about “you said I can have it for £999 pounds, – yeah if you signed up this week – oh you never told me that – yes I did“
I cannot stress how important it is to obtain evidence of every transaction you do. If it’s important, you need to get evidence to prove it. I’ve just come from a business which is operated by two young guys selling services to other businesses. Everything they did was “gentleman’s agreements” and handshakes, however just now; it’s all blown up on their face. Its now one big argument about who said what, when where and why.
There is not even one scrap of paper to prove anything was said or agreement or on what term – what a mess!
Remember – its your responsibly as a director to keep records of your business transactions. Without them, you are asking for trouble.
Some people think its funny walking into their accountants two weeks before their year end with a bin bag full of receipts, throwing them at the accountant and expecting a full set of account to be prepared – trust me these guys never even had the bin bag, never mind the receipts!.
They’ve given me permission to talk about this on my blog, but to keep their names quiet (to protect the innocent!).
According to HMRC, you’ve got to keep your records for up to 6 years, or get hit with a £3000 fine!
Basic Records You Need to Keep
Your basic records will normally include:
- a record of all your sales, with copies of any invoices you’ve issued
- a record of all your business purchases and expenses
- invoices for all your business purchases and expenses, unless they’re for very small amounts
- details of any amounts you personally pay into or take from the business
- copies of business bank statements
Now….my advice does not come free, hopefully the stuff above has been useful, however you must now let me on my soap box for a moment while I tip my own business (in fact you might find this useful as well)
Record Your Phone Calls!.
In the old days, recording phone calls needed boxes, wires, phone systems and a stack of cash along with a willing volunteer to change the tapes when they got full up of your dulcet tones. To prove what you said was in fact correct your volunteer had to wade through dusty store rooms of tapes in the hope of finding your call – provided the tape has not chewed itself up!
These days, you can record your phone calls without half the hassle. My company provides a service called Record Your Call (see www.recordyourcall.co.uk ) and it allows you to record your incoming or outgoing phone calls without the need of any equipment – bar a phone!
You can use it from any phone anywhere. It’s simple to use and once your call is complete, download the recording as an mp3 file from the website and your done. It costs 10p per min to use and everything else is free. No setup costs, no monthly costs – keep your hard earned cash in the bank and don’t tie it up on expensive IT equipment that’s worth 50p the day after you’ve walked out the shop.
You could use Record Your Call to record important business transactions between two people or conference calls. Each recording can be stored on your PC; giving you hard evidence that could be used in a court of law should it ever be required.
Consumers are using it to record calls to gas companies, local councils, or even their accountant – to prove what was said, promised, or committed.
Businesses are using it to record calls to suppliers, customers, tax office etc – to not only prove what was said but for quality and staff training purposes.
Please let me know your thoughts on the service and if you find it useful – www.recordyourcall.co.uk
