Supplier Corner
January 2010
‘Tax Without Tears’
OUR story started 16 years ago, when I was fi rst introduced to the direct selling industry. I had qualified as a Chartered Accountant many years earlier, but a marketing colleague persuaded me to take a look at an industry, which, at the time, was completely unknown to me. From 1993 to 1996 together we built a large organisation of almost 4,000 Distributors, fi rst in the UK and later throughout Europe, so it was exciting times.
We worked our partnership on the basis that ‘he caught them and I kept them.’ In other words, he used his natural marketing fl air to recruit, whereas I used my past experience to train. It was during this process that I came to realise how little many new Distributors knew about tax and accounts. They could understand products and soon learnt how to build a business, but tax? Accounts? No, this was something very different! In 1996, the company we worked with went out of business, and my marketing colleague moved on. I approached Richard Berry at the UK Direct Selling Association with a completely different proposition, one which created a unique combination of Senior Distributor and Chartered Accountant.
I already knew how the Inland Revenue worked and what they required, and now I understood the direct selling industry. I also realised that many, if not most, new direct sellers struggled to cope with their tax and accounting responsibilities as independent, self-employed Distributors, so I was in a perfect position to help them.
Thus in early 1997 and with support from the Direct Selling Association, DSL Accounting was born. Its role would be to provide tax and accounting support so that direct sellers could concentrate on building their businesses rather than worrying about the taxman—that would be DSL’s responsibility.
Now some 12 years later, we have helped a few thousand clients along the way, providing tax and accounting services as well as producing products which really do make a difference. We work with brand-new Distributors and established businesses as well as providing specialist tax planning for senior and successful direct sellers. One of our proudest achievements is to claim substantial tax refunds for Distributorships in their formative periods. To date, we have recovered more than £7 million, averaging
more than £1,000 per case and providing a very useful sum for reinvestment at a time when cash fl ow is critical.
A further service we provide is to teach and train at both corporate and Distributor-led events, where we can make a presentation on stage, supported by a stand which direct sellers can visit for advice during the various breaks. Our staff are all trained to provide help and advice in the best possible way. At these events, Distributors can also see our products which currently include specialised software written for the industry, an invaluable accounting starter kit for new Distributors, and a hot-off-the-press new book aimed to give the reader an easy tax and accounting guide to being self-employed and working from home.
Of course, member companies of the DSA do not have any legal responsibility to assist their direct sellers in coping with tax and accounting issues; indeed, they must be wary of taking any action to prejudice their independent status, but the phrase ‘duty of care’ comes to mind.
DSL Accounting can provide features for corporate newsletters on tax advice, speak from the stage at training events and have a stand alongside or provide in-house courses on tax and accounts particularly for new direct sellers. In fact, we already do all these things for a number of DSA companies, so please get in touch if you would like more information. As you may be aware, DSL Accounting has been nominated for the Partnership Award on several occasions and has won it twice.
‘Tax Without Tears’ has been our motto ever since 1997, and it really does mean what it says! It is also the title of our new book, so if you want your direct sellers to be free of any tax or accounting worries and thus be able to function more effectively, do please ask us for our support.
From the hundreds of testimonials we have received, we know it really works.
http://www.dslaccounting.co.uk/
