Thursday 30 August 2012

Step by Step Guide to Register a Company in Cyprus

You may have heard of the numerous tax benefits the country of Cyprus is offering and wish to register your company in its midst. It is a wise decision on your end. To begin, familiarize with the procedure that has to be accomplished listed below:

Cyprus Company Name
The Registrar of Companies offers a free company name check to all businesses interested to register in Cyprus; however, the following rules has to be remembered:

• As a rule, your company name has to end with either one of these two suffixes: LLC or LTD.
• The name you choose should not be identical or deceptively similar with any of the existing corporation under registration in Cyprus.
• You are given the liberty to use a Greek Company Name, but the necessary English Translation has to be supplied to the Registrar of Companies.

After complying with the following rules, your company name will be submitted for approval to the Registrar of Companies.

Determining the Share Capital
While waiting for the approval of the company name, determine the share capital each shareholder is to receive. Follow these guidelines to make the task easier.

• There is a minimum required share capital of €1,708
• Share capital has to be expressed in Euro, except for older companies that may have their shared denominated using the previous currency honored in Cyprus, the Cypriot Pounds
• Companies considered as LLC are given the liberty to issue as many or as few shares as they deem necessary

Determining the Cyprus Company Directors and Shareholders
The preliminary stage does not end with the finalization of share allocation; the company must also determine their list of directors and list of shareholders. The following guide will be of assistance in proceeding with this stage:

Director Guideline
• The directory may be of any nationality, but it is best if the director is a Cypriot tax resident to take advantage of tax benefits
• It is possible to have more than one director, but the minimum requirement is one
• Nominee directors are acceptable, particularly for fast incorporation
• Corporation are accepted to act and be registered as directors
• It is important to indicate the name of the initial directors because it will be recorded at the Registrar


Shareholder Guideline
• The Registrar requires a minimum of one shareholder for the formed company
• The shareholder may belong to any nationality and may reside in any place of the globe
• Corporations are given the right to become shareholders
• Nominee shareholders are also tolerated

Secretary Guideline
A resident secretary is necessary to fulfill the requirements of the Registrar. Although, you are in no need to provide a resident secretary; you are expected to demonstrate that the company formed can properly control and manage the activities of the company within the jurisdiction of Cyprus. Nevertheless, the primary task of the secretary is to accept papers and documents from local authorities.

Cyprus Company Registered Office
Aside from the above mentioned officers, it is also important to choose a registered office where you will accept your correspondences. Feel free to inquire with certain legal institutions for assistance if you feel the need to request for a virtual office.

Once you have decided on these important aspects of your company, it is time to submit these documents together with the payment of fees to the Registrar. If you manage to submit and fill out the form accordingly, then expect five days to receive the certificate of incorporation together with other documents from the Registrar.

About the Author: Achilleos D. is the Manager of the Corporate and Legal Department at Oxford Tax Solutions. He has extensive experience in company formation, litigation, corporate and international tax.To learn more about Cyprus company registration visit:
http://www.oxfordcy.com/index.php/en/cyprus-companies-cyprus-company-register-cyprus-offshore

Monday 27 August 2012

Embarking on a Savings Marathon

The next couple of months I'm embarking on a savings marathon. Why? Well for many reasons...vacations, a possible new business venture, higher ed...and as if all that's not enough Christmas is around the corner.  In about three months time we will all need a little extra cash to cover the holidays.

Before I embark on this new savings marathon I thought I'd take a deep dive into my current cash flow to see how flexible I can be/how easy it will be to save more.  Good thing I use mint.com - it takes all but a couple minutes to pull up a couple graphs and see my spending trends of the past couple months!  Here's what it looks like so far:

My total spending over the past 6 months


Spending fluctuations over the past 6 months
And what does all of this mean? Well let's start with the categories (Image #1).  The good thing is that only about 1/3 of my budget is fixed expenses (Housing and Bills).  My 'Food' category is taking up a large chunk of my budget, but well it's food and I kind of need it to survive, but I'll get back to that.  What I need to look into is my "other" category (quite large), my uncategorized category (which is skewed because one expense is really a reimbursement I had trouble categorizing correctly) and lastly my shopping category.  Looking at the spending over time (Image #2), I can definitely see the month of May standing out.  This is probably because I booked flights and hotels to Las Vegas and Seattle.  A more alarming trend is my spending going up over time (keep in mind this month isn't over yet).  I could attribute that to it being summer and there's just more stuff to do, but if I want to be serious about saving, I'll also need to focus on reversing the trend.

O.k. back to my 'Food' category. I broke down my food spending into more specific categories:

Spending on food broken down into different categories
With it broken down like this, I can see that my 'Restaurant' spending is a lot higher.  This is of course expected since going out to eat is more expensive than staying in...but again, this could be a source of savings! 
Spending on food by month
Lastly, my food spending by month.  April and June are standing out. Thinking back, all I can think of is that in April I was going through a stressful work situation and in June I traveled to a lot. Otherwise it looks like my spending is quite steady, which is good. I should be able to see swift changes, if/when I start focusing on this category. Next, I'll have to do this same breakdown for the other categories (like shopping) to inspect my spending trends and find places to save.  

Thursday 23 August 2012

Improve Your Website, Get More Sales

Recent studies have revealed that many small businesses do not pay enough attention to their website, mistakenly believing that once it had been set up, nothing more needed to be done. How wrong those hapless business owners are!

In times such as these, when most people are finding their economic situation is a little more taut than usual, it is crucial for businesses to do all they possibly can to engage, attract and facilitate sales. With increasing use of smart phones and other internet-enabled mobile devices, the company website is more important than ever, thus it must be used to its best advantage.

Remember that a website is in effect the shop window. If it’s slow or difficult to navigate, potential customers will be put off and go elsewhere. Don’t fall at the first hurdle – make sure you are using a fast internet service. Consider switching to a cloud-hosted service which could guarantee quicker speeds and reduced latency.

Next, consider your website’s design. Is it attractive and clear? Or does it bombard browsers with information? Think about simplifying the site, organising content into separate pages. Big blocks of text on a landing page can really put people off, so think about revising your wording. More detail on specific products can be added on a related page.

Work through your site as if you were a customer wishing to buy a product or service. How easily can you progress from item description through to check out? Is it clear or convoluted? You really need to make sure there is nothing obstructing this part of the process. Is easy for people to pay and are there sufficient options available? Using financial merchant services to improve your online payment facility – allowing for several different payment methods and accepting international ones – could make a real difference to your bottom line.

Lastly, for the sake of improving your Google search rankings and reputation as a ‘brand leader’ you must add fresh content regularly. This could be a blog, news items, photos, etc. Don’t forget to include links and sharing buttons to the business’s social media profiles (or set up, if as yet non-existent).

Take advantage of technological advancement and its increasing integration into every day life: let people shop on your site easily while they sit on the train or wait in a queue for the cinema. People can shop any time, anywhere, so make sure you have a website which can accommodate.

Author Bio: Jack Anderson has spent most of his life in the financial industry. He is an expert in developing and implementing strategies in leadership development, operations, marketing and sales.  He also deals with payment management, online payment as well as e-business. To know more visit http://www.firstatlanticcommerce.com/

Monday 20 August 2012

Top 5 Reasons Why Every Parent Needs To Save


Children are a blessing, but what they are certainly not blessing is your bank account. Should you find yourself in a bit of a financial pinch, it can be considerably worse when you have children that are in dire need of specific things. This makes saving your money in the better financial times all that more important. 

Preparation
You cannot always account for everything that you need to spend money on, especially when it comes to having a child. It seems that all the time something new is requiring financial output from you. Whether its new shoes or lunch money, whether it would be new outfits or car insurance. It really just depends on the age of the children and what is going on in your life. Without savings, it can be hard to prepare for all of these inevitable needs. 

Rainy Day
The rainy day fund is something you should also have in the back of your mind. Considering the fact that we've determined children can be financially straining at times, it would be ill advised not to start putting money back in the event that something rather costly comes up. For example, something could happen to the family vehicle that needs to be immediately taken care of. 

Time Off
Whether it is for the birth of your first child, later children that come after the first, or just something that could pull you away from work, it is important to be prepared for the possibility of needing time off. Time away from work is time that is often unpaid. So apart from vacation days that are accrued in some cases, time apart from your job is nothing good financially. However, being able to utilize a bit of your savings until you are ready to head back to the workforce can prove invaluable. 

College
As commercials and better logic of the current financial climate would suggest, it is never too early to start thinking about college for your children. Savings are a great way to start putting aside your money for the day that they decide to leave the nest to pursue higher education and better paying job opportunities. While this can be costly, even with some financial aid from the school's resources, it doesn't have to be if you start saving earlier. 

A Great Example
Taking savings seriously is not something that a lot of families seem to exemplify these days. However, saving can be habitual and influential to your children. If they can model this behavior in their own lives, you can set a precedent of smarter financial decisions and money management for their futures. 

These are several of the reasons why parents should seriously consider saving. While it is just a smarter financial option, allowing yourself to be prepared for what might be coming, it is also a great example for your children and their future. Making these changes in your life right now could help you out of devastating financial hardships that could be on the horizon, and can potentially secure enrollment in a college or university once they have completed high school.



Tuesday 14 August 2012

Insurance Ideas to save you a Fortune

Insurance, of any kind, is not the most exciting of tasks to approach but on the other hand, it is a very important one and one to be done properly. An insurance policy needs to cover you in all eventualities to save you money and worry should anything happen to your vehicle.

Insurance policies come in all different shapes and sizes so choosing the right one for you is imperative. There is something for everyone and with the market growing online; you can click for a quote in a matter of minutes. You can save money and search hundreds of different companies in minutes for the best quote by using the available comparison sites online. It couldn’t be easier, but, be sure to know what you’re looking for before you dive right in there.

Before you start, make a bit of a list, for your benefit, of what you need your cover to include. Whether you’re looking for classic car insurance and want to know you can get authentic replacement partsor your average car insurance but one that covers what you paid for the vehicle. Whatever your circumstances, you want to be sure to get the best policy and one that is going to cover any eventuality you personally may encounter.

To be sure you are covered in allof these eventualities; invoice gap insurance could be the answer for you, but you need to know that the policy you are looking at is the best one. Gap insurance gives you peace of mind more than anything and assurance of your cover should something happen to your vehicle. If your car is stolen, in an accident, or damaged in any way, a good insurer will ensure you needn’t worry and your day to day life won’t be affected.

Invoice gap insurance is not an alternative to the normal insurance but a ‘top up’ if you like. The idea behind this type of insurance policy means that your vehicle is covered for the original amount you paid for it in the sense that the insurer will cover the ‘gap’ between the original invoice and the value of the vehicle when damaged.

This is especially useful for those who purchase their cars on finance as otherwise, if something were to happen to your vehicle, not only will you have lost it but you will also be left with a nasty debt that you will still be expected to be paid. If your vehicle is for work, for getting to work, taking the kids to school; you’ll find yourself pretty stuck in this situation and no doubt it is not one you want to be in.

On that thinking, invoice gap insurance is a bit of an investment, but an important one at that because it means you can cover that finance, or you can buy a brand new car to the same value you paid for your old one.
Click for a quote online, it really couldn’t be easier. Save money and have peace of mind knowing that you are covered to the full under any circumstances.

Author Bio: Anna Mathews is a writer from North Wales, writes about how to click for a quote for invoice gap insurance and other different topics.