Category: Regional

Information and news that effects particular countries or languages

Equipment Rental Software PAT Testing – Integrate your hire company with PATorgainser

PAT organiser logo
is a cloud-based software designed to facilitate and enhance Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) procedures. Collaborating with HireHop, PATorganiser seamlessly integrates with most preferred downloadable testing devices, effortlessly transferring collected data directly to HireHop.

 

 

How does the integration work? 

  • PATorganiser integrates with the HireHop Maintenance module, allowing the import of test data results.
  • Test results in PATorganiser will automatically sync to HireHop; whether they’re downloaded from a testing device, exported from a database or manually entered. This ensures your asset information is accurate and up to date through automation.
  • Detailed testing data is automatically downloaded from the majority of testing devices, which allows you to run reports, manage your retest schedules and determine the compliance status of assets in real time.

 

 

What is PATorganiser?

PATorganiser is the world’s first cloud-based asset compliance platform, supporting test and tag professionals  tasked with managing electrical asset compliance across their workplaces. It allows small operators and large enterprise-size organisations to manage test data – across multiple sites, automate key reports and create a single source of truth for all test data. The cloud-based nature of PATorganiser means you can access your test results from wherever you’re connected to the internet on most tablets and PCs.

PATorganiser allows you to:

  • Automate testing schedules to eliminate asset compliance risks on portable electrical appliances
  • Run comprehensive reporting across multiple sites, proving compliance with a click
  • Integrate directly with your testing device to download test results automatically

 

 

Patorganiser app on a tablet

How to connect HireHop & PATorganiser

If you already have a PATorganiser account, sign in to get started. If not, sign up for a 14 day free trial to try it out for yourself at https://app.patorganiser.co.uk/SignUp/Trial.  Additionally, PATorganiser are offering 3 months free to all HireHop customers for a limited time only with the coupon code – 3MFREE.

Posted on by Justin Levene

CIS Tool & Plant Hire Software – Construction Industry Scheme VAT Reverse Charge

CIS construction industry VAT rules explainedThe new HMRC Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) that came into effect on 1st March 2021, means that VAT has to be accounted for differently for CIS registered customers depending on the circumstances.  So for one customer for one hire you won’t charge them VAT, yet on another to the same customer, you will charge them VAT.  This gets even more confusing when supplying staff with a hire, as the staff element may or may not be subject to normal VAT.

HireHop equipment rental software makes this complex problem easy to overcome and simple to implement, especially for your part time staff at your front desk who probably don’t fully understand CIS.

What is Construction Industry Scheme VAT reverse Charge?

The reason for CIS is that it moves the VAT liability from the supplier of a service in the construction industry to the customer as an anti-fraud measure, preventing suppliers from receiving huge VAT amounts and not paying them to the HMRC.

If you do not supply the construction industry, or fall into one or more of the following categories, you don’t need to worry and can stop reading this:

  • You are already VAT exempt for the building and construction services.
  • Supply products or services that are not covered by the CIS, unless they are directly linked to such a supply.
  • You only supply staff or workers.

What Customers are Subject to the Reverse Charge?

Tool and plant hire agreement

The CIS reverse VAT charge does not apply to VATable supplies made to the following customers:

  • The customer is not VAT registered.
  • The customer is not CIS registered.
  • ‘End Users’, being a customer who is not supplying their service to another client.
  • ‘Intermediary suppliers’ who are connected, like if the customer is also the end user like a landlord, and both are owned by the same group/person.
  • Overseas customers outside of the UK.

How DRC impacts your plant and tool hire business?

If you are a VAT-registered hire company that provides services to a building and construction services VAT-registered company/person (your customer) who is CIS-registered, then you no longer need to charge them VAT.  Instead, your invoice should inform your customer that the VAT reverse charge is applied as they are responsible for the VAT using the reverse charge procedure.

If you use accounting software like Xero, Quickbooks, Sage, etc, then it should already have a CIS domestic reverse charge (DRC) VAT rate that equates to 0% that you would use, if not then you need to set it up or contact them on how to do this.

Examples

All of the following examples assume that you are a VAT registered company/person, supplying to the same VAT registered company/person:

  • Your hire company supplies an excavator to a building company that is CIS registered. The building company is not the end client.  In this scenario you do not charge the customer VAT due to CIS.
  • Your hire company supplies an excavator to a building company that is not CIS registered.  Regardless who the end client is, everything you supply is subject to normal VAT as your customer is not CIS registered.
  • Your hire company supplies an excavator to a building company that is CIS registered. The building company is using it to clean up their own yard, thus they are the end client.  In this scenario everything you supply is subject to normal VAT.
  • Your hire company supplies an excavator with an operator for an all inclusive price to a building company that is CIS registered. The building company is not the end client.  In this scenario VAT is not charged for both the excavator and operator due to CIS.
  • Your hire company supplies an excavator at a price and an operator at seperate price to a building company that is CIS registered. The building company is not the end client.  In this scenario VAT is not charged for the excavator due to CIS, however, however the operator is still subject to normal VAT as it is a seperate staff charge.

How Does HireHop Equipment Rental Software Make This Easy

There are a number of ways HireHop can manage CIS reverse charges, however we will explain here the simplest method to use.

  1. Create a virtual depot in each depot which is where CIS jobs will be assigned to.
  2. Make sure that the Domestic Reverse Charge VAT rate has been imported from your accounting software, or add it into HireHop manually if you don’t synchronise HireHop with accounting software.
  3. Setup your VAT/Tax Groups to include two standard rates, one for hire items and one for labour and staff, maybe similar to below:HireHop VAT groups for CIS
  4. Assign the various VAT/Tax Groups to the required rates in each depot, similar to below (you can see the virtual depot for CIS applicable hire jobs):VAT groups assigned to VAT rates and VAT codes
  5. When creating a job, if it is a CIS job, just assign it to the CIS virtual depot.  This means that every invoice issued, whether done manually or via batch invoicing, the correct VAT rates and charges will be applied without any more user intervention needed.

If you need any help implementing this, please contact HireHop.

Posted on by HireHop

Cancelled Hire & Event Deposit Refunds – UK Law Regarding Frustrated Contracts

Cancelled

We have had quite a few of our customers get into financial problems due to their clients asking for refunds of deposits for upcoming hires or events due to the coronavirus, so we want to give you advice when it comes to the law in the UK.

The information herein appertains to UK law regarding deposits taken and any refunds due to the coronavirus, and may appertain to other countries, including commonwealth countries, etc.

Frustrated Contract, What Is It?

According to UK law, a contract can be discharged as being frustrated when an unforeseen event occurs that renders the performance of the contract impossible, like the coronavirus lockdown, social distancing, etc. In law, this is known as a frustrated contract. The purpose of frustration is to avoid injustice where there has been a significant change in circumstance and neither party is at fault. Where a frustrating event occurs, the contract is automatically terminated without requiring any action of either party.

A contract becomes frustrated if:

  • the event occurs after the contract has been formed;
  • the event will have to be fundamentally different to what was envisioned when the contract was agreed;
  • neither party is at fault;
  • the event renders performance of the contract impossible, illegal or radically different from what was contemplated by the parties at the time.

If you have taken a deposit and the contract/event has had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus, under UK law you must refund the client, less any expense already incurred and less charges for any work you have already done.

As an example, if you were hired to supply a conference set, you could keep the costs and the profit for building the set (assuming you already built it and it couldn’t be used again). If you had to pay other cancellation charges where you are not entitled to be refunded, you can keep those costs as well. If you have paid a deposit to another party and they went bust, you can keep that expense as well.

Force Majeure

If your contract contains a force majeure clause that specifically mentions the issues raised by the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak that are said to give rise to frustration, frustration will not apply and you can keep the deposit, but it still might be possible for your client to raise the frustrated contract issue.

This is governed by the The Frustrated Contracts Act 1943 (https://www.lawteacher.net/acts/law-reform-frustrated-contracts-act-1943.php).

It’s not all good news, but many of HireHop’s customers have clients that are demanding refunds of their deposits, so maybe this can help.

Jurisdiction

This is only UK law and only applies to the UK. It might be similar in some commonwealth countries as well as ex-British colonies like Jordan, Israel, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cyprus, etc. as the relevant law was brought in prior to their independence.

Waiver: This is only general legal advice and may well not appertain to yours or any other particular situation or agreement, therefore we recommend that you obtain further legal advice before taking any action.

Posted on by HireHop

Coronavirus Business Advice – Save Money and Benefit Entitlement

CoronavirusTo help our customers, at HireHop we have done some research into benefits, grants and help you may be entitled to during this very difficult time.

In the governments 2020 budget, they announced many schemes to help businesses, some of which will be addressed briefly below and others in more detail at the bottom of the page.

Statutory Sick Pay:

  • Small to medium sized businesses and employers can reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid for sickness absence due to COVID-19 for 2 weeks per eligible employee who is off-work.
  • For eligible individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 or those who are unable to work because they are self-isolating in line with Government advice, SSP will be payable from day 1 instead of day 4, without any medical proof for 7 days.  After 7 days, the businesses need to decide if they need evidence.

Business Rates:

  • Business rates retail discount to 100% for one year, expanded to the leisure and hospitality sectors.
  • Planned rates discount for pubs of £5,000.
  • For guidance, you should contact your local council’s business rates department.

Grants (more detailed at bottom of page):

  • Grants of £25,000 to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses operating from smaller premises, with a rateable value over £15,000 and below £51,000.
  • A one-off grant of £10,000 to around 700,000 business currently eligible for Small Business Rate Relief or Rural Rate Relief, to help meet ongoing business costs.

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme:

  • Loan of amount up to £5 million (see bottom of page).
  • First 6-month finance interest free (Government to cover interest for first 6 months).
  • Government to provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan (subject to a per-lender cap on claims) without any charge to businesses or banks.
  • Provisions to provide further discretionary financial support to businesses.

Support with Tax Affairs:

  • All businesses and self-employed people in financial distress, and with outstanding tax liabilities, may be eligible to receive support with their tax affairs through HMRC’s Time To Pay service.
  • You can call HMRC’s dedicated helpline on 0800 0159 559 for help and advice.

Mortgage Support:

  • Mortgage lenders have agreed they will support customers that are experiencing issues with their finances as a result of Covid-19, including through payment holidays of up to 3 months. Please note that unpaid interest will be added to the mortgage, this is not free money.

Other:

  • Relaxation in planning regulations to allow pubs and restaurants to start providing takeaways without a planning application.
  • Businesses are encouraged to check their terms of insurance, if they cover for both pandemics and government, as the government and insurance industry confirmed on 17 March 2020, that advice to avoid pubs, theaters etc is sufficient to make a claim.

Cash Grant for Small Businesses

If you are a small business, trading from a rateable business address and qualify for small business rates relief or rural rate relief, you will be entitled to a grant of £10,000.  This is basically free money, but only if you are registered for small business rates relief.

Small business rates relief is discount upto 100% on business rates given to businesses who trade from only one premises (a home does not count), or multiple premises where the joint rateable value does not exceed £20,000 (£28,000 for London).  You can find your rateable value here. If you have separate limited companies at each depot, each one might qualify, however this is not clear yet.

The rateable value of a property is supposed to be the same as your annual rent.  You can easily get Small Business Rates Relief by just phoning your local council who will send you a form that you sign and return.  You could even get backdated refunds on past payments if you qualify.  Small business rates relief is not automatic, you must apply!

If you don’t qualify for small business rates relief, you may still qualify for the small business multiplier if your rateable value is below £51,000.  Again, this is automatic and you need to notify your council, and again you might be entitled to a backdated refund if you qualify.

If your rateable value is around or above £51,000, you should see that per square meter, you are being charged less than far smaller properties in your area, this is due to discount you would naturally get from a landlord for renting so much space.  If you feel there is a problem, appeal it yourself here. Don’t use an agent, as the majority will fleece you and demand money indefinitely.  All these companies do is fill in online forms and let the VOA (a government department) do the valuation, then charge you fortunes for this.

For companies paying rates, the government is offering a business rates holiday to companies in the hospitality and leisure industry, which by the sound of things, probably does not apply to rental companies who work in that sector.  Information is scarce, but it seems for now that this is based on a business premises licensed use, of which a warehouse probably won’t qualify.  We still advise calling the business rates team at your local council, as things are changing on a daily basis.

Please note, this only applies to business rates from April 2020 to April 2021 and not previous business rates, so if you are in arrears, you must still pay the arrears, but you might be granted further leniency on your payback schedule if you ask.

Low Interest Loan

From 23rd March 2020, the government has promised loans for SMEs upto £5 million through the British Business Bank, as well as similar loans being offered by many other banks, all 80% underwritten by the government.  These are loans and must be paid back.  They are also offering to underwrite loans for larger companies, but not much information has been released.

Putting The Company On Hold

This is not ideal, but numerous companies are doing this as they literally have no work. Companies are closing the doors until the storm blows over and paying the employees a reduced rate to stay at home.  We are all in this together, and if they want a job after this, they need to help as well.  You must get them to sign an agreement that they agree to the reduced pay, otherwise you could find yourself at an employment tribunal.

We are not just suppliers of equipment rental software, we feel that HireHop and our users are all part of a team.  We are lucky to have experts in business rates as well as accountancy, and during this difficult time we are more than happy to help our users.

Posted on by HireHop

A Wireless and Radio Mic Frequency Guide for the 2012 Digital Switchover

Some hire companies in the UK have been worried about the 2012 Digital Switchover and the loss of UHF channel 69 that was used by their radio equipment working on channels 69 and 70 (UHF frequency range 854-865 MHz), in particular, which radio mic frequency to use. To simplify things we will explain what you need to know and if you can use your equipment.

The UK Government has sold off the channel 69 UHF radio spectrum in 2012 for what was called the 2012 Digital Switchover.  What this means is that all walkie talkies, radio mics, in ear monitors and other UHF radio equipment in the UK from 1st January 2013 can’t use channel 69 (UHF frequency range is 854-862 MHz), however channel 70 (UHF frequency range 863-865 MHz) is still usable and free to use without the need for a license!

If you are running channel 70  (UHF frequency range 863-865 MHz) on walkie talkies, radio microphones, in ear monitors (IEMs) or other radio equipment, you can carry on using them for free as the changes do not effect you.  However, if your equipment uses channel 69 and does not use channel 70, you can not use it or hire it any more in the UK and must move to channels 38-40 (UHF frequency range 606-630 MHz).

The move only effects channel 69 users who must now use channels 38-40 (UHF frequency range 606-630 MHz).  To use the new channels you must apply for a licence either online or by phone from JFMG which costs £75.00 for a 1 year multi-site  licence, or £135.00 for a 2 year multi-site licence (these are their published online prices).

For some users, there is still one problem if you intend to use channel 70, in that it is not a very wide band which means that you are limited on how many different frequencies within the band you can use, you will be lucky to get 5, thus you can really only use upto 5 radio mics (or in-ear-monitors) together using only channel 70.  Walkie talkies all need to share the same frequency, so for them it is not a problem, however if you need to run lots of different frequencies at the same time all on channel 70, for example more than 4 radio mics, you will run into problems.

Lastly, if you have a long term hire, like in a theatre or at a conference venue, you can apply for a coordinated fixed-site licence from JFMG. These licences are not shared, reduce the potential of interference from anybody else trying to use their own radio system on your frequency and are specific to a particular location, using a particular frequency. Coordinated site licences can be in a wider frequency range (depends on your location) to that of a multi-site license, and are available from JFMG, from £28.00 per license.

Posted on by HireHop