A survey carried out by VAT experts, The VAT Consultancy, has revealed that 79% of businesses saw a huge increase in business administration as a result of the VAT rate changes in 2009, while over a third (36%) said that the rate rise had actually incurred costs and driven down profit margins. 

  Just 13% of the company’s client base, which comprises a cross-section of business from large organisations to SMEs and general accountancy practitioners, saw a positive impact of the temporary rate reduction.  One respondent cited that they had recently seen a sudden rush in customers ordering to beat the rate rise which was good for business now, but they were expecting a slow-down in the new year as a result.    The majority however claimed that it had been a costly waste of time.  ‘The changes have had no beneficial effects, but have created hours of work’ claimed one respondent, while another said: ‘An increase in administration for no benefit says it all’.  

 AspectETRM, the fast-to-implement energy trade and risk management system, has been chosen by Geneva-based Lemvig Oil Trading SA for critical front and back office roles.  Lemvig Oil Trading specialises in trading and transportation of oil and oil-related products in Russia and the countries of the Confederation of Independent States.

The software-as-a-service (SaaS) system from Aspect Enterprise Solutions will initially give Lemvig’s trading team real time deal capture, position keeping, physical trade logging and reporting facilities. Later it will be expanded into back office and inventory management functions.

 Most see the potential in global trade but lack awareness of the range of supporting initiatives

  National research with 3,600 UK entrepreneurs and small business owners reveals:   Alibaba.com logo - 98% of UK small business owners unaware of initiatives that can facilitate overseas trade  - 76% agree that global trading opportunities are significant  - 93% believe it is tough to find foreign suppliers   As UK entrepreneurs strive to beat the recession by building profitable businesses, research has revealed they could be stalling their success by not taking advantage of support available to help grow their operations globally.   According to a survey commissioned by Alibaba.com, the world’s largest online B2B marketplace for small businesses, 98% of respondents were unaware of any current initiatives to help UK businesses expand into overseas trade - despite the existence of schemes such as the UK Trade and Investment Global Entrepreneur Programme and help available from Business Link and other regional development agencies.  

• Modular system automates and streamlines payments using ISO20022 message standards

LONDON, 15th December, 2009 - SMA Financial (http://www.sma.co.uk/), SWIFT Regional partner for UK, Eire, Channel Islands and the Nordics today announced the launch of SMA Alembic, a new product that enables corporate treasury to improve cash and liquidity management.  SMA Alembic uses next generation SWIFT technology based on ISO20022 standards to automate and streamline payments, to reduce the complexity of international cash management and to enable more efficient use of working capital.

SMA Alembic is a modular software suite that can be customised to meet the demanding requirements of today's corporate treasury department.