Small to medium businesses make up a significant proportion of all businesses worldwide.
Current estimates indicate that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for approximately 90% of all businesses globally, a figure that remains consistent across various countries, and they contribute to approximately 90% of global employment. However, small businesses face numerous challenges in the current economic climate. The reality is that the current business landscape isn’t set up to help small businesses thrive.
One area that appears to favor larger and more significant businesses over smaller ones is compliance. There are multiple areas of business that require compliance, and these can vary from sector to sector, industry to industry, and even country to country. However, as a business owner, understanding and managing compliance is within your control. You need to do your due diligence to understand exactly where you need to be compliant, what is expected of you, and what you need to put in place to ensure that you meet all relevant legislation and regulations, therefore operating legally.
With this in mind, what part of your business do you need to focus on to ensure that you are fully compliant at all times?
Tax
In the UK, small businesses are required to comply with various tax laws. These include income tax, VAT, and corporation tax. However, in Zimbabwe, you will need to pay income tax, value-added tax and withholding taxes, meaning that you must ensure you are up-to-date on your income expenditures and all accounts and records at all times and that you file all your tax returns on time as well.
For small businesses, however, paying for an accountant can be quite costly. However, mtd software can assist you in making all your tax payments and records digitally, allowing you to see exactly what you need to pay when you need to pay it, ensuring that you meet your legal requirements regardless of your country of operation or the type of business you run.
Data Protection
There are many strict protection laws around the world. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe has strict rules on the type of data that businesses can collect, store, and use. It’s crucial to ensure that you are meeting all data protection guidelines for all the countries in which you operate your businesses, which may be accessed. Failure to follow data protection rules is a serious offense and can result in consequences ranging from minor to substantial fines and even imprisonment in severe cases. This highlights the importance of adhering to regulations.
Employment Law
Many countries have complex sets of employment laws that govern the treatment of employees. For multinational companies, it’s crucial to seek expert advice and guidance to understand the different rules and regulations pertaining to your employees in each country. These laws can range from pay and conditions to discrimination, whistle-blowing, and much more. For example, some countries, such as the UK, have minimum wage and overtime laws as well as anti-discrimination and workplace safety laws.
While in America, the federal laws include the Fair Labor Standards Act, which covers minimum wage and overtime, the Civil Rights Act for non-discrimination, and the Americans with Disabilities Act for individuals with disability.
It’s really important that you understand exactly what areas of compliance you need to meet and put measures in place ot do just this.