TBOS Complete – How it Works

TBOS has set up and managed hundreds of recruitment agencies over the years and one of our services is to help agencies with the formation process.

TBOS sits down with the future directors of the agency being formed and explain the process and responsibility of setting up a new company.

The first part of the process is to form the company at Companies House.  This involves registering the company at a registered address (which can be TBOS’s office if required), appointing directors and allocating the shareholding of the company.  TBOS never becomes a director or shareholder of any of the agencies we form and they can be formed within 24 hours.

Once the company is formed TBOS will help to register the company for HMRC taxes including Corporation Tax, PAYE and VAT (and CIS if required) and Data Protection with the ICO.  TBOS will also introduce the agency to a number of banking contacts to get a business bank account formed and online access set up.

Depending on the agency’s requirements TBOS introduces the directors to other service providers that may also be required, such as legal firms, database companies, insurance providers and web designers.

The company formation service provided by TBOS costs £150 + VAT per company.

Invoice finance is a necessity for recruitment agencies who are looking to make a number of contractor placements as the candidates will often require payment before the client has made payment of invoices.

Invoice finance companies provide finance against invoices raised by the agency to enable recruitment agencies to pay the contractors until the client makes payment.  This service often requires a long term agreement sign up and certain minimum and fees and guarantees to be met.

With the TBOS Complete model, we do not provide our agencies with any finance but we do help to manage the cash-flow of the business and if required set up invoice finance agreements for the agency.  Whether the agency is a new start up or an existing agency with a current invoice finance arrangement, TBOS can help manage the invoice finance arrangements to ensure they match the agency’s requirement.

TBOS has relationships with many different invoice finance providers to get the agency the best possible quotation and service required for their needs.

TBOS firstly discusses with the agency their funding needs and requirements such as credit insurance, countries and currencies, concentration of debtors, permanent invoice finance to  produce a business plan and projection forecast to provide to the invoice finance providers.

Once the invoice finance providers have provided quotes they are presented to the agency and discussed on which facility would be best for their needs.  Once decided TBOS liaises with the agency and the invoice finance provider to collate all the required documentation to get the facility approved by credit.

TBOS will also ensure that the facility in place matches the agency’s requirements and if necessary help with negotiations to reduce the service charges or increase funding limits as required.

Managing the timesheet process for an agency is a service provided by TBOS to ensure that the invoicing is raised as quickly as possible and candidates are paid on time.

TBOS uses two methods to manage the inflow of timesheets coming into an agency; scanned/faxed signed timesheets or online timesheet systems.

For the scanned/faxed signed timesheets, TBOS will set up an “accounts@” email address for the agency so that timesheets to be received will go into a specific inbox and be ready to be processed into invoices.  TBOS will ensure that the timesheets have been completed correctly and authorised by the client.  TBOS will record which timesheets have been received and provide reporting to the agency to enable candidates to be notified if timesheets have not been received.

For online timesheets, TBOS has a relationship with a reputable online timesheet provider and can help to set this up to enable candidates to login and enter their timesheets and for the client approver to then authorise these timesheets.  This method provides instantaneous authorisation of timesheets to enable the invoicing to be done much quicker with virtually no errors or reasons for dispute.

TBOS has worked with many different clients over the years with some having their own timesheet processes and we can bespoke our service to ensure that this is facilitated to accommodate the agency’s needs.

TBOS understands that raising and sending correct invoices is vitally important to ensure that clients pay on time and maintain the cash-flow of the business.  TBOS raises all permanent and contractor invoices daily for the agencies and ensures that they are sent out correctly and on-time.

All invoices raised by TBOS are done in the company name displaying the agency name and correct bank details.  All invoices are sent from the “accounts@” email address to retain the agency’s identity and are verified as received within 7 days of being sent.

TBOS has worked with many different clients and understands that some clients can have various methods and online portals to receive their invoices to meet their own payment requirements.  TBOS works with the clients to ensure that the invoices are received correctly following their procedures to ensure payments are made on time.

TBOS has the capability of invoicing in various currencies and to numerous countries which allows agencies to consider expanding into different territories, industries and become an international provider of staff.

TBOS understands that the cash-flow of an agency is important and by ensuring that the invoice finance facility is maintained daily ensures that the available funds are always maximised.

TBOS manages the uploading of invoices raised onto the invoice finance portal and organises the drawdown of funds to the company bank account.

If the agency has built-in bad debt protection or credit insurance as part of the invoice finance facility then TBOS will ensure that new limits are requested and maintained to cover the outstanding debts.  If the limits do not cover the outstanding debts then the agency is notified immediately for them to make a decision on what to do with the client.

If the invoice finance agreement is for an invoice discount facility TBOS will manage the month end reconciliation work to ensure that the balances match on both the accounting system and the invoice finance system.

TBOS will also ensure that the facility in place matches the agency’s requirements and if necessary help with negotiations to reduce the service charges or increase funding limits as required.

TBOS understands that collecting funds from the client for outstanding invoices is vital to ensure the cash-flow of the business which is why TBOS has a proactive method of collecting debts from clients.

Our team of credit controllers are targeted to ensure that all invoices that are sent to clients are verified that they have been received and are correct within 7 days.  Any corrections or amendments can then be made before the invoices become overdue.

The credit controllers liaise with the clients to ensure that the invoices are on the payment runs and that they are paid within the terms of payment.

Any delay to payment or when invoices go overdue the agencies are notified so they are aware and can make any decision on how to proceed further.

Should the agency wish to pursue legal action then the credit controllers can advise on ways of collecting debts including 7 day letters and using the Money Online system or using collection agencies.

The TBOS credit controllers realise that building relationships with the accounts teams within the clients is important to get invoices paid on time and resolve any payment delays.

Making payments to contractors and suppliers on time is vital to ensure that all candidates are receiving their funds and office suppliers continue to provide the services the agency needs to continue to work.

TBOS manages the day to day running of the company bank accounts to set up the candidate and supplier payments to ensure they are paid within terms.  TBOS will also ensure that the statutory payments (VAT, PAYE and CT) are paid on time to avoid fines from HMRC.

As TBOS has access on a daily basis to your bank accounts, invoice finance accounts and invoicing our team of bookkeepers can keep on top of the bookkeeping records. This ensures that the books are kept up to date daily and any questions regarding payments and transfers can be addressed as soon as they occur.

All cash is marked off daily to ensure that debtor and creditor reporting is kept up to date and supplier invoices are posted to ensure that payments can be lined up in advance.

The TBOS bookkeepers also look after staff expenses and credit card reconciliations to ensure that the costs are allocated correctly and the VAT is reclaimed where appropriate.

As the TBOS bookkeepers keep the records up to date daily this allows our management accountants to easily prepare your monthly management reporting as quickly as possible following the month end.  The monthly management reporting includes profit and loss, balance sheet, annual P&L summary, permanent invoicing breakdown and any other reports required to ensure the directors have all the information needed to run their agency.  Our accounts team are also happy to arrange regular meetings to discuss the figures to ensure the directors understand them and offer advice on ways of making or saving money going forwards.

The TBOS accounts team will ensure the statutory VAT returns are completed and paid on time using the information entered by the bookkeepers and ensure that we are reclaiming the correct VAT where appropriate on your expenses and costs.  The TBOS accounts team will also ensure that the agency is on the correct VAT structure for your business such as monthly or quarterly, Flat-Rate, Cash or Normal Accounting.

As part of the TBOS Complete model we look after the payroll of the internal consultants and staff of the agencies we manage.  This service includes the processing of the salaries, payment of expenses and calculations of the commissions.

TBOS understands that all agencies have their own methods of calculating commissions and once we understand how these are calculated we will take this process off the directors hands and make these calculations each month.

The TBOS staff are able to look after other company benefits such as pensions, company cars, healthcare schemes, gym memberships, childcare vouchers and any other payments affecting the staff salaries.

The processing of staff payroll is at an additional cost of £40 per month for the first 5 employees and £5 thereafter for each additional staff member.

As the TBOS accounts team produce monthly management accounts for all agencies, the production of the year end accounts can be completed fairly quickly.  Once produced the TBOS accounts team will arrange a meeting with the directors to review the accounts to ensure that all costs have been allocated correctly and to ensure they are happy with the figures produced.

Once agreed the final draft of the accounts are produced along with the Corporation Tax return ready for signatures and submission.  If the agency is large enough to require an external audit then this will be managed by TBOS to ensure the accounts are signed off externally (Note.  Audit fees are not included within the TBOS fees)

TBOS manages the statutory books for all the agencies to ensure the company, directors and shareholding details are kept up to date and correct.  TBOS will also ensure that the Annual Return is completed and submitted on time to Companies House.