Interactive tools

The interactive tools area gives you access to a range of tools that provide tailored, objective guidance to your business through a series of short questions.

Our range is continually growing. We currently have around 70 tools provided by www.businesslink.gov.uk that cover a wide range of issues from choosing the right legal structure for your business to assessing your basic IT needs.

All tools that provide either legal or regulatory information have been approved and openly endorsed by the responsible government departments and agencies so you can be confident in any information they provide.

Employing people
Choose the right type of flexible working	Investigate what kind of flexible working will best suit your employees and you
Handling potential redundancies	Understand the implications of redundancies within your business
Applications for trade union recognition	Work out what you need to do about an application for trade union recognition
Managing expectant and new mothers at work	Find out how to manage new and expectant mothers in your workplace
End employment correctly	Learn the correct procedure for ending a person's employment for reasons other than disciplinary action
Managing paternity and adoption leave and pay	Find out how to manage paternity and adoption leave and pay
Follow the correct disciplinary procedure	Find out what you can do to resolve a disciplinary issue
Employing people checklist	Assess your employment practices
Calculate your employees' holiday entitlement	Find out how much annual leave your employees are due
Check the eligibility of your migrant workers	Check if your workers are eligible to work in the UK
Taking on a new employee	Use our interactive tool to help you when you are thinking about taking on an employee
Recruiting new staff and your legal responsibilities	Check your legal responsibilities when taking on new staff
Create a written statement of employment	Create a document including everything you need to give to a new employee
Calculate statutory redundancy pay	Calculate the statutory redundancy pay due to your employee

Environment & efficiency
Identify where you can save money by going green	Assess where you may be able to reduce costs and help the environment
Assess your environmental compliance	Find out what you need to do to comply with environmental legislation

Exploit your ideas
Find out how to protect your ideas	Find out the best ways to protect your intellectual property

Finance & grants
Assess the health of your business	Assess how well your business is performing
Get the right finance and assess your finance readiness	Find and secure the right finance for your business needs
Recover your debts	Find out how you can recover unpaid debts
Calculate the interest due on an unpaid debt	Calculate the statutory or contractual interest you may be able to charge
Buy or sell a business
Succession planning and business transfer	Get a detailed report of the succession options most suitable to your situation
Alternatives to bankruptcy	Investigate and discover alternatives when considering bankruptcy

Grow your business
Create a growth action plan	Create an action plan for growth

Health, safety, premises
Get the right insurance for your business	Work out which forms of insurance you should have for your business
Health & safety performance indicator	Find out how well you're managing your health and safety with our performance indicator tool

Industry watch
Your type of business	Find regulations, licences and contacts specific to your business area
Regulation checklist	Create a personalised list of regulations that affect your business with our interactive regulation checklist

International trade
Understand your tax obligations when importing or exporting	Discover your duty and VAT liabilities in international trade
Understand what customs procedures and reliefs apply to you	Understand what customs procedures and reliefs may apply to your business
Getting ready to export to individual countries	Identify export opportunities in your target country
Find out which Incoterm you should use	Identify which Incoterm you should use
Assess the best method of payment for your transaction	Find out which payment terms you should use when setting up an export deal
Assess your readiness for an AEO application	Assess your readiness for Authorised Economic Operator status
Check if you need to be certified to import organic goods	Find out if you need to be certified to import organic goods
UK Trade Tariff	Find commodity codes to classify goods for import and export with our UK Trade Tariff tool

IT & E-commerce
Notifying the Information Commissioner	Find out whether you need to notify the Information Commissioner about the data your business holds
Get the right website for your business	Investigate what kind of website is best for your business
Assess and minimise your IT risks	Assess and minimise the IT risks facing your business
Setting up a basic IT system	Find the best computer equipment for your business

Leadership & management
Assess your leadership styles and strengths	Assess your leadership styles and strengths with our inspirational leadership assessment tool

Sales and marketing
Identify potential sales channels	Identify the sales channels most likely to benefit your business
Discover who your most valuable customers are	Identify the customers most valuable to your business
Choose the right advertising media	Investigate what will be the best advertising media for your business

Skills & training
Create a personal development plan	Assess your leadership and management skills and create a personal development plan

Starting up
Company name and trade mark check	Search for an available company name and trade mark
Business start-up organiser	Manage your personal list of starting-up tasks with our Business start-up organiser

Taxes, returns & payroll
Capital and incentive allowances interactive tools	Find out what capital and incentive allowances your business could claim
Check tax & legal issues when selling or closing a business	Investigate the tax and legal issues when selling or closing your business
Beginner's guide to tax and accounts	Get a beginner's guide to tax and accounts rules
Online transactions with the government	Identify online transactions available to your business and find out how to register and enrol
When to register for VAT	Find out if you need to register for VAT
Identify which VAT scheme your business is elgible to use	Identify which VAT scheme is right for your business
When you can deregister for VAT	Identify the forms and guidance you need to deregister for VAT
Find out if you can claim R&D tax relief	Find out whether your business is eligible for research and development tax relief
Identify the National Insurance contributions you must pay	Assess which types of National Insurance contributions you must pay to HM Revenue & Customs
Find out which VAT retail scheme you should use	Work out which VAT retail scheme is right for your business
Choose the right legal structure for your business	Find out which legal structure is right for your business
Estimate your rates bill	Calculate the business rates you may be liable to pay
Tax deadline email alerts	Get regular reminders of important tax dates with our Tax deadline email alerts

In focus

Starting a business

Roadmap to success

Industry watch

How to...

Interactive tools