If you're mentioning your reference in first paragraph, you can continue on to include why you applied for that position. A good way of connecting reference to your application is "my skills and your requirement are a good match." Put that in your own words.

In next paragraph, you justify your statement about why you think that your skills and skills required for position are a good match. Make a single line reference to a particular achievement in your current (or previous) job that is along similar lines so that employer will know exactly what he's looking for. A good example would be "Set up a fully operational network of franchisees in Southern France for retailing ABC Coffee".

Avoid mentioning skills you don't have or projects you have never worked on. Because sooner or later, you're going to face it; when interviewer looks into your cover letter (or resume) and says "OK, Mr. Stephens, can you give me an instance of how you can use XML to port data from a backend system into a Middleware application"? And that's when you mind starts racing, "XML?? Middleware?? Port..?? Is that my resume he's got..???". God bless you if it's not your resume.

If there are more achievements you want to include, write them down in bulleted points. It's easier for employer to read, comprehend and get a good picture of your capabilities. Do not reproduce your entire resume here. 2 or 3 such points will do perfectly fine. Of course do not include irrelevant achievements like "Won a Silver Medal in 200 x 4 Men's Relay Race conducted by Louisville Young Adults Club in 1991". Not unless you're applying for post of a Physical Trainer or Coach.

You have made your point here. You know why you're applying. And recruiters like that. You know your responsibilities, risks involved and tasks you'll be handling. You're just person they're looking for. At least, you're one of persons they'd like to talk to before handing over employment contract.

An ending note can make quite an impression. Tell them your resume is attached and that you're "looking forward to explore this opportunity further". Include an address and telephone number for them to contact you. Sign off with a "Yours Truly" or "Best Regards" and put your complete name under it.

Get into form and write out your winning cover letter.

Aren't there any other matters to consider in deciding whether to incorporate or not?

Higher administration costs to comply with company law, payroll and bookkeeping is one factor. Another issue is pension planning. Extracting profits out of company as dividends rather than salary means that there will be no "net relevant earnings" and therefore pension contributions can't be made. But advent of stakeholder pension plans has meant that contributions up to œ3,600 per year can be made without need for any earnings. If a person does not wish to transfer funds in existing plans into stakeholder because of high charges, there is a way out: best net relevant earnings (i.e. salary) in five consecutive years can be used for making contributions for next five years, even if there were no salaries in remainder four years. It is comforting to know that entitlement to basic state pension is not affected by taking a salary from company at level of a person's personal allowances i.e. œ4,615.

Furthermore, an individual may decide not to bother with pension plans and instead invest in ISA. Often, these can be more efficient than pensions but that's beside scope of this article. If that option is taken, no salary is necessary.

Another factor is business motoring. It might be tax advantageous for an unincorporated business that owns many cars not to incorporate because if these cars have some private use there will be benefits in kind taxed on users. These are generally higher than straight apportionment between private and business for all car running costs in case of sole traders.

The conclusion is that there can be considerable tax savings waiting sole trader who decides to go down road to incorporation. But, one needs to proceed with caution and careful planning. And don't forget biggest advantage of incorporation, which is Protection from Personal Liability. Incorporating is one of best ways to protect a business owner from personal liability. Shareholders of a company are generally not liable for obligations of company. Creditors of a company may seek payment from its assets, but not assets of shareholders. This means that business owners may engage in business without risking their homes or other personal property.

Thank you for taking time to read this Article. I hope you've found it useful. If you have, please drop me an email and let me know what you think.

You can email me at...

constantinesavva@accamail.com

Alternatively, you can visit our website at http://www.tax-accounting-london.info and read a series of other full length articles that present complete picture on a variety of interesting topics.

If you would like to know how to save tax and make sure that more of your hard earned cash stays with you to expand your business and increase your profits, we have a Free Special Report addressed to small businesses either starting up or already in business. This Exclusive Free Special Report is available automatically when you subscribe to our regular series of Free Newsletters on finance advice and tax planning by visiting our subscription area on our website www.tax-accounting- london.info. It is complied from real life situations dealing with small business tax affairs for over 10 years and it is loaded with down-to-earth advice and practical, understandable examples.

LEGAL NOTICE Whilst every care has been taken in preparation of this article, author cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. Proper professional advice should be taken at all times.

We retain copyright for contents of this article. Any unauthorized copying or onward distributions are prohibited without our consent.