eGovernment Services of particular relevance to rural SMEs

Are there any eGovernment services that you've found are of particular use to you? If so, why not share your experiences with other rural businesses!

Home Exercise - "Registering on Sell2Wales https://www.sell2wales.co.uk/"

Try the following home exercise to help you to register on Sell2Wales at http://www.sell2wales.co.uk/ - if you have any questions/queries or comments to make, do post them and your trainer and other users will respond:

• Print out a copy of the “Sell2Wales registration Guide: How to make the most out of your profile” available at the Rural-eGov Observatory http://rural-egov.aua.gr:8080/observatory/ (use the “Search for a Training Resource” facility) and then go to http://www.sell2wales.co.uk/
• Click the “click here to register” button on the top left hand side of the page.
• Fill in your Pre-registration details: name, eMail address, postcode etc.
• Then provide your company and location details, as well as a summary of your business profile.
• When you get to the section that asks for the product category that you belong to (based on CPV – common procurement vocabulary – codes), pay particular attention to ensuring that you have chosen the correct category as this will influence the notices/eMail alerts that you receive from the site.
• Once you have completed the above, you will have registered on Sell2Wales and will be viewable by others, such as public sector buyers. You can check your profile to see that you are happy with it and can update it at any time. There is also a facility on there to fine tune your profile so that you only hear about notices/opportunities that are of particular relevance to you.

Home Exercise - "Finding a VAT informational helpsheet on www.hmrc.gov.uk"

Try the following home exercise to help you to search for informational resources available at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ - if you have any questions/queries or comments to make, do post them and your trainer and other users will respond:

• Go to http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/
  
• Then click on the box “Business and Corporations” at the top right hand side of the page.
  Proceed by following the link “VAT” on the “Tell me about” section in the middle of the page.
  
• Then click the link, “VAT returns, payments and refunds” in the middle of the screen.
  
• Finally click the link “Completing and submitting a VAT return” that provides guidance on filling in and filing your on-line VAT correctly and explore any of the helpsheets that are of interest.
  

Home Exercise - "Registering to use on-line services at www.hmrc.gov.uk"

Try the following home exercise to help you register to use on-line services at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ - if you have any questions/queries or comments to make, do post them and your trainer and other users will respond:

• Print out a copy of the “Handy Guide to the Online Service from HM Revenue and Customs” available at the Rural-eGov Observatory http://rural-egov.aua.gr:8080/observatory/ (use the “Search for a Training Resource” facility), and then go to http://online.hmrc.gov.uk/registration and click the register button.
• Then select the type of account you want to create – for example, register as an individual, organization or agent by clicking on the correct button.
• Proceed by selecting the on-line services you want to sign-up for – for example, VAT, PAYE etc.
• You will then need to accept the terms and conditions and provide details of yourself/your business.
• You will then need to create your password and make a note of your User ID.
• Finally, you will be required to provide particular details for the service you’ve registered for, such as your PAYE reference number.
• When you’ve received your activation PIN by post, you can then activate the service you’ve registered for.
  

The Rural-eGov Workshop

If you have any comments to make about the Rural-eGov workshop held on the 22nd of May, please make them here. Your feedback would be appreciated!

The Rural-eGov Observatory

Do spend some time exploring the Rural-eGov Observatory http://rural-egov.aua.gr:8080/observatory/ to find out more about using a number of different eGovernment services. These include:

- Sell2Wales;
- CTS (Cattle Tracing System) on-line;
- HMRC's On-line services;
- And others.

The training slides and notes delivered at the Rural-eGov workshop are also available at this site, as are some particularly useful guides on Local Authority eProcurement and Sustainable Procurement developments produced by the INTERREG IIIB EPROC Project.