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Electric Cars For Business

With the world starting to turn its back on fossil fuels and looking for environmentally conscious alternatives, the rise of the electric car is in full flow. Big names in the car industry, including Kia, Nissan and Volkswagen are bringing out electric (or hybrid) options. If you have a car for business use, or perhaps a fleet of company cars, now could be the time to look at changing. Not only will you be avoiding using petrol or diesel to power your vehicle, after the initial purchase, electri...

Self Employment And The Summer Holidays

The summer holidays are fantastic. Sunshine, family time, making memories. However, when you’re self-employed, the school holidays can sometimes bring added stress. You might have child care to organise, you’ve probably got to work around clients going on holiday, but with a bit of forward thinking, it needn’t be quite as stressful as it could be!The first thing to do is to do some planning ahead. The summer happens every year, the school holiday dates are advertised by the educational fac...

Setting Up A Business When You're Still Employed

So many people have the dream of setting up their own business. You may have always wanted to but never got around to it. Do you have a great idea which you know will just work and people will love? Or perhaps your current job is bringing you down and as much as the pay packet is perfect in your bank account every month, it’s not what you really want to do. If you’re considering setting up a business on the side whilst you’re still employed there are a few things to think about and look in...

What Costs Can I Claim For Working From Home?

Working from home is the ultimate dream for some people. The thought of being able to step out the office into the living room to catch up on your latest binge-watch-boxset, making your favourite coffee in your own kitchen and maybe even going for a mid morning shower or working in your PJs. The dream can be real! There are certain things that are trickier when you work from home though and one of those is claiming your costs back. If you hire out an office or even a desk, you know exactly how m...

Do I Need Accounting Software?

You run your business day in, day out. You know the ins and outs of every part of your company. You feel amazing when a client signs a new contract or when a new staff member comes on board as you are growing. It’s your dream in reality, you’re living it. The last thing you want to add to the in-tray pile is figuring out which bookkeeping software you need to use, if any. There isn’t a black and white answer to the question of whether you need accounting software or not (unless you're VAT ...

I'm Starting A Business. What Do I Need To Do?

The first step into business is exciting. Taking that idea from conception to birth, developing your branding, working on your website. It’s your little baby that you’re starting to nurture and want to see grow. Now you’ve started, where do you go next? One of the things to make sure you stay on top is your finance. It’s not really seen as the ‘sexy’ part of business like perhaps marketing or booking customers are but it’s an integral area which you need to organise. Don’t be lik...

Flexible Working For A Better Work Life Balance

When you set up a business, very quickly it can run away with you. Your career can take number one priority in your life and those 16 hour days, 6 day weeks can far too rapidly become the norm. You spend a lack of time with family and friends, your hobbies go out the window and daily duties around the home end up being done in a hurry on your one day off. You don’t care for yourself either, you’re the bottom of the ladder of important things and that is when your wellbeing can take a knock. ...

Benefits Of The Coffee Shop Meeting

If you work from home, you might not really want to invite a potential client round for a meeting. That’s fair enough. You’d perhaps feel under pressure to clean the entire house, spruce up the small corner of the house that you call an office and generally, things might not look professional. Have you lost the contract before you’ve even spoken about it?An alternative could be to hire a meeting space but then there’s the nightmare of shelling out on a meeting room space when you don’t...

How Much Should I Charge?

So, you’ve just started freelancing. Your business has just began. One of the most important things to decide on is how much to charge for your services. How do you do this? How do you calculate the perfect rate? Too high and you might price yourself out the market. Too low and you may attract clients you’re not happy to work with and come across as a cheap amateur. In this blog we look at a few things to consider when debating how much you should charge clients for your work. One of the big...

Freelancers Saving For The Tax Bill

If you’re a full time freelancer, keeping your accounts in check for paying your tax can be viewed as a bit of a nightmare. It’s the huge negative to the masses of positives and perks of working freelance. Let’s have a look at how to prepare for your tax bill, without bashing your head against the keyboard as you stare blankly at an Excel spreadsheet. One of the first things to understand is that the money you earn is not all yours. Let’s say that again for clarity. The money you earn, i...

Do I Need An Accountant?

If you’re a business owner or freelancer, you might be debating whether you actually need an accountant or not. It’s a question that you may have been going over for a while, or it might have just jumped into your head when considering hiring someone. There are many positives about having a business accountant. In this week’s blog post we look at the just what an accountant brings to your working setup and why it’s a great idea to hire one. We so often focus on the money we’re spending...

5 Reasons Not To Use a Personal Bank Account for Business

Setting up a business takes time, effort and money. Long days, sleepless nights, lots of elbow grease & the odd failure here and there as you work your way through. Many people when setting up a business operate the finances through their personal bank account. There is a better way and in this blog I’m going to tell you 5 reasons why you shouldn’t use a personal bank account for business. Having a separate business account will ultimately save you time. You’ll know exactly what was bought...

Tax Deductible Expenses for Small Businesses

Running a business can be expensive. It’s said that even starting a business from home can cost a couple of thousand pounds. So discovering what you can claim as business expenses is important. It really could be the different between make or break for your business. Here’s a few of the key Tax Deductible Expenses for Small Businesses. If you have a home office, you can put the decorating and furnishing of said office through your business expenses. Also look into claiming for the room again...

Using a Mac for Bookkeeping

It’s likely that if you’re a Mac fan and user, you’ll have high expectations for the way your accounting software looks and performs. But when we talk to small businesses, it’s clear that while Mac users love their Apple products, they’re not as affectionate about their financial software. So why is this such a common sentiment? Software that is just a lift and shift from PC to Mac doesn’t leverage the power and design that’s at the heart of Apple products. As a Mac user, you proba...

HMRC SA100 Self Assessment Payments on Account

I have been asked many times recently to explain to clients and friends how HMRC's payments on account system works when submitting an SA100 Self Assessment tax return. It is probably best explained by way of an example: (The figures below can be downloaded in a PDF file attached to this post) Self-Assessment Payments on Account Guide This is the first year of trading and therefore no poa's already made. Total tax due 2007-2008 £2,120.00 Example figure 2008-2009 1st PoA (Half of prev yr) £1,06...

Marriage Allowance - could you be better off?

A little publicised marriage allowance has been introduced by HMRC which could mean that the average married couple could be better off by £250 per year. This is called Marriage Allowance and must be applied for. You can apply here. Basically you can transfer £1,250 of your personal allowance (the amount you can earn before paying tax) to your partner and this will reduce their tax liability by up to £250 for the tax year. The lower earner must have an income of £12,500 or less but you can ...