Articles

Where you work as a TV producer, art director or sound engineer, ‘behind camera’ television and film freelancers can (usually) operate through a limited company, to help structure their tax affairs in an efficient manner. In 2020, HMRC recently release an updated list of TV and film professions which are considered as genuine freelance arrangements, … Read more

Selling online is a great way to start a business. Low set-up costs, the business can be run from home and the potential customer base is huge. Marketplaces like Amazon and eBay provide instant access to millions of customers in an instant. Selling via your own website is usually more costly to start with (due … Read more

Many contractors are currently being affected by the new ‘IR35’ rules. These new rules, due to take effect from 6 April 2020 (for work carried out after that date), mean that their end client decides whether the worker should effectively be treated as an employee for tax purposes, rather than a freelancer. The rules apply … Read more

Many small businesses are moving their financial systems into ‘the cloud’. This means financial data is stored and accessed online, on systems such as Xero. There’s plenty of advantages when compared to traditional desktop software such as Sage – here’s a brief overview of the main benefits: Automatic back-ups & software updates The software and … Read more

Staying on top of credit control is key to help manage your business’s cashflow. It also gives you peace of mind. However, it can be incredibly time consuming. In this article I take a look at 6 ways to improve your processes and help you stay on top of outstanding client debts. 1. Change your … Read more

The deadline for Self Assessment tax returns is not until 31 January, but there are plenty of reasons to make an early start. In this article I’ll give an overview of some of them, alongside tips for making the tax return process a little easier. 1. Register now Common reasons for needing to register include … Read more

Whenever I first meet a start-up business, I am always asked ‘What expenses can I claim?’ The answer is always ‘It depends’! Allowable expenses vary between business sectors and whether you are a sole trader, partnership or a limited company – unfortunately, there is no one size fits all solution. In this article I look … Read more

Forming a company If you run a business as a partnership or sole trader, you may have considered converting to a limited liability company. In this article I’ll look at how setting up a limited company could help you and some other considerations of doing so. How does it work? If you are a sole … Read more

Technology moves fast. New apps and software are competing to help streamline business processes. Here’s four things you can do to improve the efficiency of your small business. 1. Online storage It’s happened to most of us: an important digital document disappears due to hardware failure, theft or a virus. Step in Dropbox and Google … Read more