The Winchester Bookkeeping Company

Bookkeeping, accounts and tax support for sole traders in Hampshire

  • Home
  • About
  • Is this you?
  • Work with me
    • Work with Karen
    • Creating your business
    • Running your business
    • Growing your business
  • Blog
  • Praise
  • Contact

I’m a sole trader – will I need to submit 4 tax returns a year?

April 24, 2016 By Karen Upcraft

You’re a sole trader running a small business. You’re feeling comfortable with the whole annual self-assessment tax process and you’ve mastered Excel spread-sheets. But, brace yourself. The government has planned a big digital overhaul of the tax system with a raft of new tax changes coming your way. The rationale behind the “Making Tax Digital” plan is HMRC’s […]

Filed Under: Accounting software, Bookkeeping and accounting, Business planning, Excel, online accounting software, Record keeping, Self assessment, Self employment, Tax planning Tagged With: bookkeeping, Digital tax accounts, Making Tax Digital, Online accounting software, personal taxation, self employed, sole trader

National Insurance Contributions – it’s all change for the self-employed

March 20, 2016 By Karen Upcraft

NI contributions for self employed

Many sole traders look at their tax position only in terms of the Income Tax payable and sometimes forget to take into account the tax they have to pay as National Insurance (NI). It’s easy to understand why NI is often regarded as the “forgotten tax” as the thresholds at which you pay NI and Income Tax differ. You […]

Filed Under: Bookkeeping and accounting, Personal taxation, Self assessment, Self employment Tagged With: class2NI, Class4 NI, National Insurance, self assessment, self employed, sole trader, tax

7 tips to help improve your small business finances

February 23, 2016 By Karen Upcraft

Financial review of your small business

Now that your small business accounts and tax (for the previous tax year) are done and dusted, consider taking some time to reflect on your business’s performance over the year.  What went well?  What didn’t work out? What could you do to improve over the next twelve months? Here are my 7 tips to help improve […]

Filed Under: Bookkeeping and accounting, Budgeting for small business, Business planning, Pricing your product and services, Record keeping, Self employment Tagged With: Budgets, Business planning, Pricing your product or service, sole trader bookkeeping, sole trader self assessment

A Tax Return Checklist (part 2)

November 19, 2015 By Karen Upcraft

If the thought of completing a tax return feels scary and overwhelming right now. If, just hearing the word “tax” sends your heart racing. Let me start by saying that you’re not alone. It’s entirely normal to feel like you should be coping with everything that running a small business entails. I know I do! […]

Filed Under: Bookkeeping and accounting, Personal taxation, Record keeping, Self assessment, Self employment, Starting Up, Working from home Tagged With: 2014-15 tax year, hobby business, self assessment, sole trader bookkeeping, sole trader self assessment, sole trader tax, sole traders tax return, tax relief charitable donations, tax return, Tax returns, Using an accountant

7 things you can do using online accounting software that you can’t do with Excel

October 15, 2015 By Karen Upcraft

You’re a small business owner managing your own bookkeeping using Excel. But recently, the complexity of the business has changed. You’re trying to muddle through with the same old processes and procedures but inside you’re crying out for some order, some structure (and a bit of a breather). Can you relate? When it’s OK to […]

Filed Under: Accounting software, Bookkeeping and accounting, Excel, online accounting software, Record keeping Tagged With: bookkeeping, Growing a business, Online accounting software, online invoicing, record keeping, Vat returns, Xero

You’re a sole trader – do you really need an Accountant?

September 4, 2015 By Karen Upcraft

Use an accountant

You’re a sole trader with a small business – do you really need an Accountant? You may be surprised to learn that there is no mandatory requirement for sole traders to use an Accountant and, there will be many occasions when you can confidently forge ahead on your own steam. But, can you dispense entirely of […]

Filed Under: Accounting software, Bookkeeping and accounting, Personal taxation, Pricing your product and services, Record keeping, Self assessment, Self employment, Starting Up, VAT Tagged With: Self-employment, sole trader bookkeeping, sole trader self assessment, Using an accountant

5 sole trader bookkeeping mistakes to avoid

May 28, 2015 By Karen Upcraft

5 sole trader bookkeeping mistakes to avoid

It’s taken commitment, guts and talent to create something out of nothing. I know from personal experience that’s no mean feat. It’s seriously hard work. You’re juggling more things than sometimes seems possible. You’re trying to do it all. And I’ll bet there have been times that you’ve wanted to throw in the towel. Am I […]

Filed Under: Bookkeeping and accounting, Record keeping, Self employment, Starting Up Tagged With: bookkeeping, creating a business, record keeping, sole trader bookkeeping

Is there an easier way to prepare sole trader accounts?

May 16, 2015 By Karen Upcraft

As sole traders we dream of spending each working day immersed in the things that made us set up our business in the first place – making a product or selling a service. We didn’t dream about the tedious, demoralising and sometimes overly complex chores that come part and parcel of the self-employment package. Frequently, the easier option is just […]

Filed Under: Bookkeeping and accounting, Self employment Tagged With: self employed, Self employed income tax, sole trader accounts, sole trader bookkeeping, starting up a business

7 tips to getting customers to pay (quickly)

May 5, 2015 By Karen Upcraft

Getting paid by your customers

The idea for my blog “tips to getting customers to pay” came to me after reading narrative on a software site. The article stated “that asking customers for money and invoicing them accordingly was the best part of a small business owner’s job” Really? I was cast back to the early months of starting up […]

Filed Under: Accounting software, Bookkeeping and accounting, Record keeping, Self employment, Starting Up Tagged With: cash-flow, getting paid by your customers, Invoicing, online invoicing, sole trader

Starting a business: the sole trader’s introduction to getting it right first time

April 21, 2015 By Karen Upcraft

You’ve had the idea to start a business and are full of excitement. It’s taken courage to decide to reinvent yourself, to become your own boss. But right now your to-do list is getting you down. There’s your “big idea” but then there’s all these other annoying parts of the jigsaw puzzle that need to […]

Filed Under: Accounting software, Bookkeeping and accounting, Record keeping, Self assessment, Self employment, Starting Up, Working from home Tagged With: creating a business, record keeping, self assessment tax, sole trader bookkeeping, starting a business

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Next Page »

Connect with me online

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Contact me

Phone: 07596 516670
Email: [email protected]

leave me a message >

Hop onto my mailing list for helpful notes and inspiration

Recent Posts

  • Autumn Budget 2017: A summary for small business owners
  • But my friend claims that as a tax expense……..
  • Are you using your Personal Tax Account?
  • Self-employed? 6 tips to boost your chances of getting a mortgage
  • I’m self-employed. How can I prove my income for a mortgage?

Blog categories

  • Accounting software
  • Bookkeeping and accounting
  • Budgeting for small business
  • Business planning
  • Excel
  • online accounting software
  • Personal taxation
  • Pricing your product and services
  • Record keeping
  • Self assessment
  • Self employment
  • Starting Up
  • Tax planning
  • Uncategorized
  • VAT
  • Working from home

Copyright © 2025
The Winchester Bookkeeping Company Ltd. Registered office: The Elms, Itchen Abbas,SO21 1BN. Registered in England & Wales. No: 8942503.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT