Running your own small business is tough at the best of times but trying to fathom what you can and cannot claim for your business costs and expenses can seem like an impossible task. Food and drink costs are no exception and the rules around claiming these costs as a sole trader can seem complicated […]
Making your charitable donations go further
There has been a spate of charitable giving in my household recently. My girls have just come back from a 10km run, supporting a charity close to our hearts. There have been trips to Naomi House with clothes that no longer fit and toys they’ve outgrown. On the global scale, we’ve seen disaster appeals for the earthquake […]
You’re a sole trader – do you really need 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 […]
What the 2015 Summer Budget means for Sole Traders
Have you been left wondering why we’ve just had yet another Budget this year and what it all means for sole trader businesses and you personally? We did have a Budget back in March this year but after a new government has been elected the Chancellor traditionally has to announce a new one. The difference was […]
Hobby business or self-employed? Why it’s important to understand the difference
You’ve been employed or you’re working part-time. Either way you’ve had that niggling inclination to re-invent yourself, to indulge your passion in doing something creative or have a go at doing something completely new. You start selling on Etsy, take a few portrait photographs for friends, design some jewellery – you ‘re loving being able […]
Starting a business: the sole trader’s introduction to getting it right first time
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 […]
A sole traders guide to the Budget 2015
You heard it on the radio (until you dozed off), you caught some of the headlines in the press, you read the papers the next day but, you haven’t really had the time to get to grips with the main content or sift through the bits that impact you as a sole trader. I understand how […]
Will sole traders still need to complete a tax return?
If you’ve seen the headlines this week you will have noted the numerous press articles on “death of the tax return”. You might have started celebrating or you might been left wondering what it all means for you as a sole trader running a small business. I have to say that I was a little […]
Record keeping for the self-employed
Record keeping is an essential part of running a small business. In part one of my blog I will be looking at why you need to maintain records and what records you are required to retain. Part two, next week will look at the different ways to record you income and expenditure. A legal requirement […]
Who needs to complete a tax return?
The deadline for online self-assessment is round the corner and with all the talk about tax returns I have found it interesting, listening to people’s views regarding the completion of them. Just to clarify some of the misunderstanding surrounding who needs to complete one I have summarised below the most common reasons for needing to complete […]