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 […]
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 […]
Spring clean your small business accounting systems in 5 easy steps
With spring round the corner, this time of year often brings with it, a sense of renewed energy and intentions of improvement. There’s really no better time to devote to a spot of spring cleaning – not the ’empty out the garage’ type but the de-cluttering and re-organising of your small business bookkeeping systems. Here are my […]
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 […]
A boost for kitchen table start-ups
Great news for all those “kitchen table start-ups” as the government announced initiatives this week aimed at making it easier for home based entrepreneurs to do business. For too long home based businesses have been regarded as being of no economic significance. This perception is now changing. According to the Department of Business there are […]