Back to Blog

Going Self Employed - Top Tips

Many people have opted for a complete lifestyle overhaul recently and decided to go self-employed. This can be a wonderful thing, something that you might have wished you'd done much sooner. However, there could be difficult times coming up. Obstacles that you may not have thought about, issues that will arise which you will have to face head on. By planning and knowing a few things that will be coming up you can make your change to this new status of work run a bit smoother. Let's have a look a...

How To Claim SEISS (Self-Employed Income Support Scheme) Grant 4

Lots of us have been struggling over the last year. The pandemic has put a lot of pressure on businesses to survive and the shoulders of those who work for themselves. As there seems to be a way out of the epidemic and a light at the end of the horizon, the government continues to provide support to those who are applicable. Unfortunately, some are still excluded from this monetary support but there are others who have been looped in and can access this new grant. Have you claimed the SEISS gran...

Bookkeeping And Accounting Services 2021/22 Tax Year

How is business going right now? Lots of us have found our employment status, the way we operate companies and even our entire lives have changed beyond recognition over the last year. Things are changing, people are realising what is important to them and the time we've been able to spend with family during the lockdowns we've endured, have made us look at things differently. If you want to change the way you work to free some of your time for family fun, one of the areas business owners c...

The Tax Year End Is Here

Monday, April 5th 2021 is the last day of the 2020/21 tax year. The tax year-end brings lots of deadlines with it, both in business and personal finance. Let's have a look at some of the things you might need to do before the end of the day on April 5th!Get Your Accounts ReadyThe tax year-end means a new one will begin. This means you will be able to file your tax return, should you need to. This is important to declare your earnings and submit however much tax you owe. This year has been awful ...

Get on Your Bike

Office workers and business owners are soon to start returning to the workplace. As the vaccine schedule continues and restrictions fade away, we'll hopefully soon be back to some sort of normality. Have you considered how you'll commute to your job when you no longer work from home? Perhaps you've been unsure about public transport and have less money right now to pay for parking your car? Have you thought about getting yourself a commuter bicycle? Saddle Up Did you know that during 2020 there ...

Would You Rather Have More Time Or More Money?

We all love to play the "would you rather" games. My children's favourite is fingers as toes, or toes as fingers? It brings endless hilarious discussion and amicable differences of opinion. A question that came up in conversation with a client a while ago was the one at the top of this post. Which is more important to you? It could be either or both and there is no right or wrong answer. Everyone has their own priorities. However this particular client said that using our services meant tha...

The Importance Of Staff Training

Getting staff who want to stay with the business is harder than it looks. Whilst many people want to stick with the same company, there are others who bounce from one business to another, trying to develop themselves and progress their career. Training your staff can help to progress them internally and develop their skills, all whilst making them feel valued. There are so many benefits of training and development. Let's have a look at the importance of training your staff.Training Improves Rete...

Spring Clean Your Business

If you find yourself with a little bit of extra time right now, don't sit and scroll through the socials. Use this time to your advantage and spring clean your business.Get On Top Of Your Accounts How are you accounts looking? Have you let them slip recently? Now is the time to get on top of them! Organising your figures will put you in a better position, knowing what your cash flow is like and what the state of the business is. It will make things easier when you come to file your returns and p...

Online Security For Small Businesses

Online Security Tips To Help Protect Your Small Business When you run a small business, you plough everything into it. One leak of data, one issue with online security, one hack to your website and it could set you back years. How can we protect ourselves in the world of cyber security? As it’s Safer Internet Day this week, let’s look at some top tips!Keep Your Software Up To Date Make sure to keep your software up to date, which keeps you one step ahead of hackers. Did you know that updates...

No Fine For Late Filing of your Self Assessment Tax Return

Today it was confirmed that there will be no fine for those self employed people failing to file their return by 31st January 2021. This is as long as it is filed by 28th February 2021. The Chief Executive of HMRC, Jim Harra has said: “We want to encourage as many people as possible to file their return on time, so we can calculate their tax bill and help them if they can’t pay it straight away. But we recognise the immense pressure that many people are facing in these un...

COVID - How to Apply for Small Business Loans

If your business has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, you might be struggling for cash. You might already be considering closing the doors on your business baby and going to find a job elsewhere. There are small business loans available. Let's have a look at the options.Bounce Back Loans When the pandemic hit, the government introduced the Bounce Back Loans Scheme. This is a way of allowing access to small business loans, with some plus points for the business owner, during these har...

Business Goals For The New Year

As we come to the end of one year, now is the time to set some business goals for the next. What do you want to achieve with your business? In what position would you like to be in in twelve months’ time? How would you like your business baby to be viewed by others and what clients would you like to be working with? Different people with different companies will have alternate ideas but here are a few to get you started.Improve Business Finances One of the most important areas if any business ...

Merry Christmas

...

Small Business Tips At Christmas

The run up to Christmas can be a hectic time for a lot of us. If you're a small business owner you might feel it even more so. Long days of going to work in the dark and coming home after the sun sets. Doing extra hours to get on top of Christmas orders or be able to take some time off over the festive period. It can sometimes get a little bit too much. Use these small business tips to help you through the holidays. Keep An Eye On Your Cash Flow The cash flow of your business is the life blood o...

Small Business Bookkeeping

So many small business owners and freelancers have fallen through the net of government support this year. It's been heart-breaking to see so many people excluded. If you run your own business and need some professional help with small business bookkeeping, Bruton Young Bookkeeping are your heroes to call. Let's look at why you should hire a bookkeeper.You'll Actually Save Money Many people think that paying out for a bookkeeper is expensive and you'll save money by doing it yourself. The fact o...

Advantages of Using Bookkeeping Services

Running a business can be chaotic. Sometimes there are simply not enough hours in the day. There are many reasons why outsourcing your bookkeeping is good for business. Let’s look at four of the best advantages of using bookkeeping services.Your Time The first advantage of using bookkeeping services is to free up your time. As mentioned, there are sometimes not enough hours in the day and you find yourself chasing your tail. There are so many tasks to fill your day with when you run a business...

Self-Employment Support (SEISS)

It's been a hard year to be in business. Staff being cut, a lack of work, companies collapsing. The government have stepped up and helped during the pandemic. Whilst this hasn't helped everyone, there is an extension to the self employment support scheme. Let's have a look at what this means for the self employed.SEISS Extension The SEISS will be extended like the furlough scheme has been. With a second lockdown just ended, this is important support for many families around the UK. There has bee...

Working Bank Holidays

Today is a Bank Holiday. It’s usually the last one of the year until Christmas Day and Boxing Day however there is also talk of an extra one-off Bank Holiday in October. A lot of small business owners feel the need to work on Bank Holidays. Depending on your area of business, it might be the right thing to do. Gift shops and tourist attractions would be daft to not open, for example. Other businesses might consider taking the day off to relax in the garden, or simply being on call rather than ...

Startup Accounting

When you’re starting up a business, getting your bookkeeping in order is important. You need to know what works, what doesn’t and how much you have in your company bank account. Whilst the product you’re launching or the service you’re offering is important, you mustn’t put your cash flow to the bottom of the list. Here are four fantastic startup accounting tips. Implement From Day One Your finances cannot be an afterthought. You need to set processes in place from day one. Getting a b...

Start Paying Yourself

We’ve all been there. As business owners there was a start to your business journey. Day one, that first full week in your work and the initial month running the company. Whether it feels like a lifetime ago or it was actually just a few months, you need to start paying yourself. Otherwise, what are you running your business for? You can sometimes feel like you shouldn’t take any money out of your business to pay yourself. Maybe you think you haven’t earned it yet or the business isn’t d...

Common Mistakes When You Do Your Own Bookkeeping

Bringing your business idea to life is exhilarating. It is also quite stressful. There is a lot more that goes into running a business than you realise when you simply look from the outside in. When you are operating things and juggling different parts of your business, you realise it’s much more difficult than expected. With that multitasking and extra stress, mistakes can easily be made. Let’s look at some of the most common errors people make when they do their own bookkeeping. Separating...

Small Business Ideas

2020 has been an unusual year, putting it politely. As we edge closer to the end of the furlough scheme and the self-employment payments finishing, maybe you’re considering starting your own business. It could be the case that you’re unemployed or you have lost all your clients. With that in mind, how do you fancy starting your own business? Let’s look at a handful of ideas about what small businesses you could start in the second half of this year. Use The Extra Language If you ...

Help For Business Returning To Work

It’s been an odd few months. We’ve all been affected in different ways. We’re all perhaps worried and have underlying concerns about things starting again. As different places begin reopening, what help is there for businesses returning to work? For employees, they should familiarise themselves with their employers return to work procedures. If employees become unwell, they should still self-isolate for 14 days. If you’re a business owner, cleaning processes need to be more fre...

Look After Your Mental Health

It’s been a funny old year so far. We’ve been thrown many different curve balls and there’s still quite a few months of 2020 left! It is so important to look after your mental wellbeing during all of this. As business owners we deal with a lot of stress in our daily lives usually but we must give ourselves time to unwind and de-stress. Here are some of the ways you can approach that. Take Time Off Work Sometimes just taking a break from the routine of work helps you unwind and re...

SEISS Coronavirus Second Payment

There has been some good news for the self-employed. If you are eligible for the Self Employed Income Support Scheme and managed to successfully apply for the first payment, you’ll be able to apply for a second payment too. According to Money Saving Expert’s Martin Lewis, it was 50/50 on another payment being offered and it seemed less and less likely as the days went on. Eventually though, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced that there will be a second payment covering June, J...