Accounting Blog

Forgetting income on a tax return is common and usually unintentional. This guide explains what counts as missed income, how tax agencies detect it, what notices mean, potential penalties, audits, and step-by-step actions to correct mistakes, reduce interest, respond confidently, and prevent future problems before they escalate into costly disputes.

Learn how to record customer refunds correctly in your accounting books. This guide explains refund types, cash versus accrual treatment, tax and inventory impacts, credit notes, chargebacks, processor fees, and best practices for linking refunds to original sales—so your revenue, reports, and profitability stay accurate and audit-ready over time consistently.

Clear bookkeeping records are critical for service-based businesses. Accurate income, expense, tax, and project documentation supports cash flow, pricing decisions, compliance, and client disputes. This guide explains required records, how long to keep them, and practical systems to organize invoices, receipts, retainers, payroll, and reports without stress and confusion free.

Running a business from a rented property raises practical tax questions. This guide explains how to claim rent, utilities, council tax, internet, and home office costs fairly. Learn reasonable apportionment methods, common pitfalls, record-keeping tips, and how to claim confidently without breaching your tenancy or over-claiming expenses as a tenant.

Do sole traders need business insurance by law? This guide explains when insurance is legally required, when it’s optional, and why “not compulsory” doesn’t always mean safe. Learn how employees, vehicles, regulated work, and contracts can trigger insurance obligations for sole traders.

Tracking income and expenses matters even for tiny, part-time businesses. This guide shows simple, low-effort bookkeeping systems to control cash flow, understand profit, prepare for taxes, and make smarter decisions—without complex accounting. Learn how to track, separate money, choose tools, and build habits that scale as you grow confidently today.

HMRC disagreeing with expense claims doesn’t always mean wrongdoing. This guide explains why HMRC challenges expenses, what happens if claims are disallowed, how employees, self-employed people and directors are affected, and how to respond calmly with evidence to reduce tax, penalties and risk during enquiries and compliance checks and disputes.

Sole traders often delay retirement planning, but starting early builds flexibility, resilience, and future freedom. This guide explains when to begin pension planning, how to adapt contributions to irregular income, and how to build a retirement strategy that grows alongside your business, from first profits to pre-retirement years confidently today.

Traded for only a few months and unsure if you need UK Self Assessment? This guide explains when short-term trading still needs reporting, how the £1,000 trading allowance works, what counts as trading, and how PAYE, profits, losses, and deadlines affect whether you must register with HMRC.