Accounting Blog

Learn how to record advance payments correctly under cash and accrual accounting. This guide explains deferred revenue, deposits, retainers, VAT treatment, and journal entries, with practical examples for freelancers and service businesses to improve cash clarity, compliance, and accurate revenue recognition.

This guide explains how to claim expenses for business hardware bought on subscription plans. Learn how ownership, bundling, and business versus personal use affect tax treatment, when costs are deductible as expenses, and when devices must be treated as assets, with practical tips on records and compliance.

HMRC questioning your turnover doesn’t mean you’ve done something wrong. This guide explains what to do first, how to understand HMRC’s query, gather evidence, reconcile turnover, avoid common mistakes, and respond clearly. Learn how sole traders can handle enquiries calmly, reduce risk, and resolve turnover checks efficiently.

Wondering if invoicing software is tax deductible? This guide explains when business invoicing software is a claimable expense, how sole traders and companies can deduct subscriptions, fees, and add-ons, how to handle mixed use, VAT or GST, and the records you need to support a clean, defensible claim confidently today.

When you stop trading in the UK, HMRC doesn’t automatically update your records. This guide explains what “stopped trading” really means, why returns and penalties can continue, and how to fix missed notifications, close registrations, and avoid escalating fines—even when your business earned little or nothing in practice today nationwide.

Learn how to record business income correctly when payments hit both personal and business accounts. This guide explains revenue vs transfers, owner draws, invoicing, and workflows that prevent double-counting, simplify bookkeeping, reduce tax stress, and keep clean financial records—no matter where the money lands—for freelancers and small businesses everywhere.

Can you claim SaaS trial expenses when a free trial converts to a paid subscription? This guide explains which SaaS costs are deductible, how to treat free and discounted trials, refunds, annual plans, VAT, and mixed-use subscriptions, plus practical bookkeeping tips to document expenses correctly and avoid tax pitfalls issues.

If your business records are messy or incomplete, preparing accurate accounts can feel overwhelming. This practical guide explains how to reconstruct income and expenses, deal with missing receipts, and produce clear, defensible accounts for tax, lenders, or peace of mind—even if you’ve never kept proper records before.

Can you claim business-related digital security software as a tax-deductible expense? Often yes—if it’s mainly for protecting business systems, accounts, and data. This guide explains allowable costs for antivirus, VPNs, password managers, backups, email security, and encryption, plus how to handle mixed personal use, subscriptions vs licences, and record-keeping.