I must say, I am just going to express my personal opinion here. And, it is going to be completely different to what everybody else is saying, which is: “You don’t need a cloud bookkeeping software to keep your records in order.” I will explain. About four years ago, when we all – business owners and accountants alike – were anxiously anticipating a roll out of the Making Tax Digital… Read More »Should I use cloud bookkeeping software?

Many small business owners who have managed to accumulate a reasonable amount of cash in their company’s reserves ponder this question: “Should I use this money to buy an investment property?” and “… if I do this, should I take the money out and buy a property on my name or through the company?” Since quite a few of my existing clients-solopreneurs are in the described situation, I thought it… Read More »Buying a property using your company’s reserves

There are many people out there who have been entertaining for years the idea of running their own businesses or starting freelancing. Understandably, the possibility of being in charge of our time and making own decisions seems very attractive to most of us. If you have recently lost your job due to the pandemic-induced economic crises, you might find yourself thinking about starting a business and developing your own brand… Read More »How to transition from Employee to Entrepreneur

While Brexit has introduced some uncertainty, the United Kingdom remains an attractive place to start a business. Running your business through a limited company is one of the most tax efficient ways to do that. It involves more administrative work than being a sole trader, but this is offset by the benefit of not putting your personal assets at risk in case the business fails. Below is a summary of… Read More »How to start a limited company

One of the most common questions asked by solopreneurs / small business owners is: “Should I be self-employed or incorporate as a limited company? It is often the case that a freelancer / sole trader starts a business and the business grows such that the matter of incorporation needs to be considered. Although the decision to incorporate should be for commercial reasons rather than tax savings, any tax savings that… Read More »Should I incorporate my small business?

(Image: Sencathea is feeding infant Plutus (God of Wealth) from horn of plenty, Rome, Brooklyn Museum.) A famous German philosopher and political economist Max Weber once said: “Man exists for the sake of his business, instead of the reverse.” Where do your stand with regard to this claim? I am reading an interesting book by Jacob Needleman called “Money and The Meaning of Life”. I find it very rich and… Read More »What is your relationship with money?

The most recent developments in our collective life have shown that no one’s position is invulnerable to falls and unforeseen changes. Many people have been made redundant in the face of large and small businesses losing ground under their feet and being forced to let their workforce go. You may be left questioning the very foundations of how you have been living and supporting your livelihood for years. Such critical… Read More »Are you an entrepreneur at heart?

What stands in the way of your making your business a success or growing continuously? If you are a solopreneur operating your business on your own, it could be that it is your mindset! The above is not just a woolly claim but is backed up by an array of robust psychological studies, as Carole Dweck shows in her incredibly important million-copy selling book Mindset. If we have a limited… Read More »Growth mindset in business

Thinking about how to complete your self-assessment tax return so you can file it on time? You’ve come to the right place! According to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), 958,296 people failed to file their self-assessment tax returns by the deadline, 31 January 2020, whereas over 700,000 others filed their returns on the last day. Since you are here, I’m guessing you wouldn’t want to be one of those people! If you… Read More »How to complete a Self-Assessment tax return

Many small business owners know that the only three legitimate ways of extracting money from a company are: 1.  Salary 2.  Dividends 3.  Loan However, the above three ways, while being tax efficient, are not exactly tax-free! If your salary exceeds your personal tax-free allowance (currently set at £12,500), then you will have to pay Income Tax and National Insurance. If you pay yourself more than 2K of dividends per… Read More »How to extract more money from your company and save on tax