Insights
418 articles on UK limited company tax, sole trader self-assessment, VAT & MTD, payroll, R&D credits, incorporation, director pay and exit planning. Written or reviewed by a specialist accountant on our team. Updated against current HMRC rates.
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Bookkeeping and Compliance
Qualifications are optional for a UK bookkeeper. Anti-money laundering supervision is not. This guide separates the legal requirement from the professional badge, shows you the three checks to run before you hand over your records, and sets out what HMRC actually does when an agent files something wrong on your behalf.
Bookkeeping and Compliance
Most UK micro-businesses under 30 transactions a month, with no VAT registration, no payroll and no stock, do not need a bookkeeper. Software plus an accountant at year end covers it. Cross any one of those four lines and the case changes fast, because the cost of bad records is measured in missed deductions, HMRC penalties and enquiry risk rather than in fees.
Bookkeeping and Compliance
Most UK small businesses pay a bookkeeper somewhere between £20 and £45 an hour, or £100 to £500 a month on a fixed retainer, with transaction volume and VAT registration doing most of the work in setting the price. This guide breaks down the three pricing models, the in-house versus outsourced maths, and what Making Tax Digital for Income Tax adds from April 2026.
Bookkeeping and Compliance
A self employed bookkeeping template only earns its keep if its columns map onto the boxes you actually fill in on your tax return. This guide lays out the four records that matter (income log, expense log, mileage log, bank reconciliation), shows exactly which SA103S box each expense column feeds, and sets out the point at which a spreadsheet stops being enough.
Exit and Capital Gains
Good exit planning starts two to three years before completion, not the month you decide to sell. This guide sets out the exit routes, the tax runway that locks in Business Asset Disposal Relief at 18%, the EOT 50% timing lever after 26 November 2025, and a year-by-year plan to make your business genuinely sellable.
Exit and Capital Gains
Employee ownership trusts still offer a clean, phased exit and a strong culture story, but the tax case changed on 26 November 2025 when CGT relief was cut from 100% to 50%. This is an honest, up-to-date weigh-up of the real advantages and disadvantages for a UK owner-director deciding how to exit.
Exit and Capital Gains
At the Autumn Budget on 26 November 2025 the Capital Gains Tax relief on a sale to an Employee Ownership Trust was cut from 100% to 50%, with immediate effect. Half of the gain is now taxable at the point of sale, BADR cannot rescue it, and the other half is held over onto the trustees. Here is exactly how the new charge works, with the numbers.
Business Finance
How UK limited companies fund plant, machinery and equipment. Hire purchase versus finance lease versus operating lease, why new-or-used changes the tax answer, refinancing kit you already own, and a worked £80k HP-versus-lease comparison tied to full expensing.
Exit and Capital Gains
Accountancy practices are priced on gross recurring fees, not profit, and most of the price is held back against client retention. This guide covers the GRF multiple, how clawback works, and the CGT, BADR and EOT position at 2026/27 rates.
Exit and Capital Gains
Care homes are valued differently from most trading businesses: on EBITDARM against a yield, or per registered bed, with the freehold often the largest single asset. This guide covers how a care home is priced, who buys them, the CQC registration and property traps that sink deals, and the CGT position for 2026/27.
Exit and Capital Gains
Construction businesses sell on lower, lumpier multiples than most sectors: typically 2 to 4 times EBITDA, propped up by net assets and work in progress. This guide covers what a contractor is worth, who buys them, and the CIS, retention, novation and latent-defect traps that decide your final price, plus the tax on exit at 2026/27 rates.
Exit and Capital Gains
Ecommerce businesses are valued on a multiple of seller's discretionary earnings, usually 2.5 to 4x for smaller stores. The deal lives or dies on whether the buyer can actually take over your Amazon, Shopify and ad accounts. Here is how to value it, who buys, the platform-transfer trap, and the CGT, BADR and EOT position for 2026/27.