On 6th March 2024 the UK chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, revealed his pre-election Spring budget for 2024. Nothing ground breaking but a few notable things have changed. This is what the 2024/25 tax rates are likely to be for self employed people in the UK. The 2024/25 tax year in the UK runs from 6th April 2024 to 5th April 2025. Tax returns for this tax year are generally due by 31st January 2026. Still no sign of Class 2 NI being scrapped, as suggested many times over the last 10 years or so. Instead another consultation is being launched. Why is it so complicated to scrap this pointless tax? Li ..read more

In a desperate attempt to compete with the likes of TikTok and appeal to our increasingly short attention spans, YouTube are heavily pushing Shorts. Ultra-shortform videos, under a minute long and in vertical screen orientation. Almost mirroring TikTok’s Black Mirror-esque promotion of infinite doom scrolling. Ignoring the psychological impact of consuming content in this way there’s a more concerning impact from a business perspective. It’s something I’ve been wanting to write about for a while. Are YouTube actively killing their own platform? As many of you will be aware my original backgr ..read more

When I was about to set up one of my first limited companies, back in 2002, a good friend said to me “Andy, always have a business exit plan!”. I had no idea what he was talking about and brushed the whole idea under the carpet for a while. Little did I know at the time, this was the best single piece of business advice I’ve ever been given. What is a business exit plan? Traditionally in the world of business an exit plan mostly revolves around selling a business. However I’m going to be talking about an exit plan in a much broader sense. Most businesses don’t get sold but many people want t ..read more

By using a cashflow forecast template you can work out if your UK small business idea has legs. We’ve had a lot of small business ideas over the years. Some have been good, some have been bad. Knowing when to walk away is key to developing a successful small business. It’s absolutely essential that you do your homework and know your numbers! One way of doing this is by using a cashflow forecast. So let’s take a deep dive in to this. Cashflow forecast template for UK businesses It’s quite easy to build your own cashflow forecast template spreadsheet for Excel. To save you the trouble I’ve cre ..read more

Unless you’ve experienced the sheer devastation of data loss it’s a subject you’ve probably not put much thought in to. As a business owner you have a responsibility to ensure your data is protected – not only to keep your business safe but to keep your customers safe too. Today I’ll show you how easy it is to perform a UK cloud backup with Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office. I’ve covered purchasing Acronis in a separate article so I’m assuming you’re up and running with Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office installed and ready to go. As per usual this article may contain affiliate links – more i ..read more

I personally use Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office for my own personal backup needs. Acronis is a big company with 18 locations across the globe and a multitude of products. For the small business owner this can be a little daunting. Don’t panic! The product you’re probably looking to get started with is Acronis Cyber Protect Home office, formerly Acronis True Image. So in this article I’ll explain how to buy Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office. How to buy Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office For small business owners, freelancers and sole traders Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office is the product ..read more

Over the last few years the small business banking scene has changed dramatically. Gone are the days of waiting weeks if not months for your business bank account to be set up. It can now be done in a matter of minutes. Two of the biggest challenger operations are Tide and Starling. So which is best suited to your small business? Today we’ll find out and look at Tide vs Starling Bank for business banking. As per usual this article contains affiliate links to help fund this website. I’ve personally used both Tide and Starling for my own businesses. Tide vs Starling Bank – let’s cut to the cha ..read more

At the time of writing, on 3rd April 2023, the government still haven’t published official tax rates for the self employed. This is normally made public several months in advance. As it currently stands a lot of information is still missing from the gov.uk website. As such all of these figures are subject to change. But by my understanding this is what the 2023/24 tax rates are likely to be for self employed people in the UK. The 2023/24 tax year in the UK runs from 6th April 2023 to 5th April 2024. Tax returns for this tax year are generally due by 31st January 2025. Here are some of the mo ..read more

By popular demand, here’s a full list of all downloadable example spreadsheets that may be useful for your small business. This includes an income and expense tracker, invoice templates, quote templates, pro forma template, hourly rate calculator and more. This content is for members only. Visit the site and log in/register to read. The post All Downloadable Spreadsheets (Members Only) appeared first on Small Business Toolbox ..read more

As we approach the deadline for the 2021/22 tax year, let’s take a look at what UK tax returns look like in 2022. Before I start, remember I’m not an accountant and am not qualified in any way to give you tax or legal advice. Always get a good accountant! In the video below I’m completing a sample tax return in 2022 for the 2021/22 tax year to show you what the system looks like. I’m basing it on a single self employment. In my example the business made £30,000 turnover, had £10,000 expenses and therefore made £20,000 profit. You can watch the full video here: Watch this video on YouTube.Co ..read more