Do you have a to-do list as long as your arm? Sadly, it’s very normal for small business owners to have an ever-growing list of essential tasks, which can start to feel overwhelming. Or maybe you have the nagging feeling that you need an expert to really nail certain jobs.  Outsourcing could be the answer, giving you the flexibility to hand over some work to specialists and give you back some much-needed time.  What is outsourcing and why do businesses do it? Outsourcing is the practice of getting work done outside the business, often giving responsibility to an individual contracto ..read more

Summer’s arrived, and if the sun’s playing hide and seek, it’s the perfect time to dive into some CPD-accredited learning tasks. Whether you watch our expert-led webinars or aim for FreeAgent accreditation, there’s a whole host of options to boost your professional growth. Here are just a few to get you started. 1. Dive into webinars and soak up CPD points If you’re part of a professional membership body, you’ll need to earn a certain number of CPD points (also known as units or hours) each year to keep your membership in good standing. FreeAgent hosts multiple CPD-accredited webinars annuall ..read more

At FreeAgent, we think that a great team must be inclusive and diverse - and we’ve worked hard to ensure that people from different backgrounds and groups have the same opportunities to thrive here.  To do this, we need to make sure that FreeAgent is built on inclusion from the very start of the hiring process through to our day-to-day work. Here’s how we do it. “When I first started at FreeAgent, it all seemed a bit too good to be true, but five years later, I still feel the same way. It’s a friendly, inclusive place to work that makes you feel like you're really making a difference,” s ..read more

We all know that the right technology can supercharge a practice’s efficiency and fuel its growth. But quantifying the benefits of the perfect software partnership can be challenging. We looked at some key performance indicators of a FreeAgent practice over the first six months of 2024 to see how digitalisation has impacted its goals.  With a focus on providing small business clients with exceptional service and personalised advice, the practice needed a simple yet effective technology partner to support these priorities. Here, we dive into the data to see how it achieved remarkable scal ..read more

How’s your digital toolkit looking? If you’re searching for new solutions to optimise your business processes, we have exciting news. We’ve just launched our new integrations directory, offering a comprehensive overview of FreeAgent’s market-leading integration partners.  On each partner’s profile, you’ll find detailed information about the benefits of the integration and how it works with FreeAgent. Plus, everything is organised by category, so you can easily find the tools most relevant to your business. The best part? You can integrate with several of our integration partners, such as ..read more

So you’re thinking about becoming a landlord and whether it’s worth it. Some landlords manage to have a strong rental income that results in large profits, while others struggle to break even. Wondering what kind of costs you should factor in, after the up-front cost of purchasing the property? Take a look at our breakdown of the different types of cost you’ll encounter as a landlord.  Mortgage This is probably the cost you’ve already got your head around, but buy-to-let mortgages have a few key differences compared to other types of mortgage. They are considered ‘higher risk’ for the le ..read more

You may have recently noticed some slick improvements and glossy new functionality in the FreeAgent mobile app. We’ve been working behind the scenes to deliver a series of updates to make it easier for you to manage your invoicing and payments via the mobile app. We’ve done this by introducing more of the features from the desktop version of FreeAgent to mobile. Here’s a rundown of all the new mobile goodness:  Connect FreeAgent to your Stripe account to start accepting debit and credit card payments directly from your FreeAgent invoices. Set a default payment provider (Tyl, Stripe, GoC ..read more

An efficient accounting or bookkeeping practice is like a well-oiled machine: it runs smoothly, minimises friction and consistently delivers value. When your team is performing well, you’re likely to have happy clients and a healthy bottom line. But hey, distractions happen, right? If you’re still with us, here are five hacks to boost your firm’s productivity. 1. Find focus Ever feel like your to-do list is out to get you, with phone calls, emails and a million other distractions vying for your attention? The Pomodoro Technique (inspired by those little tomato-shaped timers!) is a time manage ..read more

Whether you’re a business owner, a freelancer or even the CEO of a multinational company, getting to know your customers lets you gain insights into their needs and provide them with a better product or service - meaning they’ll be more likely to come back as return customers. To help you get to know your customers better, we’ve pulled together five simple tips for success. 1. Interact with your customers regularly Interactions - whether face-to face or virtual - are effective ways to get to know your customers. Whether it’s a video call, in-person meeting, chatting at the till, or a conversa ..read more

We bet that you remember a really excellent customer experience that you had. You probably still look on that business fondly and would love to get that loyalty from your own customers.  But as a small business, you likely don’t have the time or money to hire a customer service team to deal with all the questions you get. Don’t worry - you can still wow your customers with impressive service, with just a few tips from FreeAgent. Trust us, we know what we’re talking about.  Get to know your customers The first step to good customer service is knowing what your customers care about ..read more