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What can you claim on business expenses as a musician?

As a musician, you might not be aware of the items you can claim on business expenses. Luckily, if you choose to use me as your accountant, you won’t need to remember any of the below (but I’m always here to help in the meantime). Within the music industry, there’s a lot of items you ...

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Why marketing budgets are always first to go in a crisis

It’s inevitable that in business, some sort of crisis may happen. This could be personal, for example, illness or bereavement, or it could be global - a recession, for instance. Currently, it’s the small matter of a pandemic that’s causing us grief (not that we need any more reminders!). But for many businesses, when crisis ...

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Project accounting for architects – a different way of working

Architectural practices operate on a different basis to many other types of business and need a different approach to accounting as a result.

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Should you have a niche as a marketing agency?

It’s nothing new to say that the marketing world is saturated with full-service agencies. Whether you’re a one-person team or a huge, award winning agency, with offices all over the globe, finding a marketing agency that does it all, from SEO to PPC, design to digital, isn’t that difficult. However, with the market being so ...

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What can you do if you become ill as a freelancer?

It’s more than likely that you’ll become ill at some point – whether that’s a cold, period pains, mental health concerns, or something else, we’re not immune to illness. Particularly as a freelancer, you may work longer hours or take on more work than you really should, which can cause burnout and stress – although ...

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How to set up an architecture practice from structure to systems

Did you know the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier went solo when he was 25 years old? Sir Norman Foster – a North West of England lad, from Stockport – was 28 when he co-founded his first practice in 1963. Zaha Hadid, whose temporary Bach concert hall in Manchester blew everyone’s minds in 2009, was just ...

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Why timesheets are important for smaller marketing agencies

I can already sense the inaudible moans when I mention ‘timesheets’. From extra work for office managers and administrators, to badgering your employees to get them completed, timesheets are often seen as an unnecessary evil. But with easily accessible technology, timesheets don’t need to be a series of incomplete, badly formatted Excel spreadsheets – and ...

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From side hustle to main gig: why you should treat both as legitimate businesses

Whether you’re a drummer, copywriter, personal trainer, or have discovered an invention to stop your glasses from sliding down your nose, having a side hustle is a great way to earn some extra money, whilst still working full-time. But what happens when that side hustle starts making more than you expected and it’s time to ...

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How to align staff KPIs with your business objectives

Don’t have KPIs for the sake of it – understand how they can drive the success of your business and make sure they’re tightly tied to your goals and objectives. First, just in case, I ought to explain what KPIs are, though most of you can probably skip this bit. KPI stands for ‘key performance ...

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VAT for beginners: when to register and how to complete a return

Accountants love VAT – it’s about the only bit of what we do with any good jokes. Are Jaffa Cakes biscuits? Should sleeved-blankets, AKA slankets, be zero-rated? Is banana-flavoured Nesquik rated the same as chocolate flavour? There’s just something funny about the idea of judges and QCs having to think really hard about these questions, ...

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Every firm will gain from customer relationship management software

In the past few months most of us have had phones ringing off their hooks as we strive to keep in touch with clients and suppliers during an unsettling crisis. The more conversations you have, and the more complicated they are, the more important it is to have a decent CRM. If you’re only dealing.

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Why your business needs a cycle-to-work scheme

Cycle-to-work schemes allow employers to rent bicycles and associated kit to employees as a tax-free benefit. Or, in effect, to let them buy a bike at a discount, paying in instalments. The UK Government launched the framework for the UK’s cycle-to-work scheme in 1999 to encourage people to exercise more and to reduce pollution generated ...

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Tackling late payment of invoices: how to get what you’re owed

When the COVID-19 crisis kicked off back in March, a lot of businesses put immediate restrictions on payments to build up a cash buffer. In my view, that knee-jerk reaction is bad news, not only for individual businesses but for the economy as a whole. Some of my clients tell me they’ve struggled to get ...

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Starting and growing an agency: taking on your first employee

When your creative agency or professional practice gets to the point where you can’t handle the work without expanding your team, you know you’re heading in the right direction. For the first time, everything isn’t on you. You can start to delegate, collaborate and take on bigger projects. If your first hire is a specialist ...

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Online accounting has only just begun to change the world

If you weren’t already using online accounting software at the start of 2019, you’ve probably heard a lot about it since – especially if you’re running a VAT-registered business that was included in the introduction of Making Tax Digital (MTD). The new rules, which came in on 1 April 2019 and made digital record-keeping and ...

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What’s the difference between a contractor and a freelancer?

Last month the UK’s self-employed population passed five million for the first time, and many of those – certainly in the North West – are contractors or freelancers. According to IPSE, around 8% of the UK’s contractor population is based up here, which is hardly surprising when Manchester is the biggest hub for creative freelancers ...

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5 mistakes people make when they try to manage their own bookkeeping

Bookkeeping is the bedrock of good business accounting. If you have tidy, up-to-date books then your monthly or quarterly management accounts and end-of-year financial accounts will not only be more accurate but also quicker and easier to produce. Many businesses have a bookkeeper or accounts administrator, even if they don’t have a full finance team ...

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Why you should choose a smaller accountancy firm

There’s a lot to be said for choosing a smaller accountancy firm, from a personalised service to real local knowledge. Whether it’s artisanal wool from the Ribble Valley or traders at Preston’s street food market, small, independent and local are values that matter more and more in 2020. I guess that’s partly a reaction to ...

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Accounting for marketing agencies: budgeting, KPIs and freeing up time for creativity

Marketing agencies rely on freedom of imagination to provide the services they’re selling but, at the same time, need to be more disciplined in managing their accounts, budgets, and cash flow than many other types of business.

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Funding your creative business

Creative businesses have plenty of options when it comes to funding – it doesn’t just have to be about banks and investors these days. Having started my own business, I’m genuinely fascinated by the stories of entrepreneurs and how they get off the ground. One topic that comes up time and time again is funding ...

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Home working and tax

Working from home is becoming more common. It comes with a lot of advantages but also some implications for your tax bill. By the time I started my professional career, smartphones were all the rage and the idea that everyone ought to sit at their office desk from nine to five, tied to a landline ...

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Management accounting: knowledge is power

I’m a big believer in the importance of management accounting in giving people who operate businesses the information they need to make strategic decisions. There are very few sure things in business and at a certain point, you just have to make a call. Still, decisions based on all the available information are, in my ...

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Which online accounting software is best?

The sheer range of accounting software on the market these days is amazing but, as is the Alchemy way, we like to cut through the fog and give a clear answer. So, here it is: If you’re an individual working as a freelancer, contractor or operating a one-person SME, FreeAgent is best. But if your ...

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Next year, why not get self-assessment done by the end of June?

Every year, almost without fail, we hear about the last-minute panic business owners, freelancers and contractors go through as they rush to complete their self-assessment tax returns. This year, around 5,542,000 taxpayers left submitting their 2017/18 returns until January – almost half of the total number of people required to complete it. The year before, ...

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