TCW Accounting Solutions

22/10/2026

PAYROLL ERRORS ARE COSTING UK BUSINESSES MILLIONS. IS YOUR BUSINESS PROTECTED?

The Fair Work Agency has recently named 658 employers for failing to pay the National Minimum Wage.

The consequences?

* Over £4 million in unpaid wages
* Around £7 million in penalties
* More than 27,000 workers affected

And many of the errors are surprisingly easy to make.

Common causes include:

* Deductions that reduce pay below the legal minimum
* Failing to account for all working hours
* Missing increases to minimum wage rates

With the Autumn Budget approaching on 28 October and new minimum wage rates expected from April 2027, payroll compliance needs your attention.

Let TCW Accounting Solutions take care of your payroll.

From calculating wages and processing payslips to managing PAYE, National Insurance, pensions and statutory payments, we help businesses meet their payroll obligations accurately and on time.

We can also help you review your payroll processes, identify potential compliance issues and prepare for upcoming legislative changes.

Your business deserves professional payroll support, and your employees deserve to be paid correctly.

Contact TCW Accounting Solutions today to discuss outsourcing your payroll.

www.tcwaccounts.co.uk



Source: Fair Work Agency announcement, 3 September 2026⁠. The April 2027 rates and timing of any alignment for 18 to 20-year-olds remain subject to government decisions.

21/10/2026

Small businesses make up over 99% of UK businesses. So why does it feel like you are always the last to be heard?

Ahead of the Budget, politicians are talking about consulting businesses. We’re hearing about meetings with venture capitalists, private equity and major corporations.

But what about the small business owners working every hour to keep things going?

The sole traders, family businesses, independent shops and small employers who are juggling rising costs, tax obligations, payroll and endless paperwork.

They’re the backbone of our economy, and their voices deserve to be heard.

At TCW Accounting Solutions, we work with these businesses every day. We understand the pressures, the frustrations and the reality behind the figures.

And whatever the next Budget brings, we’ll be here helping you understand the changes, plan ahead and protect the business you’ve worked so hard to build.

Because even when it feels like Westminster isn’t on your side, we are.

TCW Accounting Solutions. On your side, all year round.

TCW Accountancy & Training Solutions in Doncaster offers expert accountant services, tax returns, payroll, and professional training. Contact us for a consultation.

05/10/2026

Hospitality businesses: there has been an important change to the rules surrounding tips and employment tribunal claims.

Government guidance on the fair distribution of tips was updated on 1 October.

The time limit for certain employment tribunal complaints relating to tipping records and information has increased from three months to six months.

For hospitality businesses, good record keeping is increasingly important.

You should have clear records covering:

• your tipping policy
• how tips are allocated
• tronc arrangements
• payments and allocation records
• how workers and agency workers are treated

There is also an important payroll distinction. The employment law requirements governing fair distribution sit alongside separate PAYE and National Insurance rules for tips and troncs.

Good payroll and accounting records provide the evidence behind your processes if they are ever questioned.

If TCW manages your payroll or bookkeeping, this is exactly the type of regulatory change we keep an eye on.

TCW Accounting Solutions
www.tcwaccounts.co.uk

Government guidance:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/distributing-tips-fairly-non-statutory-guidance-for-employers

Non-statutory guidance for employers on how to follow the code of practice on the fair and transparent distribution of tips.

05/10/2026

Right to Work checks changed from 1 October, and some businesses may need to look again at who they check.

The Home Office checklist now covers a wider range of working relationships, including:

• employees and apprentices
• workers
• individual subcontractors
• individuals providing services through online matching platforms

This is particularly relevant for businesses in construction, hospitality, care, logistics and cleaning, and for any business regularly engaging individual contractors.

For businesses, the important point is consistency across your records:

Contract → Right to Work status → HR records → payroll/CIS treatment → accounts payable

This also matters from a bookkeeping and payroll perspective. Someone appearing as a subcontractor through your purchase ledger should not automatically be assumed to sit outside Right to Work considerations.

If you use subcontractors or other individual service providers, now is a good time to review your processes and make sure the different parts of your business records tell the same story.

TCW Accounting Solutions
www.tcwaccounts.co.uk

Current Home Office Right to Work checklist:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-work-checklist/employers-right-to-work-checklist-accessible-version

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05/10/2026

Self Assessment. Today, 5 October, is the deadline for people who need to file for 2025/26 to notify HMRC where they are new to Self Assessment or need to reactivate their account. HMRC's improved registration service is now live.

How to register for Self Assessment or reactivate your account, if you need to send a tax return or want to make voluntary Class 2 National Insurance payments.

30/09/2026

HMRC is increasing its focus on CIS compliance.

During October 2026, HMRC will begin writing to CIS-registered contractors where its systems have identified possible errors in monthly returns.

Common issues include:

• Using the wrong CIS deduction rate after subcontractor verification
• Failing to separate materials from labour
• Incorrect payment, material or deduction figures
• Weak reconciliation between CIS returns and accounting records

The important point is this: an electronically accepted CIS return can still contain errors.

HMRC may ask contractors to provide records showing exactly how the figures submitted were calculated.

For contractors and construction businesses, now is a good time to review the full CIS trail:

Verification result → deduction rate → gross payment → materials → labour → CIS deduction → monthly return → accounting records

Employment status also remains an important part of CIS compliance. Businesses need to be able to evidence why a subcontractor has been treated as genuinely self-employed. Incorrect treatment can lead to PAYE, National Insurance, interest and penalties.

TCW Accounting Solutions can help with CIS compliance reviews, including subcontractor verification, deduction rates, materials treatment, employment-status evidence and reconciliation to your accounting records.

If you are unsure whether your CIS records would stand up to an HMRC review, speak to us before the October letters start arriving.

TCW Accountancy & Training Solutions in Doncaster offers expert accountant services, tax returns, payroll, and professional training. Contact us for a consultation.

27/09/2026

From data centres on the Moon, to dancing robots, to human capability…

What does AI mean for the future of humanity?

Join me at CAST in Doncaster on 17 October for TEDxWomen, where I’ll be exploring the human capability we need for an AI-enabled world.

The countdown begins....

Tickets Here: https://www.castindoncaster.com/events/tedx-doncaster-2026-undermined-from-coal-to-code-to-ai-festival-of-ideas/

Downloads, white papers and newsletters on my research and insights: https://vanessaaradia.com

TEDxDoncaster

23/09/2026

HMRC is stepping up CIS checks from October. If your records are wrong, now is the time to find out.

HMRC will be contacting contractors where it spots errors in CIS returns, including incorrect deduction rates, problems with materials and inaccurate payment figures.

At the same time, employment rules are tightening, making worker status, payroll records, holiday pay, sick pay and employment rights even more important.

For businesses using subcontractors, temporary workers or mixed workforces, the risks increasingly overlap.

TCW Accounting Solutions can review your CIS, payroll and worker-status processes, identify risk areas and help you put the right controls in place before HMRC or an employment issue puts them under the spotlight.

If you have not reviewed your CIS and employment compliance recently, now is the time.

Contact TCW Accounting Solutions to arrange a compliance review.

TCW Accountancy & Training Solutions in Doncaster offers expert accountant services, tax returns, payroll, and professional training. Contact us for a consultation.

22/09/2026

Self Assessment: new director reporting requirements need attention now!

HMRC has updated its guidance on the additional information that must be included in Self Assessment returns.

If you are already required to file a Self Assessment return and were a director of a UK company during the tax year, you will generally need to provide details of each directorship through an SA102 employment page.

This includes:

• Directorships of dormant companies
• Directorships where you received no pay
• Directorships where you held no shares
• Each relevant UK company if you had more than one directorship

Being a company director does not automatically mean you need to file a Self Assessment return. However, if you already file one, these additional reporting requirements may apply.

Now is the time to check your company records and ensure that all relevant directorships are captured before your return is prepared.

If you are unsure what needs to be included, TCW Accounting Solutions can help.

www.tcwaccounts.co.uk

TCW Accountancy & Training Solutions in Doncaster offers expert accountant services, tax returns, payroll, and professional training. Contact us for a consultation.

15/09/2026

Five tax and compliance changes businesses need to know about

Some of my key takeaways from Accountex North today were just how much is changing across tax, reporting and company compliance.

Here are five areas businesses need to have on their radar:

1. Dividends and close companies
Changes to dividend taxation, alongside additional Self Assessment reporting requirements for directors of close companies, including dividend income and shareholdings.

2. Self Assessment could become much more frequent
MTD is already moving those within scope towards quarterly digital reporting. HMRC is also considering proposals that could move Self Assessment payments towards a more frequent, potentially monthly, model in future rather than relying on the traditional January and July payment dates.

3. Inheritance Tax and pensions
From April 2027, most unused pension funds and pension death benefits will be brought into an individual’s estate for Inheritance Tax purposes, with implications for estate and succession planning.

4. Cryptoassets
Crypto is becoming increasingly visible to HMRC, with new reporting requirements giving HMRC much greater access to information about users and transactions.

5. Companies House reform
Identity verification, tighter filing requirements and wider Companies House reforms are being introduced, with further changes to company accounts and digital filing still to come.

For business owners and directors, keeping up with compliance is becoming increasingly complex.

You need to know what is changing, when it applies and what action you need to take.

That is where TCW Accounting Solutions comes in.

We keep track of the changes, work out what they mean for you and help you stay prepared and compliant.

Trusted. Compliance. World-class.
TCW Accounting Solutions