Gm Professional Accountants

Gm Professional Accountants Award winning small business accountants Self assessment , small business, self employed, Acccountants based in East ham, Barking and dagenham

Why Do Banks Say No to Profitable Builders?You are turning over six figures. Your diary is fully booked until next sprin...
06/08/2026

Why Do Banks Say No to Profitable Builders?

You are turning over six figures. Your diary is fully booked until next spring. Your CIS deductions are up to date. So why did the bank just decline your mortgage or business loan application?

Here is the truth most lenders will not spell out for you.

Banks do not look at what you earn. They look at what your accounts say you earn. And for most CIS subcontractors and construction business owners, there is a big gap between the two.

CIS deductions are often the problem. If 20% or 30% is being taken off at source before you even see the money, your net profit on paper can look far lower than your actual turnover. Add in expenses claimed to reduce tax, and your accounts might show a picture that makes underwriters nervous, even when your bank balance tells a different story.

Then there is inconsistency. Builders and contractors juggling multiple contracts, subbies, and payment terms often have income that looks "lumpy" on paper. Underwriters like smooth, predictable numbers. Construction rarely gives them that.

The fix is not earning more. It is presenting what you already earn properly, with accounts and tax returns that reflect your true trading position.

Have you had a bank or lender question your figures despite a strong year on site? Drop your experience below;
We read every comment.

Landlords, this one is for you.If you're renting out property and your income crossed £50,000 last tax year, you're now ...
05/08/2026

Landlords, this one is for you.

If you're renting out property and your income crossed £50,000 last tax year, you're now inside Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, and your first quarterly update is due on 7 August 2026.

That date is coming up fast. Here's what it actually means, in plain English.

What you're filing isn't a tax return. It's a digital summary of your rental income and expenses for the period 6 April to 5 July 2026, sent through approved software like Xero, FreeAgent or Hammock.

✅ What HMRC wants:

Your rental income received
Your allowable property expenses (repairs, insurance, letting agent fees, and so on)
Digital records behind those figures
A quarterly summary through your software

❌ What HMRC does NOT want:

A full tax return every three months
Receipts uploaded one by one
A tax bill on the spot

That last one catches a lot of landlords out. This is a report, not a payment. Your actual tax stays on the same 31 January and 31 July timetable as always.

The landlords who find this stressful are usually doing one of these things:

Still keeping everything on a spreadsheet
Mixing personal and rental money in one bank account
Missing expenses they were entitled to claim
Leaving software setup until the week it's due

None of that is hard to fix, if you start now.

Before 7 August, take a few minutes to:
1️⃣ Choose MTD-compatible software
2️⃣ Get your records digitised and your bank feed connected
3️⃣ Review your income and expenses for the quarter
4️⃣ Speak to your accountant if anything's unclear

We're helping landlords across London and Essex get this sorted calmly rather than at the last minute. If you're not sure where you stand, drop us a message, we're happy to talk it through before the deadline hits. 👇

📞 0208 396 6128
💻 gmprofessionalaccountants.co.uk

Thinking of applying for a construction loan? Here's what lenders actually look at first.If you're a contractor or const...
03/08/2026

Thinking of applying for a construction loan? Here's what lenders actually look at first.

If you're a contractor or construction business owner in London planning to fund a new project, get ahead of the process. Before approving any loan, lenders typically check three things:

1️⃣ Your cash flow history – Consistent income and clean bank statements matter more than a big turnover figure.

2️⃣ CIS compliance record – Late CIS returns or HMRC penalties raise red flags fast.

3️⃣ Project cost projections – Lenders want realistic budgets, not optimistic guesses.

Getting these right before you apply can be the difference between a fast approval and a frustrating delay.

What's been your experience applying for construction finance in London? Drop a comment below; we'd love to hear what tripped you up (or worked well) for you.

Need help getting your books lender-ready? GM Professional Accountants can help you prepare.

3 Cash Flow Habits Every Construction Owner NeedsRunning a construction business in London means juggling CIS deductions...
29/07/2026

3 Cash Flow Habits Every Construction Owner Needs

Running a construction business in London means juggling CIS deductions, staged payments, and supplier invoices all at once. The businesses that thrive are not always the ones with the biggest contracts. They are the ones with the tightest cash flow habits.

Here are 3 that make a real difference:

Track CIS deductions separately from day one. Do not let 20% deductions get lost in your general cash flow. Set up a dedicated tracker so you always know what HMRC owes you back.
Invoice the moment a stage completes. Delayed invoicing is one of the biggest causes of cash flow gaps on site. The sooner it goes out, the sooner it gets paid.
Keep a 6 to 8 week cash buffer. Retentions, delayed payments, and material price changes can hit fast. A buffer gives you breathing room without relying on credit.

Which of these do you already have in place, and which one is the hardest to stick to? Tell us in the comments, we would love to hear how other London contractors manage it.

Profitable on Paper, Broke in the Bank? Here's Why.You've checked your accounts. Turnover looks healthy. Profit margin l...
27/07/2026

Profitable on Paper, Broke in the Bank? Here's Why.

You've checked your accounts. Turnover looks healthy. Profit margin looks solid. So why is your bank balance telling a completely different story?

For London contractors and subcontractors, this is one of the most common (and most stressful) situations we see. And it usually comes down to a handful of things:

CIS deductions tied up – 20% (or 30%) is being withheld on every invoice, but you're still paying suppliers, wages and materials in full, in real time.

Payment terms working against you – 30, 60, even 90-day terms on jobs you've already paid out for.

VAT and the Domestic Reverse Charge – money you never actually held is sitting as a liability on your balance sheet.

Profit ≠ Cash – accounting profit includes invoiced work that hasn't been paid yet. The bank account only knows what's actually landed.

If this sounds familiar, you're not doing anything wrong. It's a cash flow problem, not a profitability problem, and the two need very different fixes.

Genuinely curious to hear from other construction business owners in London: what's caught you out most with cash flow this year? CIS deductions, retentions, or something else entirely?

5 Cash Flow Mistakes That Are Quietly Sinking London Construction FirmsRunning a construction business in London means j...
23/07/2026

5 Cash Flow Mistakes That Are Quietly Sinking London Construction Firms

Running a construction business in London means juggling retentions, CIS deductions, staged payments, and rising material costs — all at once. No wonder cash flow trips up even experienced firms.

Here are 5 mistakes we see constantly:

1. Not tracking CIS deductions in real time
Waiting until year-end to reconcile CIS suffered means you're often sitting on cash you didn't realise was owed back to you.

2. Underestimating retention money
That 5% held back on contracts adds up fast. Too many firms forget to chase it, and it quietly disappears into "we'll deal with it later."

3. Mixing project costs together
Without job-by-job cost tracking, you can't tell which contracts are actually profitable and which are draining you dry.

4. Paying suppliers before invoicing clients
Getting the payment cycle backwards is one of the fastest ways to run out of working capital, especially on longer contracts.

5. Ignoring MTD-ready bookkeeping until the deadline forces it
Digital record-keeping isn't just compliance — done properly, it gives you real-time visibility into where your cash actually stands.

Which one of these hits closest to home for your business? 👇

Drop a comment or send us a message if you want a quick chat about tightening up your firm's cash flow.

Still owed retention money you've mentally written off? You might be able to get more of it back than you think.Every co...
21/07/2026

Still owed retention money you've mentally written off? You might be able to get more of it back than you think.

Every contractor in London construction knows the feeling. A job finished two, three, even five years ago. The retention money sits with the main contractor, and somewhere along the way you stopped chasing it and just accepted it as gone.

Before you write that money off for good, here are 3 steps worth trying first:

1. Pull your records together
Find the original contract, the retention clause, and any snagging or sign off documents. If the defects period has passed and no issues were raised, the contractor has no grounds to hold the money.

2. Send a formal written demand
A polite email chasing payment often gets ignored. A formal letter referencing the contract terms and requesting payment within a set number of days carries far more weight, and creates a paper trail if things need to go further.

3. Know your time limits
Under UK law, you generally have 6 years from the date payment became due to bring a claim (12 years if the contract was signed as a deed). Many contractors sit on retention for years assuming the window has closed. Check before you assume it has.

Retention money adds up fast across multiple projects. If you are a construction business owner in London sitting on old, unpaid retention, do not assume it is a lost cause until you have actually checked.

Have you ever successfully recovered a retention you thought was gone? Tell us how in the comments, it might help another contractor reading this.

17/07/2026

PAYE or CIS subcontractor? One wrong call = HMRC penalty.

Here's how to get it right.

Link in Comments| GM Professional Accountants

17/07/2026

Limited company subcontractor? You could be overpaying tax without knowing it

CIS deductions taken at source don't automatically get repaid, but there's a way to reclaim them through your payroll instead of waiting on a refund claim.

Watch to see how it works

Drop a comment if you want us to break down your specific situation
Or DM us to check your CIS position


3 days ago

💷 How much cash is sitting in retentions you've forgotten about?Here's a number that should make every construction busi...
16/07/2026

💷 How much cash is sitting in retentions you've forgotten about?

Here's a number that should make every construction business owner in London stop scrolling: the average contractor has thousands of pounds tied up in retentions across old jobs, some going back years.

Retentions get held back on practical completion, then again after the defects period, and somewhere along the way they get buried in old contracts, forgotten invoices, or a client who's gone quiet. Meanwhile that money should be sitting in your bank account, working for you.

A few questions worth asking yourself this week:

Do you actually know the total value of retentions currently owed to you across all live and completed contracts?

Is there a system tracking release dates, or is it relying on memory?

Have you chased anything held back on a job finished more than 12 months ago?

For CIS contractors juggling multiple sites and subcontractors, this can genuinely run into serious money that quietly disappears from view.

We'd love to hear from other London contractors in the comments: how do you currently track your retentions, and has anything ever slipped through the cracks?

Share your experience below; we're building this page as a space for real conversations between construction business owners.

GM Professional Accountants | Supporting London's construction industry with clarity on CIS, Making Tax Digital, and compliance.

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