The Accountant’s Best Friend

The Accountant’s Best Friend Book-keeping, accounts, tax returns, training, advice on software, all things accountancy!
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🛠️ Wickes TradePro member? This one could save you some money…Wickes has partnered with Xero to offer TradePro members s...
27/08/2026

🛠️ Wickes TradePro member? This one could save you some money…

Wickes has partnered with Xero to offer TradePro members six months’ FREE access to Xero accounting software.

And with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax now rolling out, this could be a really useful offer for sole traders who need to get their bookkeeping digital.

MTD currently applies to those with qualifying self-employment and property income over £50,000, but that threshold drops to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028.

So if you’re a tradesperson who’s going to be caught by MTD and you’re still using spreadsheets, paper records or the trusty carrier bag full of receipts, now might be a very good time to make the switch!

With Xero you can connect your bank account, keep digital records, manage invoices and get your bookkeeping into much better shape for quarterly MTD reporting.

According to recent research from Wickes, only 21% of trade professionals said they were fully prepared for MTD, so there are clearly plenty of people who still need to get themselves sorted.

If you’re already a Wickes TradePro member, definitely have a look at the six-month Xero offer before paying for a subscription elsewhere.

And if you’ve got the free software but haven’t got a clue what to do with it, that’s where people like me come in.

🎗️ TABF is now a proud Dream Maker for Children with Cancer Fund ❤️This is one of those posts that isn’t really about us...
25/08/2026

🎗️ TABF is now a proud Dream Maker for Children with Cancer Fund ❤️

This is one of those posts that isn’t really about us. It’s about shining a light on an incredible local charity that more people should know about.

Children With Cancer Fund (Polegate) supports children and their families across East Sussex, Brighton and Hove who are living with or recovering from cancer.

They help families from diagnosis, throughout treatment and beyond, providing practical and emotional support alongside something equally important: opportunities to simply enjoy being a family.

That might mean granting a child’s wish, arranging a day out, providing a family break or giving them something special to look forward to during an incredibly difficult time.

For 2026, they are looking for 26 Dream Makers who each commit to donating £26 a month.

TABF is very proud to be one of them. 💛

£26 a month might not sound like an enormous amount, but regular donations give the charity the security to plan ahead and say yes to more families when they need them.

And that’s really why I wanted to share this.

If you’re a local business or individual who could spare £26 a month, have a look at what Children with Cancer Fund does. You might decide you’d like to become a Dream Maker too.

And even if donating isn’t possible, following them, sharing their work and helping more people discover this brilliant local charity costs absolutely nothing.

Sometimes making a difference starts simply by helping the right people be seen. ❤️

SMALL BUSINESS TIP: Your business shouldn’t live entirely in your head.Quick question…If you disappeared for a week tomo...
21/08/2026

SMALL BUSINESS TIP: Your business shouldn’t live entirely in your head.

Quick question…

If you disappeared for a week tomorrow, would anyone know how to run your business?

Not forever.

Just a week.

Would they know:

Which emails need dealing with?

Who needs paying?

How you raise an invoice?

Which customers need following up?

What happens every week or month?

Where everything actually lives?

Or would the answer to every question be…

“I normally do that.” 😬

When you start a business, keeping everything in your head works surprisingly well.

You know the customers.

You know the passwords.

You know that Dave always pays on the second Tuesday after you’ve chased him twice.

But as your business grows, YOU can very quickly become the biggest bottleneck in it.

And you don’t need a 97-page operations manual to fix it.

Start small.

The next time you do something you regularly repeat, write down how you do it.

Even better, record yourself doing it.

Create templates for emails you send repeatedly.

Automate the boring bits where you can.

Give things proper names and put them somewhere sensible.

Basically…

Build a business that knows how to function without requiring you to remember absolutely everything.

Because systems aren’t just for big businesses.

They’re what eventually give small business owners something incredibly valuable…

their time back.

🎉 WE’RE FINALISTS!! 🎉Well, this was a rather lovely email to receiveThe Accountant’s Best Friend is officially a finalis...
20/08/2026

🎉 WE’RE FINALISTS!! 🎉

Well, this was a rather lovely email to receive

The Accountant’s Best Friend is officially a finalist in the Eastbourne Business Awards 2026!

Building a business is a funny old journey. There are days when you feel like you’re absolutely smashing it, and others when you’re wondering what on earth possessed you to start a business in the first place.

TABF has always been about more than accounts and tax returns.

It’s about helping people feel less overwhelmed by their numbers.

It’s about being approachable, explaining things without the jargon and actually being there when clients need support.

It’s about building a business that works around my family, rather than sacrificing my family to build a business.

So to have that recognised by the Eastbourne Business Awards means a huge amount.

Thank you to every client who trusts us, everyone who recommends us, and everyone who has supported TABF along the way.

Now we get to dress up, head to the Winter Garden on 16th October and find out whether we can turn FINALIST into WINNER. 🏆

Whatever happens on the night, I’m ridiculously proud of how far this business has come.

Apparently there’s also a world-class magician hosting the evening, so if he could make a trophy magically appear on our table, that would be lovely!!

Wish us luck! 🤞

Eastbourne Unltd Chamber of Commerce

SMALL BUSINESS TIP: Being busy doesn’t mean you’re making money.Your diary is full.Your inbox is ridiculous.You’re worki...
17/08/2026

SMALL BUSINESS TIP: Being busy doesn’t mean you’re making money.

Your diary is full.

Your inbox is ridiculous.

You’re working evenings.

You haven’t had a proper lunch since approximately 2019!!

Business must be going brilliantly… right?

Not necessarily.

One of the biggest traps in business is confusing BUSY with PROFITABLE.

You can have more customers than ever before and still not actually be making enough money.

Why?

Because not every customer, job or service is equally profitable.

That £500 job might sound better than the £300 one…

But if the £500 job takes you 15 hours and the £300 one takes you 3, suddenly things look VERY different.

And then there are all the little extras we conveniently forget about:

⏰ Your time
🚗 Travel
📞 Phone calls
📧 Endless emails
🛒 Materials
💳 Fees
🔄 Rework and corrections
🤦‍♀️ The customer who asks for “one tiny extra thing” seventeen times

This is why knowing your numbers matters.

Don’t just ask:

“How much did I sell?”

Ask:

“How much did I actually make from it?”

Sometimes the answer isn’t that you need MORE customers.

You might need better pricing.

Better processes.

More profitable work.

Or occasionally…

the confidence to say no thanks to work that keeps you incredibly busy while making you very little money.

Because the goal of running a business isn’t to create yourself the world’s most exhausting job.

💡 SMALL BUSINESS TIP: Stop being impressed by turnover.“I’ve got a £250,000 business!”Brilliant.But… how much of it do y...
13/08/2026

💡 SMALL BUSINESS TIP: Stop being impressed by turnover.

“I’ve got a £250,000 business!”

Brilliant.

But… how much of it do you actually KEEP?

Because £250,000 of sales sounds fantastic.

But if it costs you £240,000 to make those sales, you’ve actually got a £10,000 profit.

Meanwhile, another business might turn over £100,000 and make £40,000 profit.

Which one would you rather own?

We put a LOT of emphasis on turnover in business.

🎉 “I hit six figures!”

🎉 “We had our biggest sales month ever!”

🎉 “Revenue is up 30%!”

And those things absolutely can be worth celebrating.

But sales going up doesn’t automatically mean your business is doing better.

If your costs are rising faster than your income, you could be working harder, serving more customers, dealing with more admin and taking on more stress…

for less money.

That’s why I’m far more interested in what’s happening underneath that big shiny turnover figure.

What’s your gross profit?

What’s your profit margin?

Are your costs increasing?

How much time are you putting in to generate that profit?

And the big one…

Is the business actually giving YOU what you need from it?

Growing a business isn’t just about making the numbers bigger.

Sometimes the cleverest thing you can do is make the business better.

💡 SMALL BUSINESS TIP: Profit doesn’t pay the bills. Cash does.Your accounts say you’ve made £30,000 profit.Lovely. So… w...
12/08/2026

💡 SMALL BUSINESS TIP: Profit doesn’t pay the bills. Cash does.

Your accounts say you’ve made £30,000 profit.

Lovely.

So… where’s the £30,000?

This is something I get asked A LOT.

Your profit and the amount sitting in your bank account are two completely different things.

Your cash might have disappeared into:

💷 Paying off loans
🚐 Purchasing assets
🧾 Paying last year’s tax bill
💰 Customers who still haven’t paid you
👋 Money you’ve taken out of the business

None of those necessarily mean your business isn’t profitable.

But they DO affect how much cash you actually have available.

It’s why looking at your bank balance alone won’t tell you whether your business is doing well.

And looking at your profit alone won’t tell you whether you can afford that shiny new purchase either!

Good businesses watch both profit AND cash.

If your accounts say you’re making money but your bank account seems to strongly disagree, it’s worth finding out where the difference is going.

That’s where good bookkeeping and regular management information can be incredibly useful.

Your numbers should tell you a story.

You just need to know how to read it.

Tomorrow is a big day for many self employed business owners.The very first Making Tax Digital for Income Tax quarterly ...
06/08/2026

Tomorrow is a big day for many self employed business owners.

The very first Making Tax Digital for Income Tax quarterly update is due! 🎉

If your 2024/25 tax return showed more than £50,000 of income from self employment and/or property, you may now be required to submit quarterly updates instead of waiting until your annual tax return.

Don’t panic though. 😊

This first update is simply about sending your income and expenses for the April to June quarter through compatible software. It’s not a tax payment and it doesn’t replace your tax return.

If you’ve already got everything set up, give yourself a pat on the back. You’re ahead of the game.

If you’ve left it until the last minute, now is definitely the time to act. Waiting until tomorrow afternoon isn’t a strategy I’d recommend!

Not sure whether MTD applies to you? Unsure if your software is compatible? Or simply want someone to take the stress away?

Drop me a message and let’s get you sorted.

Remember, good bookkeeping isn’t just about staying compliant. It gives you a clearer picture of your business all year round.

Who’s already filed theirs? 🙋‍♀️

📢 Calling all small business owners, sole traders and start ups!I don’t often share my Confessions of an Accountant sess...
14/07/2026

📢 Calling all small business owners, sole traders and start ups!

I don’t often share my Confessions of an Accountant sessions outside the accounting profession, but tomorrow’s guest is one I think many business owners could really benefit from hearing.

I’m joined by Aynsley Damery, author of The Drift, who’ll be talking about why small businesses fail, not because of one catastrophic event, but because they slowly drift off course without the owner even realising it.

If you’ve ever wondered…
💭 Am I focusing on the right things?
💭 Is my business heading in the direction I want?
💭 What warning signs should I be looking out for?

…then this session is for you.

📅 Tomorrow (Wednesday)
🕛 12:00pm to 1:00pm
💻 Live on Zoom
🎟️ Completely free

You’ll come away with practical ideas to help keep your business on track and hopefully avoid some of the common pitfalls that catch so many business owners out.

I’ll pop the Eventbrite registration link in the comments if you’d like to join us. It would be great to see some new faces!

Please feel free to tag or share this with any fellow business owners who you think would find it useful.

🚨 Are you ready for your first Making Tax Digital filing?The first quarterly MTD submission deadline is 7 August.If your...
14/07/2026

🚨 Are you ready for your first Making Tax Digital filing?

The first quarterly MTD submission deadline is 7 August.

If your total income from self employment and/or UK property was more than £50,000 on your tax return for the year ended 5 April 2025, you’ll now be within the first group required to comply with Making Tax Digital.

⚠️ A common misunderstanding is that this is based on profit.

It isn’t.

It’s based on your qualifying income (turnover/rental income before expenses), not what you actually made after costs.

If you’re affected, you should already be using MTD compatible software and getting ready to submit your first quarterly update.

If you’re still relying on spreadsheets, paper records or you’re not sure whether you’re affected, now is the time to act. The deadline will be here before you know it.

Not sure whether MTD applies to you? Get in touch and we’ll help you work it out before it’s too late.

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Pevensey

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+441323925001

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