Carter Collins & Myer

Carter Collins & Myer Local, practical and on your side accounting services from experienced professionals | cloud accounting specialists | tax saving ninjas

Here at CCM | Carter, Collins & Myer, we work closely with a broad range of business and personal clients. We offer:

Accounts, Bookkeeping and VAT
Tax and Payroll
CGT Returns for Property Sales
Research and Development Tax Relief
Estate Planning
Licensed Trade Accountants
Raising Money or Buying and Selling a Business
Compliance
Business Coaching
Accountants for Start Ups

Our 30+ team provides a

dvice and looks after the interests of a wide range of private individuals and business clients from professional practices, the sport, media and entertainment industries, as well as family-owned and managed enterprises. The aim is to help all our clients to make more profit and lower their risk. If you’re a business owner, you’ll find our profit improvement health-check is a great starting point to unlocking the profit potential in your business. We can offer advice about the steps that you need to take to get you from where you are now to where you would like to be.

Today is publication day for my second book.The Business End of Contracting is now live on Amazon.Over the years I’ve wo...
01/06/2026

Today is publication day for my second book.

The Business End of Contracting is now live on Amazon.

Over the years I’ve worked with hundreds of contractors, consultants and limited company owners. The technical tax questions are important, but they’re rarely the whole story.

The contractors who do best tend to understand that contracting is a business, not just a tax structure.

They think about:

• IR35 and staying defensible
• Choosing the right trading structure
• Cashflow and tax planning
• Commercial risk
• Building long-term financial security
• What happens when contracts, markets or legislation change

That’s what this book is about.

I’ve tried to write the practical guide I wish more contractors had access to when they first started out. No gimmicks, no clever schemes, just straightforward commercial and tax advice based on what I see every day in practice.

Writing a book is always more work than you think it’s going to be, but I’m incredibly proud to see this one finally published.

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported me, reviewed drafts, shared ideas and encouraged me along the way.

If you’re a contractor, consultant or limited company owner, I hope you find it useful.

Fiona

A different one this week…Client buys a house. Good area, decent schools, everything they wanted. Mortgage is tight, but...
01/06/2026

A different one this week…

Client buys a house. Good area, decent schools, everything they wanted. Mortgage is tight, but manageable.

Then life happens. Boiler goes. Roof needs work. Income dips. Car needs fixing.

Suddenly the house isn’t the dream - it’s the thing eating everything else.

No holidays. No investing. No buffer. Just a payment that never lets up.

On paper they’re building equity. In reality, they’re skint.

This is “house poor.” And it’s more common than people admit.

Lenders tell you what you can borrow. Not what you should borrow.

The clients who get it right leave margin. That gap is where the emergency fund, the investing, and the breathing space comes from.

A slightly smaller house and a bit of room beats maxing out every time.

If things feel tight despite doing everything right… it might not be the income.

Friday Thankfulness… Not Having to Speak CorporateI saw this meme this week and laughed harder than I probably should ha...
29/05/2026

Friday Thankfulness… Not Having to Speak Corporate

I saw this meme this week and laughed harder than I probably should have.

“Cross-functionally across teams” sounds like the sort of phrase invented by someone billing £1,800 a day to explain why nobody can make a decision without three meetings and a coloured flowchart.

And here’s the uncomfortable bit.

A lot of modern business language exists to hide the absence of clear thinking.

People say “stakeholder alignment” instead of “we need to agree.”
They say “capacity challenges” instead of “we’re overloaded.”
They say “touch base offline” instead of just picking up the phone.

One of the things I’m genuinely thankful for is that, these days, I don’t have to spend much time in that world.

I get to write plainly. Teach plainly. Advise plainly.

Most of my clients don’t care about strategic KPIs or synergising operational frameworks. They want to know:

* Are we okay?
* What’s the risk?
* What should we do next?

Honestly, I prefer it that way.

Because underneath all the corporate theatre, business is usually just people trying to solve problems before Friday afternoon arrives.

Three things this week for landlords:1️⃣ Rental income isn’t all yours to spendA surprising number of landlords treat re...
28/05/2026

Three things this week for landlords:

1️⃣ Rental income isn’t all yours to spend
A surprising number of landlords treat rent hitting the bank as available cash. It isn’t. Part of it already belongs to HMRC — whether you’ve set it aside or not.

2️⃣ Mortgage interest doesn’t work how people think anymore
The old logic around “interest reduces profit” hasn’t really existed for years. Which is why many landlords now pay tax on figures that feel disconnected from reality.

3️⃣ Profit and cash are not the same thing
You can show profit on paper while feeling completely squeezed month to month once mortgages, repairs and tax are factored in.

Here’s the uncomfortable bit:

A lot of rental portfolios still “work” because owners haven’t fully measured the real return after tax, finance costs and hassle.

They’re carrying on partly because they’ve always carried on.

And inertia can look a lot like strategy if you don’t run the numbers properly.

What’s changed most for landlords in the last few years — the tax, the financing, or the st

26/05/2026

Sometimes the Best Time to Gift an Asset Is When It’s Gone Down in Value

Had a conversation recently with someone holding shares that had fallen heavily in value.

The instinct was to wait.

“May as well keep them now until they recover.”

Which sounds sensible.

But that’s the fork in the road.

Because sometimes a lower value creates a planning opportunity.

If an asset is standing at a loss, gifting it may avoid triggering an immediate Capital Gains Tax charge altogether.

The recipient effectively inherits the future tax position instead.

Here’s the uncomfortable bit.

A lot of tax planning only happens when assets are doing well.

But some of the most useful decisions happen when they aren’t.

People tend to freeze when values fall.

Good planning usually does the opposite.

—————

This is one of the practical points covered in 91 Tax Tips for Small Business Owners 2026/27. If you’d like a copy, head to my author website (link in the first comment), scroll to the newsletter sign-up, drop your email. The 2026/27 edition lands in your inbox within minutes.

One from this week…Client gets hit with £5,000 of penalties.Reason?“Failure to file a share scheme return.”⸻There is no ...
25/05/2026

One from this week…

Client gets hit with £5,000 of penalties.

Reason?

“Failure to file a share scheme return.”

⸻

There is no share scheme.

Never has been.

⸻

We had this two years ago.

Wrote to HMRC:

“No scheme. No share changes. Nothing to report.”

They went quiet.

⸻

Then just before Christmas… same penalties again.

⸻

We reply in January.

Same explanation.

Copy of the old letter.

⸻

This week?

Appeal rejected.

“Pay or go to Tribunal.”

⸻

Let that sink in.

They’re fining the client for not reporting something…

…that doesn’t exist.

⸻

So now we escalate.

Because HMRC won’t even tell us what they think this “scheme” is.

⸻

This is where it breaks.

System flags it.

No one checks it.

Penalties go out.

You deal with the mess.

⸻

If something doesn’t make sense — push back.

Don’t assume they’re right.

He said yes. Before he’d even thought about it.Client call. New piece of work.They asked, “Can you just add this on?”He ...
22/05/2026

He said yes. Before he’d even thought about it.

Client call. New piece of work.

They asked, “Can you just add this on?”

He said yes. Instantly.

No scope. No fee discussion. No pause.

After the call, he knew it was a mistake.
More work than he’d priced for. Tight deadline. Already a full week.

But it was too late.
He’d committed.

So he squeezed it in.
Worked later. Felt resentful.
Client assumed it was all part of the service.

Next time, they asked the same way.

Here’s the fork:

Pause. Clarify. Price it properly.
Or say yes and figure it out later.

Most people choose the second.
Because it feels easier in the moment.

Here’s the uncomfortable bit:

You don’t get taken advantage of in business.
You agree to it.

And once you’ve set the pattern, clients just follow it.

If you don’t value your time in the moment, don’t expect anyone else to later.

Most employment problems don’t start with a big decision.They start with small things not being handled properly.Three t...
21/05/2026

Most employment problems don’t start with a big decision.

They start with small things not being handled properly.

Three things this week:

1️⃣ Sick pay now starts from day one
No waiting days, no lower earnings limit. More people qualify, and even short absences now have a direct cost.

2️⃣ Redundancy mistakes are expensive now
Get the consultation process wrong and you could be looking at up to 180 days’ pay per employee. That’s not a technicality — that’s a hit.

3️⃣ Record-keeping isn’t just admin anymore
Holiday and pay records need to be kept for years, and enforcement is tightening. If challenged, your records are your position.

Here’s the uncomfortable bit: Most issues here aren’t about what you did - they’re about how you did it.

The decision might be right. The process is what gets tested.

And process is usually the bit people rush.

Where in your business are you relying on “that’ll be fine” instead of knowing it will be?

“We’ve got a big grant coming through. That should sort things.”That was the conversation. Positive. Optimistic. On the ...
20/05/2026

“We’ve got a big grant coming through. That should sort things.”

That was the conversation. Positive. Optimistic. On the surface, entirely reasonable.

But there’s always a fork in that moment.

You either build around that one funding source…
or you start asking what happens if it’s delayed, reduced, or doesn’t land at all.

This CIC had everything riding on that grant. No real trading income. No secondary funding stream. When the decision slipped by three months, pressure built immediately. Nothing had gone wrong - except the assumption.

The decision we made was simple: stop treating one income stream as the plan. Start building alternatives alongside it.

And here’s the slightly uncomfortable truth: a lot of organisations aren’t underfunded - they’re over-reliant.

It feels safe having one big source of income.
Until it isn’t.

Resilience doesn’t come from size of funding. It comes from spread.

If most of your income comes from one place, it’s worth asking what happens if it pauses. Let’s talk.

The 2026/27 edition of 91 Tax Tips for UK Small Business is out. Smart. Simple. And legal.The kind of advice they don't ...
19/05/2026

The 2026/27 edition of 91 Tax Tips for UK Small Business is out. Smart. Simple. And legal.

The kind of advice they don't put on the HMRC website.

CGT changes. MTD. The new BPR cap. Dividends.

Allowances. The traps and the opportunities.
Plain English. A5 PDF. Updated every year.

The kind of guide I'd hand a client across the desk on a quiet Tuesday afternoon.

Want a copy?

Head to my author website (link in the first comment), scroll to the newsletter sign-up, drop your email. The 2026/27 edition lands in your inbox within minutes.

You'll also get the 2027|28 edition the day it's published - and the one after that, and the one after that.

Roughly once a month I'll write to you about business, training, books and life. Not a marketing funnel. Just the things I'd want to read myself.

Unsubscribe whenever. No hard feelings.

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