Business Growth Planning Strategies That Work
There’s a version of business growth planning that looks great in a presentation slide and does absolutely nothing in the real world. You’ve seen it — the five-year plan with optimistic revenue curves and aspirational market share figures, printed nicely, filed somewhere, and never looked at again until someone finds it during an office clear-out […]
How to Compare Bookkeeping Services Near Me
Published by Ask Accountant | 178 Merton High St, London SW19 1AY Here’s the thing nobody tells you when you first go looking for bookkeeping services near me: the search results are almost aggressively unhelpful. You get a wall of names, phone numbers, and near-identical promises about “accurate records” and “competitive pricing.” It’s a bit […]
Construction Accounting for Contractors Explained 2026
Nobody warns you about the paperwork. You spent years perfecting your trade — mastering the pour, the fix, the fit-out. Then somebody handed you a contract worth £180,000, spread across eight months, on a site where three other firms are working. Now HMRC wants to know exactly how much of that counts as income this […]
Inheritance Tax Limit Explained 2026
There’s a particular kind of financial shock that tends to arrive at the worst possible moment. You’ve just lost someone. The paperwork is mounting. And then, tucked inside a letter from HMRC, comes a tax bill that nobody anticipated — sometimes for tens of thousands of pounds. All because a threshold quietly existed, and nobody […]
IHT Tax Planning: How to Reduce the Bill
Here’s something that keeps tax advisors up at night: watching ordinary families hand over 40% of everything they’ve built to HMRC. Not because they haven’t worked hard. Not because they haven’t saved. But because they didn’t know the rules of a game nobody really explains properly. I’m talking about Inheritance Tax – or IHT, as […]
Inheritance Tax: How Much Will You Really Pay?
Here’s something nobody tells you at dinner parties: inheritance tax isn’t just for the wealthy anymore. I’ve watched too many families discover this the hard way—right when they’re grieving, already overwhelmed, and suddenly facing a tax bill that could’ve been avoided (or at least reduced) with a bit of planning. The problem? Most people think […]
CIS Accountants: Common HMRC Compliance Mistakes
Right. Let’s get this out of the way: if you’re a contractor in construction and you think CIS compliance is just about ticking boxes once a month, you’re in for a rude awakening. And probably a penalty notice. Most contractors don’t realise they need specialist CIS accountants until something goes catastrophically wrong. I’ve watched perfectly competent builders—people […]
Business Advice Every Small Business Needs in 2026
Running a small business in 2026 feels a bit like trying to assemble IKEA furniture during an earthquake. Everything’s shifting—regulations, technology, customer expectations—and you’re just trying to keep the bloody screws from rolling under the sofa. But here’s the thing: whilst 84% of UK small businesses are apparently charging into this year with grand growth […]
Best Small Business Accounting Services in the UK 2026
Here’s something nobody tells you when you start a business: the accounting bit will keep you up at night more than any dodgy client or failed pitch ever could. I remember chatting with a mate who runs a small construction firm in Manchester. Brilliant at what he does – can build you a gorgeous extension […]
