FDM Bookkeeping Services

06/04/2026

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax starts on 6th April… but the real impact isn’t the deadline. It’s the shift in how business owners need to manage their finances day to day.

For many sole traders and landlords, this will mean:

➡️Keeping digital records
➡️Using compatible software
➡️Submitting updates every quarter

And while that might sound like more admin, in reality it’s pushing things in a direction that’s long overdue.

Because the businesses who are already doing this? They’re not just “compliant”.

They’re:
• Keeping on top of their numbers regularly
• Understanding their cashflow
• Making decisions based on up-to-date information

In other words, they’re running their business with clarity — not guesswork.

The challenge isn’t really the quarterly submissions. It’s changing habits and moving from “I’ll deal with it later” to having systems in place that keep everything organised as you go. That’s where most people will feel the difference.

In the words of Ami Copeland, CEO of ICB UK (Institute of Certified Bookkeepers), instead of calling it Making Tax Digital we should be renaming it as Making Bookkeeping Mandatory!

30/01/2026

💡Clients – if you’re thinking of doing something out of the ordinary in your business – eg. taking on work abroad/selling overseas, making a large purchase, selling an asset, rewarding a staff member, taking a large dividend – please take a moment to talk it through with us and just check whether or not there may be any consequences that you might not have thought of.

💰Some of these things can have significant tax implications that you may not be aware of. And if we don’t know about it until after it’s already happened it might be too late to work out whether or not there was another, better way or time to do it.

💁🏼‍♀️Please remember that HMRC make the rules, not us! So talk to us first and then you can make an informed decision! We are here to help!

12/01/2026

07/11/2025

🤔In tough times when you’re feeling the pinch of rising costs within your business and also personally, it’s tempting to look to cut back on services such as bookkeeping and accounts and try to do these yourself. But will this actually save you money? In fact, outsourcing your finance function to a qualified professional can actually be an investment in your business rather than an expense, saving you money in the long term!

💡Bookkeeping, accounts and tax, and the associated legislation can be complex, and mistakes or omissions can be costly. Paying a qualified professional to deal with your business finances on your behalf not only frees up your time to focus on growing your business and improving your sales but can also directly save you money by ensuring accuracy in your accounts and that you are claiming all allowable expenses to reduce your VAT and tax bills.

📈We can also spot issues and trends in your business and help you with strategies to improve efficiencies, sales and cashflow. Think of us as a fresh set of eyes with an overview of your business, someone to bounce ideas off and help with solutions.

18/10/2025

As we are well into the Autumn now and creeping closer towards the end of the year I thought it would be useful to remind those of you who are required to submit a self-assessment tax return of the information you will need to collect:

➡️If you’re self-employed, or in a partnership, you will need all records relating to your business – details of sales and purchases, along with any invoices and receipts to back these up, plus bank statements. If you already use an accounting software and have kept your bookkeeping up to date then this makes things a lot easier!

➡️If you’ve been employed for any part of the tax year you will need your P60 or P45 and possibly a P11D if you’ve received any benefits in kind, such as a company car or private medical insurance

➡️If you’ve received any pension income then you’ll need a P60 showing this

➡️If you’ve made any private pension contributions (separate from a workplace pension) then you’ll need information on these and a certificate from the pension provider showing the total amount that you’ve paid in over the tax year, what type of scheme it is and whether tax relief has been applied

➡️Details of any bank interest earned in the tax year (excluding ISAs)

➡️Certificates for any dividends received

➡️Details of any other income earned, eg. from property and also any relevant info around capital gains, etc

🗓️Don’t leave it until January!! Filing early does not mean you have to pay your tax bill early – you don't have to pay HMRC until 31st January - it just gives you time to plan!

08/10/2025

Quick post this morning regarding a self-assessment question which has come up recently:

➡️If you no longer need to submit a tax return, eg. due to ceasing self-employment, no longer receiving rental income, or the increase in the child benefit threshold, or for any other reason, but you haven't received confirmation of this from HMRC, you must contact them and de-register from self-assessment yourself.

➡️Likewise, if you have received a letter from HMRC requesting you to file a tax return for the first time, or the first time in a while, and you believe that you don't meet the criteria, you must contact them to let them know, before the deadline of 31st January.

💡Don’t just assume that it's ok to ignore – if HMRC are expecting you to submit a self-assessment return and they don’t receive it, they may fine you, even if there's no tax liability to pay!

28/09/2025

📈As a bookkeeper, I often talk to clients who want to cut costs in their business. Whilst improving your margins is not just about cutting costs but also about increasing profits, here are five straightforward tips that may help you improve your bottom line:

1️⃣ Review your monthly and annual subscriptions and direct debits and cancel any that are no longer necessary. This includes software, memberships, and services that you don’t use regularly – it’s surprising how many you might find that you don’t really need. (It’s good to do this with your personal accounts as well!)

2️⃣ Negotiate with suppliers - it could be worth seeing if you can renegotiate terms with certain suppliers. You might be surprised at the discounts or better payment terms you can secure just by asking. Do the same for insurance policy renewals, etc.

3️⃣ Implement energy-saving measures in your office. Simple actions like switching to LED lighting, using energy-efficient appliances, and encouraging staff to turn off equipment when not in use can lead to significant savings as well as being more environmentally friendly.

4️⃣ Consider outsourcing areas like IT support. This can be more cost-effective than hiring full-time staff and allows you to focus on your core business activities, and work on increasing revenue. Equally, cutting corners and not having IT support in place can be an expensive mistake if things go wrong.

5️⃣ Likewise, invest in a qualified bookkeeper, and use accounting software to make sure you’re on top of your invoicing, credit control and expense tracking. This not only saves time but also reduces the risk of costly errors and speeding up customer payments will improve your cashflow.

13/09/2025

Now, I know it’s still only September and the self-assessment deadline isn’t till the end of January, but we all know how quickly time passes once the kids are back at school. I hate to say it but it'll be Christmas before we know it!

At FDM Bookkeeping Services we are already about 3/4s of our way through filing tax returns for 2024/25, so with this in mind I thought it would be useful to remind those of you who are required to submit a self-assessment tax return of the information you will need to collect:

➡️If you’re self-employed, or in a partnership, you will need all records relating to your business – details of sales and purchases, along with any invoices and receipts to back these up, plus bank statements. If you already use an accounting software and have kept your bookkeeping up to date then this makes things a lot easier!

➡️If you’ve been employed for any part of the tax year you will need your P60 or P45 and possibly a P11D if you’ve received any benefits in kind, such as a company car or private medical insurance

➡️If you’ve received any pension income then you’ll need a P60 showing this

➡️If you’ve made any pension contributions then you’ll need information on these and a certificate from the pension provider showing the total amount that you’ve paid in over the tax year, what type of scheme it is and whether tax relief has been applied

➡️Details of any bank interest earned in the tax year (excluding ISAs)

➡️Tax certificates for any dividends received

➡️Details of any other income earned, eg. from property, or capital gains, etc

👩🏼‍💻If you would like us to complete and submit your tax return on your behalf, we will send you a detailed checklist to make sure that we have everything we need. Next we’ll check through all your paperwork to make sure that you are claiming all allowable expenses and not claiming for anything that HMRC would disallow, and that you’ve included all relevant information. We will then compile your tax return, calculate any tax liability including any payments on account, explain this to you, and once we have your written approval, we will file your return to HMRC for you.

🗓️Don’t leave it until January!! Filing early does not mean you have to pay your tax bill early – it just gives you more time to plan! And it’s usually much easier to find the info and paperwork you need earlier rather than later. There are also some big changes coming from April 2026 with the first wave of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax starting for sole traders and landlords with income of £50,000 and over – so getting ahead and ready for this will be something your future self will thank you for!

06/09/2025

📈As a bookkeeper, I often talk to clients who want to cut costs in their business. Whilst improving your margins is not just about cutting costs but also about increasing profits, here are five straightforward tips that may help you improve your bottom line:

1️⃣ Review your monthly and annual subscriptions and direct debits and cancel any that are no longer necessary. This includes software, memberships, and services that you don’t use regularly – it’s surprising how many you might find that you don’t really need. (It’s good to do this with your personal accounts as well!)

2️⃣ Negotiate with suppliers - it could be worth seeing if you can renegotiate terms with certain suppliers. You might be surprised at the discounts or better payment terms you can secure just by asking. Do the same for insurance policy renewals, etc.

3️⃣ Implement energy-saving measures in your office. Simple actions like switching to LED lighting, using energy-efficient appliances, and encouraging staff to turn off equipment when not in use can lead to significant savings as well as being more environmentally friendly.

4️⃣ Consider outsourcing areas like IT support. This can be more cost-effective than hiring full-time staff and allows you to focus on your core business activities, and work on increasing revenue. Equally, cutting corners and not having IT support in place can be an expensive mistake if things go wrong.

5️⃣ Likewise, invest in a qualified bookkeeper, and use accounting software to make sure you’re on top of your invoicing, credit control and expense tracking. This not only saves time but also reduces the risk of costly errors and speeding up customer payments will improve your cashflow.

💁🏼‍♀️If you’d like to find out more about how we can help with the above please get in touch!

28/08/2025

Procrastination – what jobs do you procrastinate over?

👩🏼‍💻Ironically one of mine is posting on my business social media! It's one of the things I enjoy least in my business and it does not come naturally to me -I really do have to force myself.

🐸Sometimes you just have to “eat that frog” and get those tasks you’re putting off done – it’s almost never as bad as you think, and you feel so much better for it once it’s done and out of the way.

📚I know a lot of business owners feel like this over their bookkeeping, whether it’s throughout the year, or getting organised once a quarter to do their VAT returns, or at year end for their company or personal tax returns.

✅My advice would be to get systems in place to keep on top of it on a regular basis, as it’s much easier to spend a small amount of time once a week than a whole day or two or longer at year end (not to mention the headspace and time taken up dreading it before you actually do it!). Make it easier for yourself by keeping business and personal transactions separate with a separate business bank account. Use a decent accounting software, such as, Sage, Xero or Intuit QuickBooks, utilise bank feeds and snap your expense receipts and upload these as soon as you have them, to avoid losing or damaging them or the ink fading. This is going to be more important than ever as Making Tax Digital for Income Tax starts in April 2026 and digital quarterly reporting is brought in for sole traders and landlords.

💁🏼‍♀️And if you’re still struggling, get a bookkeeper! I have lost count of the times that I have heard from new clients what a relief it is to outsource their bookkeeping and accounts and know that it’s all being taken care of properly, without the stress and loss of free time. It can cost you less than you think, and you may also be surprised to find out that there are business expenses that you didn’t realise you could claim to save money off your tax bills.

➡️If you want to find out more about how we can work together then please get in touch