Category
7 articles
Founder-built spreadsheets and a drawer of receipts can carry a business a long way — until they can't. This article examines the hidden costs of DIY finance, from failed funding applications to late VAT penalties, and offers a diagnostic for spotting the tipping point.
There is a pattern familiar to any advisor who has worked with growing UK SMEs: the same recommendations, commissioned twice, three times, sometimes four times over a decade. The problem is rarely the quality of the advice — it is that nobody owns turning it into action.
Handing customer data to an accountant, CRM provider or marketing agency does not hand over the legal responsibility that comes with it. As the ICO sharpens its enforcement posture, UK SMEs need documented oversight of every third party touching personal data — and a paper trail to prove it.
When a supplier fails, their problems become yours overnight. This guide sets out the practical checks — from Companies House filings to key-person risk — that every UK firm should run before becoming dependent on a new supplier.
A commercial lease is one of the largest fixed commitments a growing business will sign, yet most tenants negotiate it with less care than a second-hand car purchase. From break clauses to dilapidations, here are the five conversations worth having before committing.
The 5 April tax year deadline has a habit of arriving before anyone is ready. From dividend-versus-salary planning to pension allowances and retention conversations, this checklist sets out the seven discussions worth having now — and what it costs to leave them until next week.
Growth is expensive in ways that rarely appear on a forecast. From employers' National Insurance creep to business rates revaluations, we outline five costs that catch UK SMEs off guard — and how to plan for each one.