Freelance Advisor » expenses

Small firms cancel Christmas parties to cut costs

Rachel Soothill — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 11:30:30 +0000

Research carried out by business solutions firm, Pitney Bowes, has revealed that almost 50% of small firms are cancelling Christmas parties this year in order to save money. Five hundred small businesses participated in the survey which found that 63% of respondents admitted to scaling back on seasonal festivities.

Small businesses falling behind in energy efficiency

Rachel Soothill — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:00:19 +0000

According to research carried out by energy supplier E.ON, just one in five small businesses in the UK are using energy-efficient equipment in the workplace. These new figures are based on a survey of 1,167 small businesses across the UK.

The eleven essentials of cloud computing

Francesca Geens — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0000

You are not alone if you are confused about cloud computing - recent research has shown that nearly half of those not using cloud computing don’t know what it means. Whether you are worried about security or how you would access your data without internet access read on and see my answers to the common questions which people ask me about cloud computing.

Could relocation save your business money?

Rachel Soothill — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:30:57 +0000

New research has found that more than a third of small businesses would consider relocating in order to help cut costs. The study was carried out by Make It Cheaper, a price comparison site for businesses, and the Centre for Economic and Business Research who identified the cheapest and costliest regions in the UK to run a business.

Premature scaling killing many small businesses

Jon Norris — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:00:00 +0000

There are any number of reasons a fledgling business can fail - and the sad truth is that the majority do within the first year. Be it financial mismanagement, lacklustre marketing or just poor products, the reasons for failure are almost as numerous as the failed businesses themselves. Now a study from the Startup Genome, a research group assembled to investigate what makes a successful business, has revealed that the top killer of startups is in fact premature scaling.

Cost of domain names more expensive than a year ago

Rachel Soothill — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:00:47 +0000

A survey carried out by Sedo, a global domain marketplace, has revealed that small businesses are paying 5% more for their domain names than they were this time last year.

The cheque lives to see another day

Rachel Soothill — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 09:00:12 +0000

The decision by the Payments Council to not abolish cheques has been welcomed by small businesses who were concerned that no alternative viable payment system has been proposed.

Using an Umbrella Company

Lesley Furber — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:45:39 +0000

Many Contractors choose to use the services of an existing ‘Umbrella Company’ – they are limited companies that employ Contractors. If you choose to do this, your contracts will be treated for tax purposes as if they are all inside IR35.

Missing VAT receipts costing UK business £124m

Jon Norris — Mon, 16 May 2011 10:00:00 +0000

The latest report by GlobalExpense (a ruddy huge expense management company) has found that UK businesses failed to claim around £124 million in 2010 in mileage expenses. The shortfall was largely due to missing VAT receipts, which are required to claim back any business mileage.

Mileage Expenses – what to claim, and how to claim it

Jon Norris — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0000

If you're travelling when doing business, you'll probably want to claim mileage expenses. This can be done in two different ways. Firstly, if you're operating under your own Limited Company you can claim tax-deductible mileage expenses (more information on this in our Guide to Limited Company Expenses). Alternatively, you can negotiate mileage allowances with a client as part of your contract.

[Web Wednesday] Receipt Bank Review

Jon Norris — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 10:00:00 +0000

We first took a look at Receipt Bank, or Receipt Farm as it was then known, about a year ago. Still in it's infancy, the service nonetheless offered an invaluable service for freelancers who generate a lot of receipts and need to claim back those all-important expenses.

[Web Wednesday] Keebo.com tames your receipts

Jon Norris — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 09:00:00 +0000

We've taken a look at services like Keebo in the past - most notably ReceiptFarm - that take over the arduous task of managing your receipts and expenses for a small monthly fee. Keebo are the new kids on the block, having just launched in the last few weeks.

Claiming home-office expenses

Mel Dixon — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 08:00:55 +0000

For the freelancer who works from a home office there are a whole range of legitimate business expenses which can be claimed. This poses the question: what are they? And how do you calculate the amount you can claim? What follows is a simple guide.

The effect of workplace status on travel and expense claims

Michael Rose — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 11:05:12 +0000

It is essential to ensure your workplace is deemed temporary  when determining whether you have the right to claim travel and subsistence expenses. If you are a contractor, assessing your workplace status is extremely important. There are a number of rules set by HMRC which will determine whether you have the right to claim travel and subsistence expenses whilst you work. The rules heavily focus on whether your place of work can be classified as temporary or permanent.

Link list: Grand Designs, Shed-working & Receipts

Michael Rose — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:30:58 +0000

Dribble.com - what are you working on?: Part game, part forum, part image library designers will find a lot of inspiration here and, if you're really inspired you can bounce a piece of work to riff off the creation and join discussions about how to code the design in CSS -- design geeks will LOVE it. Shedworking.co.uk: Garden offices look set to become the next big thing in backyards this summer and with some beautiful off-the-lorry designs if you've got some money to throw at the problem it needn't involve to much DIY. Keebo promise to have your receipts online within 72 hours and offer a no quibble 90 day money back guarantee if you want to try their new service.

Ltd Company: Detailed information on the expenses you can claim

Darren Fell — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:25:18 +0000

If you have read our guide to the expenses freelancers can claim the following guide gives some in depth information on how to claim your business expenses.

Ltd Company: What expenses can I claim? Complete list

Darren Fell — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:10:53 +0000

What expenses can I claim? Freelancers and contractors with limited companies can claim the following as legitimate business expenses.

Contractor comment: Show me the money…

Malvolio — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:26:24 +0000

I was following a discussion over the weekend about someone asking if it was OK to expense accountancy training as part of his role as a company owner. My understanding of any expenses, including training costs, is that the expense must be wholly and exclusively in the line of your work. So clearly you can’t [...]

Freelance Forum: Have you joined yet?

Michael Rose — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:34:33 +0000

New in the Freelancer Hot Tub this week:

* Little known ways to find freelance work (Feature)
* 6 things that may happen if you falsely claim expenses
* Potted guide to IR35
* Freelance Rates: What do you charge?

Loss of tax relief on freelance expenses?

Michael Rose — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:37:52 +0000

The Professional Contractors Group (PCG), which represents UK freelancers and contractors, has warned the Government against “heavy-handed action” which would remove tax relief on expenses. The warning particularly concerns freelancers who work through ‘umbrella companies’ which oversee the offering of a number of freelancers’ services on large or long-term contracts. “PCG supports the presence of [...]