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Selling through Amazon alongside other online marketplaces can bring in sales from several directions, but it can also make your bookkeeping much harder to follow. You might look at your sales reports and then check your bank account, only to wonder why the numbers don’t match. Our ecommerce accountants can make sense of the numbers and give you a clearer picture of how your business is performing beneath the headline sales numbers.

Many business owners come to us here at Allenby Accountants after working with bookkeepers who don’t fully understand ecommerce transactions. Here are some of the ways our ecommerce accountants can help you keep accurate books across multiple sales channels.

Reconcile your marketplaces and sales platforms

Ecommerce bookkeeping can get a little more complicated compared to the bookkeeping you might do in a traditional business. In a typical B2B company, you might send one invoice to a customer and then receive one payment.

With ecommerce, one payment from a marketplace could actually cover hundreds or even thousands of individual orders. You could also be dealing with different VAT treatments for those sales if your customers are in different countries.

At the same time, you must consider the marketplace fees and refunds along with other charges. These may all be deducted before the payout even reaches your bank account. So, your books won’t necessarily show what you actually sold or what you paid along the way if you’re simply recording whatever lands in your bank as sales revenue.

Our ecommerce accountants can put your systems and processes in place to break down these payouts properly. This allows you to account for individual sales and other transactions while making sure the final figures reconcile with the money you actually receive.

Keep your control accounts reconciled

If you sell through Shopify while accepting payments through PayPal or other payment providers, you may have noticed that your recorded sales figures don’t always match the deposits appearing in your bank account. That doesn’t necessarily mean something has gone wrong.

Timing differences can occur between the date Shopify records a sale and the date your payment provider transfers the money. You also have to consider currency movements in international sales, as these can create discrepancies between your Shopify records and the amount that reaches your bank account. And when you use third-party providers, you must be aware that Shopify won’t always state the fees they deduct. So, you need to bring those costs into your accounting software separately before your control accounts will balance correctly.

At Allenby Accountants, our ecommerce accountants regularly reconcile these accounts so you can identify discrepancies and record the right fees. This should help keep your books accurate even when you’re dealing with more complicated payment arrangements.

File VAT returns using your accounting records

Selling internationally means you may have different VAT or GST obligations depending on where your customers are located.

Your bookkeeping should therefore separate sales by country and correctly record any VAT or GST liabilities that apply. When you keep this information organised, you can use the figures in your accounting system to prepare your international VAT and GST returns.

At Allenby Accountants, we can recommend Xero as your cloud accounting software. Our bookkeepers can organise your sales data so the figures you use for VAT reporting come directly from your accounting records.

Keep track of your inventory

Your inventory is one of your biggest assets. But when your stock sits across Amazon FBA centres or private warehouses in other locations, it becomes difficult to know exactly what you own and what it’s worth. In addition, you also have to consider your stock costs, from freight to customs duties and packaging. Otherwise, leaving these costs out can make your reported margins look much better than they actually are.

Ecommerce accountants can help you value your inventory accurately and allocate the associated costs to your stock. At Allenby Accountants, we can provide stock valuation using the FIFO method while correctly accounting for costs such as shipping and duties.

This gives you a more accurate picture of your inventory value and how much profit you’re really making on your sales.

Is it time to clean your books?

Here at Allenby Accountants, we consider your ecommerce business type and setup before recommending a tailored solution that can help keep your books clean. Get started today with a free initial consultation with our ecommerce accountants and find out how we can support your business. Call 0208 914 8887 or request a callback through this website.

With the dividend allowance becoming less generous and personal tax bills eating further into what business owners get to keep, taking money out of your property development company isn’t always as straightforward as paying yourself whenever you need the cash.

A property development accountant can look at your income and longer-term plans to help you decide how to pay yourself tax-efficiently. At Allenby Accountants, we take your immediate income needs into account while also considering where you want your business and personal finances to be in the future. Here are some of the profit extraction strategies worth considering.

Combine salary and dividends

Your salary is subject to income tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs). For Corporation Tax purposes, though, your company can generally deduct it as a business expense when calculating its corporation tax bill. Paying yourself a salary can also help you build your entitlement to the State Pension.

With dividends, your company pays them from profits that have already been subject to corporation tax. So, it can’t deduct the dividend payments when calculating its taxable profits, although dividend tax rates are generally lower than income tax rates.

Depending on your circumstances, a property development accountant may suggest taking a salary at an appropriate level before using dividends to extract additional profits.

Be careful with director’s loans

A director’s loan can let you take money from your company without immediately treating it as salary or a dividend if you need some extra cash in the short term, but you’ll want to keep track of how much you borrow and when you need to pay it back.

If you still owe the company money nine months and one day after the end of the relevant accounting period, your company could face an additional tax charge. Depending on how the loan is set up, benefit-in-kind rules could come into play as well.

This is why you should treat director’s loans as a short-term cash-flow option instead of a way to regularly take profits from your company.

With a property development accountant, you can keep track of your director’s loan account and understand the tax consequences before an outstanding balance becomes expensive.

Consider interest when your company owes you money

A director’s loan account can work the other way around, too. If you’ve personally lent money to your property development company, the company owes that money back to you.

When you have a positive director’s loan account balance, you may be able to charge the company a commercial rate of interest on what it owes you.

This can have several tax advantages, such as the company may be able to deduct the interest when calculating its taxable profits. Meanwhile, you receive the interest as savings income rather than salary. That also means NICs generally don’t apply.

Think about company pension contributions

Your company can make pension contributions on your behalf without the payment being treated in the same way as salary. That means you generally don’t pay income tax or NICs on the contribution when the company makes it.

Your property development company may also receive corporation tax relief on qualifying contributions, provided they meet HMRC’s requirements. Pension annual allowance rules and possible carry-forward provisions also affect how much you can contribute tax-efficiently.

This approach can be particularly useful if you’re paying higher rates of income tax or approaching retirement, even thinking about eventually leaving your property development business.

Charge your company rent

Another way to gain income from your business is by charging your company commercial rent if it’s using property that you own personally. Doing this means you may be able to deduct the rent as a business expense while you personally pay income tax on the rental income without attracting NICs. At the same time, the property continues to be yours instead of transferring it to your company.

However, you’ll need to charge a reasonable commercial rent. You should also consider the wider tax consequences of personally owning a property used by your company, including how that arrangement could affect Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax later.

No matter your decision, it’s a good idea to talk to a property development accountant before putting a rental arrangement in place. They can help you identify the immediate tax savings and the longer-term implications for you and your business

How we can help

At Allenby Accountants, you can seek specialist advice for extracting your property development company’s profits efficiently and sustainably. Our property development accountant can even tailor a strategy that aligns with your long-term business and personal goals.

To learn more, set up your free initial consultation by calling 0208 914 8887.

When running a healthcare business, you’re balancing good patient care with other responsibilities like managing budgets and taxes. You also need to worry about your team’s payroll and your practice’s day-to-day finances. Add NHS funding requirements and changing regulations into the mix, and it’s easy to see why many healthcare professionals feel stretched without working with healthcare accountants.

The good news is that a few smart accounting practices can make managing your finances much easier. Here are some tips to help keep your healthcare business on track, along with how specialist medical accountants can support you.

Improve your cash flow management

Apart from knowing how much money is coming in and going out, you also need to plan ahead and take steps to reduce delays in payments. More importantly, you must ensure that you have enough funds set aside for unexpected expenses.

Working with healthcare accountants can make this much easier. They can help you:

• Improve your billing process
• Identify ways to reduce unnecessary overheads
• Prepare cash flow forecasts that reflect your practice’s needs.
• Stay compliant with HMRC requirements and NHS Pension rules

All this ensures that you have less to worry about so you can focus on providing quality healthcare.

Plan your budget and forecast ahead

It’s easier to see where your money is going and plan for future expenses when you have an organised budget. This is especially important when you need to buy new medical equipment or want to expand your practice. Forecasting can also help you prepare for changes that could affect your finances, including updates to accounting standards and regulations.

Healthcare accountants can take a wider view of your finances, too. They can help you identify allowable business expenses and plan around irregular income.

Make the most of digital accounting tools

If you’re still relying on manual processes, now may be a good time to consider digital accounting software. Cloud-based platforms give you access to real-time financial information, while automation can reduce the time spent on everyday tasks such as expense tracking and billing.

Healthcare accountants can recommend software that suits the way your practice operates. You might find Xero practical for its fixed asset tracking that lets you track the depreciation of expensive medical equipment for tax purposes.  If you run a private practice, QuickBooks may be a good fit thanks to its time-tracking features that can help you monitor consultations and bill patients accurately.

Work with specialist healthcare accountants

Healthcare businesses work a little differently from most other businesses, so it helps to have an accountant who understands the challenges that come with running a medical practice.

Specialist healthcare accountants can help you with everything from pricing your services and managing costs to tax planning and making important financial decisions for the future. They can also help you navigate Britain’s tax laws so you don’t have to worry about an HMRC enquiry at any time. With their support, you can avoid surprise costs and last-minute filings.

At Allenby Accountants, you’ll find seasoned speciality medical accountants who work closely with healthcare professionals to take care of everything from bookkeeping to year-end accounts and other financial tasks that can take up so much of your time. We can also offer practical business advice to help you increase profitability, so you can spend less time worrying about your finances and more time looking after your patients.

Stay on top of your medical accounting and bookkeeping

If you’d like expert support with your practice’s finances, arrange a free initial consultation with the healthcare accountants here at Allenby Accountants. Call 0208 914 8887 or request a callback through our website to get started.

Managing your taxes is an important part of looking after your finances as a medical professional. When you have a solid tax plan, you can make the most of the income you earn while staying compliant with the HMRC.

Many doctors and healthcare professionals have different sources of income along with pension contributions to consider and a range of work-related expenses that may qualify for tax relief. By working with medical accountants, you can easily navigate those areas and plan for taxes more effectively.

Here are a few tax planning tips to help you make the most of the tax allowances and reliefs available to you.

Claim all eligible deductions and expenses

If you’re self-employed or run a private practice, claiming allowable business expenses can reduce your taxable income and lower your overall tax bill. You just have to know what you can claim and keep accurate records throughout the year.

At Allenby Accountants, you can get support from our medical accountants when identifying the most common deductible expenses that apply to you. These may include:

• Professional memberships and subscriptions – Fees you pay to organisations such as the General Medical Council (GMC) or the British Medical Association (BMA) may qualify for tax relief.
• Uniforms and specialist work clothing – If your role requires a uniform or protective clothing, you may be able to claim the cost of cleaning and repairs, or even replacing those items.
• Training and continuing professional development (CPD) – Courses and training directly related to your medical work may also qualify as allowable expenses.
• Office costs – If you work from home or operate a private practice, you may be able to claim part of your household bills or the cost of renting office space used for work.
• Medical equipment – You may be able to make claims for any equipment and supplies you purchase for your practice, such as work-related laptops and medical instruments.
• Business travel – If you travel for work, such as visiting patients or attending conferences, you may be able to claim mileage or other travel expenses.

At the same time, you should keep receipts and maintain accurate records throughout the year so you can claim these expenses easily. If you’re unsure what qualifies, our medical accountants can help you identify eligible claims and make sure you don’t miss valuable tax relief while you stay focused on caring for your patients.

Pay attention to your pension contributions

Besides helping you prepare for retirement, your pension contributions can also reduce your tax bill. That’s why you should always review them as part of your overall tax planning.

If you’re employed by the NHS, your contributions to the NHS Pension Scheme are taken from your salary before tax. This means your taxable income is reduced, making it one of the most valuable financial benefits available to NHS employees.

On the other hand, you may consider paying into a personal loan like the Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) when you’re self-employed or run a private practice. Along with helping you save for the future, these contributions can qualify for tax relief.

Depending on your tax band, you could receive tax relief at your highest rate. Higher-rate taxpayers may be eligible for 40% tax relief, while additional-rate taxpayers may qualify for 45%.

With medical accountants, you can also check if you’ve used your full annual pension allowance. The carry forward rule may allow you to use any unused allowance from the previous three tax years, so you have another opportunity to make tax-efficient pension contributions.

Work with a medical accountant

Tax planning can become complicated when you’re balancing NHS income and private practice earnings with locum work and pensions. You also need to think about other business expenses.

With specialist medical accountants, you can navigate everything easily and still have time to focus on your patients.

If you’d like support with tax planning for your medical practice, contact us here at Allenby Accountants to arrange your free initial consultation. Call 0208 914 8887 to speak with our medical accountants and find out how our specialist accountancy services can support your practice in London.

When you’re a content creator, influencer, or freelance artist, your finances can become complicated almost overnight. You may earn from brand deals one month, then receive royalties or merch income later. Sponsorship fees, platform payouts, and licensing payments can also arrive at different times, with different tax issues attached. If you do not bring in entertainment accountants early and treat your finances like a business, you could lose a large percentage of your hard-earned cash to tax problems and poor financial management.

With Allenby Accountants, you can get professional financial advice designed specifically for your career in the creative and digital industries. Our goal is to help you manage your income effectively while keeping you compliant with HMRC requirements and building a strong financial future. With our support, you can stay focused on your creative work while we handle the books and numbers. Here’s how we can support your financial planning.

Managing multiple income streams

Keeping track of your multiple revenue streams can become complicated as your business grows. With specialist entertainment accountants, you can organise your finances to identify allowable expenses and create a tax-efficient strategy that reflects the way you earn money.

Using technology to stay organised

If you work across several platforms and partner with brands and customers around the world, you may have a constant flow of transactions that require accurate tracking. Our entertainment accountants can recommend and implement a cloud-based bookkeeping system to make it easier to manage your finances wherever you are. By storing invoices and financial records digitally, you gain a clear overview of your income and expenses while reducing the risk of missing important information.

Accurate bookkeeping also gives you better insight into your business performance and supports smarter financial decisions.

Staying compliant with tax obligations

Tax returns can become more complex when your income comes from multiple sources. With professional accountants, you have experts to handle your tax calculations and identify eligible deductions. You can also count on us to prepare submissions and ensure that you remain compliant with HMRC requirements.

All this reduces your risk of penalties while helping you avoid paying more tax than necessary. At the same time, we can help you identify which expenses qualify for tax relief.

Planning for long-term financial stability

You may find your career rewarding, but you can’t always tell when income will stop. With entertainment accountants, you can get a tailored financial plan that will keep your finances stable during busy and quieter periods.

Our specialist accountants can help you develop strategies for:

• Building emergency savings
• Contributing to pensions
• Managing ISAs and investments
• Planning for future business growth
• Creating long-term wealth

Understanding National Insurance and international tax

Many content creators operate as self-employed individuals and must manage their own National Insurance contributions. In addition, you may earn income from international platforms and global audiences.

These arrangements can create additional tax obligations that require specialist knowledge from entertainment accountants. With Allenby Accountants, you can stay compliant with UK tax rules and identify opportunities to manage international earnings efficiently.

Protecting your commercial interests

Do you routinely enter agreements that involve sponsorships and brand partnerships? Are you negotiating complex arrangements around licensing and intellectual property? At Allenby Accountants, we can work with your legal team to help you understand the financial impact of contracts and ensure that you can make informed choices when opportunities arise.

Arrange a meeting with our accountants

At Allenby Accountants, we understand the opportunities and challenges that come with working as a content creator or influencer, or even an artist. Our entertainment accountants can give you tailored accounting and financial planning services designed specifically for your occupation and industry.

To find out how we can support your financial goals, request a quote through this website or call 0208 914 8887 to arrange a consultation.

As a business owner, one of your biggest responsibilities is managing tax obligations. You need a clear plan to keep taxes from eating your profits and creating cash flow challenges. With our accountants in London, you don’t have to figure out taxes on your own.

Allenby Accountants can help you understand the rules and keep the books organised so you can make informed financial decisions throughout the year. Especially as your business keeps growing, our support can help you stay proactive in your tax planning to give you the confidence that your business remains compliant while making the most of available opportunities.

Here are some of our essential tax planning tips you can consider for your business.

Choose the right business structure

Accountants in London can start supporting you the moment you structure your business. We understand that each type has different tax implications and responsibilities, so we’ll walk you through each option so you know which structure aligns best with your plans and financial objectives.

For many growing businesses, a limited company can provide advantages such as greater credibility and potential tax efficiencies. Plus, this structure won’t limit your growth and future expansion.

Consider VAT registration early

VAT can become complicated as your business grows, particularly if you work with different revenue streams or serve customers overseas, or even sell through online platforms.

By planning ahead for VAT, you avoid last-minute issues and maintain steady cash flow. Our accountants can help you time your registration before you reach your threshold, so you may reclaim input VAT and present a more established image to customers and suppliers.

Effective VAT planning involves:

• Regularly monitoring turnover
• Preparing for VAT registration requirements
• Maintaining accurate digital records
• Filing VAT returns correctly and on time

With accountants in London, you can also get access to digital accounting software that can make this process much easier while helping your business meet Making Tax Digital requirements.

Include tax planning in your growth strategy

As your business expands, your tax obligations often become more complex. Anything, from hiring employees and entering new markets to investing in equipment and increasing profits, can all affect your tax position.

That’s why you should always include tax planning in your growth strategy to prepare for VAT challenges and forecast Corporation Tax liabilities. With this approach, you can also manage cash flow carefully and avoid unexpected tax bills.

Planning ahead also gives your accountants in London more opportunities to identify potential tax savings before the end of the financial year.

Claim all allowable business expenses

Many growing businesses miss valuable deductions simply because expenses are not tracked properly. With an accountant, you’ll have detailed and accurate records to help you claim eligible costs correctly.

Get your payroll right

In addition to making sure that you pay everyone on time, managing payroll correctly also involves making decisions around salaries and dividends, as well as tax deductions and employee benefits. Our accountants in London can help you understand key areas in your payroll that may affect your taxes, such as:

• PAYE tax deductions
• National Insurance contributions
• Pension auto-enrolment requirements
• Employee benefits and allowances

In addition, accountants can help you avoid mistakes in payroll that can result in penalties from HMRC and frustration for employees.

Talk to our accountants for more tax planning tips

If you’d like tailored advice on managing your tax obligations more effectively, speak with the team at Allenby Accountants. Our accountants in London can help you identify opportunities to improve efficiency so you can stay compliant and keep more of your hard-earned profits working for your business.

To get started, give us a call at 0208 914 8887 or request a callback through this website.