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About Me

My Story

A Bit About Me

So, if you have got this far you are either as nosy (I prefer curious) as me, or the monkey enticed you in. Regardless, here is a little but about me.

I am a mum of a boy, a girl, two gorgeous basset hounds, a puppy and two bunnies and live in St Albans with my husband. Life is busy with school pick ups, drop offs, child taxi running services, endless sporting events and dog walking. 

Trying to fit in my career, which I loved, was hard and in 2019 I decided I wasn’t doing either thing well and made the tough decision to stop work…

Then COVID Hit!

Genuinely how working parents coped with homeschooling, working from home plus the stress of a global pandemic is beyond me and that’s without even taking into account running a small business.

As life returned to normal I looked around in awe of the people still fighting for their businesses. I have a number of friends who gave up their corporate jobs to build something around their kids and commitments and started helping them where I could.

l watched these phenomenal women doubt themselves, or tell me they were ‘rubbish’ at numbers and didn’t understand tax or accounts while also telling me the price point of their product was wrong, preparing an inspiring marketing plan and creating new content and products. 

Most of them while also juggling day to day life with partners, children, pets and ageing parents and I wanted to help.

I LOVE numbers.

Spreadsheets are my happy place and tax and accounts my work bread and butter. But I’m also nosy (OK curious), love chatting and meeting new people and seem to be able to make tax and accounting jargon clear. (I’ll let you into a secret us accountants just love a big word that only we understand but they aren’t strictly necessary)

And so here we are today with the accountant who actually gives a monkeys. I am in it with you and I can help make the tedious part of running your business as easy as possible. I’m a sounding board if you want an ear to listen, or another pair of hands. I can also make an awesome  spreadsheet about almost anything and have a very dirty laugh.

Frequently Asked Questions

I really need to know more about your business, your needs and your expectations before I can answer this question as I offer a very bespoke service. Please book a call, drop me a message or an email and we can talk it through. What I do offer to all of my clients is a review of my costs every three months if they would like it. In this way if you feel you are not getting value for money, we can look over the hours I have spent and talk about a resolution that is more agreeable.

I am a chartered accountancy and as such can offer a full service of accountancy options including, statutory returns, corporation tax, VAT returns, self-assessments, management accounts and bookkeeping. I also like to help my businesses with their processes and systems so that the producing of the financial statements and statutory filings is as easy as possible. If you aren’t sure if what you need is covered then please contact me so we can have a chat. Even if I can’t help, I might know someone who can and am always happy to pass details on and share knowledge.

I absolutely can for both companies and individuals running their own business. It is a cliche, but tax really doesn’t have to be taxing and if you are a sole trader who needs accounts prepared for their self-assessment I not only can help with these accounts and return but I am happy to teach you how to do it yourselves to save time and expense down the line. If you get stuck halfway through give me a call and I will be happy to help and would just charge for my time.
I do indeed. I use Xero software and actually provide a discount on my statutory services if you include bookkeeping in your bespoke package. This is because having a good bookkeeper is an amazing way to keep your statutory account preparation expenses down. If I am in your accounts on a regular basis by the end of the year I know what is allowable and not and I have seen most of your receipts and I know how your business operates. Everything is easier for me from there so takes me less time and is therefore cheaper for you.
Probably yes but if I am not I would either make myself familiar or help you find someone who is an expert in their field. Knowing what you don’t know is (in my opinion) as important as being informed. I will always be honest and request help where I need it, and this has led me to building good relationships with other experts. I also am an ICAEW qualified accountant so have access to their large and diverse resources and libraries which I utilise whenever I need to.
I actually outsource my payroll to Morewood Payroll Services and am completely happy to either organise that for you, so you have just one point of contact or for you to go directly to them. I am completely happy to give advice on all aspects of payroll, and have associates in the HR field too if anything should come up in that arena. For me it is all about making your business run as smoothly as possible not about maximising my fees.
Genuinely hiring an accountant who cares about your business is a great first step. If your accountant also provides bookkeeping even better. They will be able to advise you as you go through your year of the most tax efficient way to manage your business. It could be as simple as being religious about obtaining VAT receipts for ALL of your expenses or understanding the rules around what is allowable and not allowable for tax purposes. If you only speak to your accountant once a year it may be too late for some of the tax efficient choices, you can make to be implemented.

This depends on you, your business and transaction levels. Some businesses need to be reviewing their cash every day, some businesses a health check once a year might be enough. It depends on what your goals and your personal ambitions are. I would suggest that 90% of businesses should be looking at their financial reports at least quarterly and ideally monthly or more often during times of change. This might feel a lot but if you have an accountant who also bookkeeps for you then you can rely on them to highlight the main issues you need to be aware of. For most of my clients I prepare monthly management accounts but I normally highlight just a couple of points of interest to them. If something is vital, then I book a call in with them to address it as soon as possible. If you find financial reports overwhelming, I can talk you through step by step.

Yes, most of my clients are small business and startups. I started my practice due to helping a friend of mine with her startup and realising I wanted to help more people like her and it has grown from there. Surprisingly though I have found that my 20 plus years working in the Corporate world has really helped me with this. I have seen big companies make silly mistakes in processes and know these things are easier (and cheaper) to embed from the start. I endeavour to help you put in place appropriate processes to grow with your business and give you time back to focus on what you built your business for and not managing the back office.
To a certain point yes. I am not a pensions expert, an insolvency practitioner or financial planning guru but as mentioned before knowing what you don’t know is half the battle and I have a host of people I can point you in the direction of should your needs be more than I can handle. However, budgeting for the coming years of your business, identifying areas where we could save money or make money and formalising your pricing levels are all things I can help with. The best thing to do is ask me the specific questions and we will take it from there.
Oh gosh I have so many ways and I try to make them as easy to implement as possible. Firstly a receipt capturing solution such as HUBDOC is a must – let’s make it easy to keep those receipts safe and not lost or put in a giant pile of paper. Using an accounting system such as Xero instead of excel is another excellent way of improving your record keeping. The invoicing and automatic old debt chasing Xero offers is going to improve your cashflow. I use a client portal run by Accountancy Manager ensuring that your statutory records are kept safe and secure for the required time limits, and this is just to start with. I am constantly looking for ways to make my practice more streamlined and efficient and to improve my clients financial record keeping practices.
This really depends on your cost point and familiarity with bookkeeping. I personally use Xero in my practice as I find it so user friendly for the small business owner, but I know other accountants who swear by FreeAgent, Sage or QuickBooks. All of my clients are on Xero but if you have a strong preference for another software then I can help you find an accountant to help.
This is always a difficult area as tax laws and regulations change. However, being asked the right questions really helps and knowing that genuine mistakes will happen but honesty, integrity and an accountant who cares about doing right by your business is going to speak volumes. I will always be open about my advice and my thought processes and document options where there are any. Always ask me the question, I will happily explain the options that we have and why one might work better than another.
Of course. This is always very much a combined effort as any financial forecasting and projections is going to require input from you as the business owner but turning your thoughts and dreams into physical numbers on the page I can do. I can also help you figure out why these numbers are not being met as the actuals come through. I am on the journey with you and want your business to succeed too.
This depends on which tax returns are being prepared but as a minimum details and backup of all income and expenses relating to the business for the period in question are a good starting point.
Again, this depends on the type of return, the quality of the record keeping and the speed at which additional information is provided. If I feel the deadline is a tight one then I usually quote an additional fee for quick completion which I only charge if the statements require me working outside of my normal working hours to meet the deadlines.
Yes – my number 1 recommendation if you are VAT registered is to be absolutely rigid on requiring a VAT invoice for all expenses. Without proof of VAT being paid on an expense you cannot reclaim it. The other place to look is how you take money out of your company, and this will very much depend on your personal circumstances. If you have any questions, please contact me and I can see how I might be able to help. Tax is inevitable but ensuring that you are being tax efficient is important.
I can indeed. Please do not go to a company formation website and pay hundreds of pounds to do so. Company formation is very easy to do and most of my clients could do it themselves with a little guidance. The actual cost on companies’ house is about £20. I just charge £45 plus my hourly rate if it takes me longer than an hour. The same goes for the annual confirmation statement. This is an easy form to complete for a small business and costs just £13 to register on Companies House. As always I am happy to show you how to do this so you can do it yourself if this is your preference and just charge my time.

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