Modern accounting software can give business owners access to financial information almost instantly. That does not necessarily mean they are looking at the right information.

A dashboard containing turnover, bank balance and profit can be useful, but these figures may tell only part of the story.

Consider a business where sales have increased by 10%. That sounds encouraging. If gross margin has fallen at the same time, however, the additional sales may be producing surprisingly little extra profit.

Similarly, a healthy bank balance can disguise problems ahead. VAT, PAYE, Corporation Tax and supplier payments may already account for much of the cash sitting in the account.

This is why useful management information should start with the decisions you need to make rather than the figures your accounting software happens to display.

For example, a business concerned about profitability might monitor gross margin by product, service or customer. One concerned about cash flow could follow debtor days, overdue accounts and expected cash requirements. A business trying to improve productivity might compare staff costs or hours worked with output or revenue.

The important point is to keep the list manageable.

A report containing 25 key performance indicators can easily become something nobody reads. Three or four carefully selected measures, reviewed consistently, may be far more useful.

It is also worth establishing what should happen when a figure moves outside an acceptable range. If gross margin falls below a target percentage, who investigates? If debtor days increase, when does someone contact customers?

Management information becomes valuable when it prompts action.

Instead of asking, “How did we do last month?”, try asking a more useful question:

“What do we need to know now to make next month better?”

That small change of emphasis can turn accounting information from a historical record into a management tool.

1 October 2026 – Corporation Tax payment is due for companies with an accounting period ending 31 December 2025, unless the company is required to make quarterly instalment payments.

5 October 2026 – Deadline for notifying HMRC of a new liability to Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax for the 2025-26 tax year. This may include registering for Self Assessment if you became self-employed, started receiving taxable rental income or received other income or gains that have not already been taxed.

7 October 2026 – VAT returns and payments are normally due for accounting periods ending 31 August 2026, unless a different deadline applies. Businesses paying by Direct Debit should allow sufficient time for HMRC to collect the payment.

19 October 2026 – PAYE, employee and employer National Insurance contributions, student loan deductions and Construction Industry Scheme deductions are due for the month ended 5 October 2026 if payment is made by post.

19 October 2026 – Deadline for submitting the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 October 2026.

22 October 2026 – Electronic payments of PAYE, National Insurance contributions, student loan deductions and CIS deductions are due for the month ended 5 October 2026.

22 October 2026 – Electronic payment deadline for tax and Class 1B National Insurance contributions due under a PAYE Settlement Agreement for the 2025-26 tax year. The deadline is 19 October 2026 if payment is not made electronically.

31 October 2026 – Deadline for submitting a paper Self Assessment tax return for the year ended 5 April 2026. Taxpayers who miss the paper filing deadline can normally file online by 31 January 2027 instead.

31 October 2026 – Corporation Tax returns are due for companies with an accounting period ending 31 October 2025.

31 October 2026 – Companies House accounts are due for private companies with an accounting period ending 31 January 2026. Different deadlines apply to a company’s first accounts.

31 October 2026 – Plastic Packaging Tax returns and payments are due for the quarter ended 30 September 2026 where the business is registered for the tax.

1 November 2026 – Corporation Tax payment is due for companies with an accounting period ending 31 January 2026, unless the company is required to make quarterly instalment payments.

7 November 2026 – VAT returns and payments are normally due for accounting periods ending 30 September 2026, unless a different deadline applies. Businesses paying by Direct Debit should allow sufficient time for HMRC to collect the payment.

19 November 2026 – PAYE, employee and employer National Insurance contributions, student loan deductions and Construction Industry Scheme deductions are due for the month ended 5 November 2026 if payment is made by post.

19 November 2026 – Deadline for submitting the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 November 2026.

22 November 2026 – Electronic payments of PAYE, National Insurance contributions, student loan deductions and CIS deductions are due for the month ended 5 November 2026. As 22 November 2026 falls on a Sunday, businesses should arrange payment early enough for the cleared funds to reach HMRC by the deadline.

30 November 2026 – Corporation Tax returns are due for companies with an accounting period ending 30 November 2025.

30 November 2026 – Companies House accounts are due for private companies with an accounting period ending 28 February 2026. Different deadlines apply to a company’s first accounts.

HMRC has launched an improved online service to make it easier for individuals to register for self-assessment. Anyone who needs to submit a tax return for the first time for the 2025-26 tax year should notify HMRC by 5 October 2026 to avoid a potential penalty.

The new service is available through a Personal Tax Account and includes pre-populated information, online support during registration and the ability to save and return without losing information. Taxpayers will also receive confirmation by email or text when their registration is complete.

Once registered, taxpayers receive a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), which is needed to complete their tax return. Under the new service, the UTR should appear in the taxpayer’s online account within 72 hours, instead of taking up to 15 days to arrive by post.

Taxpayers who are unsure whether they need to submit a tax return can use HMRC’s online checking tool. Those who need to register may include newly self-employed individuals with gross trading income above £1,000, a new partner in a business partnership and taxpayers with more than £2,500 of untaxed income.

The deadline for submitting the 2025-26 self-assessment tax return and paying any tax due is 31 January 2027.

Anyone who no longer needs to complete a tax return should tell HMRC as soon as possible. 

Until HMRC confirms that a self-assessment return is no longer required, taxpayers should continue to meet their self-assessment filing obligations.

The new registration service is currently available to individual taxpayers with a Personal Tax Account. Agents must continue to use the existing registration processes, including using forms CWF1 or an SA1, to register.

Making a trading loss whilst not ideal can sometimes generate a tax refund. If you are a self-employed individual or a member of a trading partnerships, a trading loss can potentially be set against other income or capital gains. This can reduce the amount of tax payable and, where tax has already been paid, may result in a refund.

For the 2025-26 tax year that ended in April, a loss can generally be set against income for the same year or the previous tax year. This means a business that made a profit in an earlier year but has subsequently made a loss may be able to recover some of the tax previously paid.

There are restrictions. For example, the trade must generally be carried on commercially and for profit, rather than as a hobby. Other restrictions can apply depending on the circumstances, including where the individual works fewer than 10 hours a week on the commercial activities of the trade.

There is also a limit on the amount of certain Income Tax reliefs that can be claimed against total income. The limit is generally the higher of £50,000 or 25% of adjusted total income.

A loss can also usually be carried forward and used against future profits from the same trade.

If you have a trading loss, it may provide an opportunity to reduce an earlier tax bill, generate a refund or reduce tax on future profits. The rules can be complex, and we are happy to help advice you on the best way forward. 

UK employers with employees who normally work overseas may have PAYE and National Insurance obligations when those employees come to the UK to carry out their duties in the UK on a short-term basis.

Employers should consider the position whenever an overseas employee visits the UK to work. The fact that the employee remains employed and paid by an overseas company does not, by itself, mean that there is no UK PAYE obligation. In some circumstances, the UK company hosting the employee may be responsible for operating PAYE.

There are arrangements that can help employers with the normal PAYE requirements for qualifying short-term business visitors. For example, an EP Appendix 4 arrangement may allow a UK host employer not to operate PAYE where the relevant conditions are met, including where a double taxation agreement applies and no UK Income Tax liability ultimately arises. National Insurance needs to be considered separately, as an Appendix 4 arrangement does not cover NICs.

Where PAYE is required but it is impractical to operate it in the normal way, an EP Appendix 8 arrangement may be available for certain short-term business visitors. This allows the employer to report and pay the relevant tax after the end of the tax year, subject to the conditions of the arrangement.

If you have overseas staff working in the UK, we can help you make sure your payroll processes are correct. 

Some taxpayers have already started to receive Simple Assessment letters from HMRC for the 2025-26 tax year, with a further tranche due to be sent between October and December 2026.

Simple Assessment is used where HMRC cannot collect income tax through PAYE or self-assessment. The PA302 letter sets out HMRC’s calculation of the tax due, based on information it holds. Common examples include tax due on pension income, savings interest, dividends or if the taxpayer has a second source of income that has not been taxed. It can also apply where someone has received more tax-free allowance than they were entitled to, or where the amount owed cannot be collected through a tax code, typically £3,000 or more.

HMRC began sending letters to working-age taxpayers from 30 June 2026, followed by letters to pensioners from 12 August. A second tranche, relating to bank and building society interest (BBSI) data, is expected to be issued between October and December 2026. In some limited cases, taxpayers may receive more than one letter for 2025-26.

Tax can be paid in full or by instalments, with the deadline depending on when the Simple Assessment letter is received. For the 2025-26 tax year, letters received before 31 October 2026 require payment by 31 January 2027. Letters received on or after 31 October 2026 require payment within three months of the date of the letter. 

HMRC expects to issue around 1.8 million Simple Assessment letters for the year. Taxpayers receiving a letter should check the calculation carefully against their own records and contact HMRC if they believe any information is incorrect or the assessment should be withdrawn. 

If you receive a Simple Assessment letter and are unsure whether the calculation is correct, what you need to pay or what action you should take, please contact us. We can review the assessment and help you understand what it means and how to deal with it.

When a customer takes 60 or 90 days to pay an invoice that should have been settled in 30 days, there is another way of looking at the transaction.

You are effectively providing the customer with finance, usually without charging them for it.

Late payment remains a significant problem for smaller businesses, although the latest Government statistics provide some encouraging evidence. Large businesses paid 15% of invoices late during 2025, compared with 25% in 2018. Their average payment time has also fallen from 35 days to 32 days over the same period.

Nevertheless, even a relatively small number of late invoices can create serious cash-flow problems.

Businesses should therefore consider measuring debtor performance rather than simply looking at the total amount outstanding.

Your accounting records should be capable of answering some straightforward questions. Which customers regularly pay late? How much cash is tied up in overdue invoices? How long does it normally take customers to pay? Is the position improving or deteriorating?

Then consider the commercial response.

Invoices should be issued promptly and clearly state the payment terms. Customers approaching their credit limit may need to be contacted before further work is undertaken. Regular late payers might justify different payment arrangements, deposits or staged payments.

There are also statutory remedies. Businesses can, in qualifying circumstances, claim interest and debt recovery costs on late commercial payments. GOV.UK confirms that where a payment date has not been agreed, a commercial payment will generally become late 30 days after the customer receives the invoice or the goods or services are supplied, whichever is later.

Government reforms are also intended to strengthen the late-payment regime, including proposals for maximum payment terms and stronger powers for the Small Business Commissioner.

The practical lesson, however, does not require new legislation.

A profitable business can still run short of cash if customers do not pay promptly. Debtor days should therefore be treated as a management figure rather than something that is examined only when cash becomes tight.

For many businesses, broadband has gradually become as important as electricity. Cloud accounting, video meetings, online backups, customer management systems and increasingly artificial intelligence applications all depend on reliable connectivity.

The Government’s latest Project Gigabit progress report, published on 22 September, says gigabit-capable broadband is now available to more than 88% of UK homes and businesses. Around four million premises remain without coverage, while the Government has a target of reaching 99% by 2032.

For businesses, however, the question is not simply whether faster broadband is available. It is whether better connectivity could allow the business to work differently.

A business that has tolerated a slow connection for several years may have adapted its working practices around that limitation without realising it. Large files may be stored locally, backups carried out overnight and staff discouraged from working remotely. Video meetings may be unreliable and cloud-based applications frustratingly slow.

If substantially faster broadband is now available, some of those assumptions may be worth reconsidering.

Start by looking at what your business actually needs rather than simply buying the fastest package available. How many people use the connection simultaneously? Which systems depend upon it? How disruptive would an outage be? Do you need a backup connection?

There may also be opportunities to reduce other costs. Improved connectivity could make cloud-based software more practical, support flexible working or reduce dependence on locally maintained servers and other equipment.

The latest Government figures also mean businesses previously unable to obtain a satisfactory connection should periodically check availability. Infrastructure is continuing to expand, so an answer received a year or two ago may no longer apply.

Broadband is easily treated as another monthly overhead. Increasingly, however, it is part of the infrastructure on which the whole business depends.

It may therefore deserve the same periodic review as insurance, banking, software and other essential business services.

Recent employment figures suggest that the number of people on UK payrolls is continuing to fall.

That does not necessarily mean your business should reduce its workforce. However, it does provide a useful reminder to look at one of the largest costs faced by many businesses.

The important question is not whether other employers are recruiting or reducing staff. It is whether your current workforce is right for your business.

Look beyond the monthly payroll

Start by considering what has happened to employment costs over the past couple of years.

Pay rises are only part of the picture. Employer’s National Insurance, pension contributions, benefits, training and other employment costs all contribute to the real cost of employing someone.

Compare this with what is happening to turnover, gross profit and productivity.

For example, if staffing costs have increased by 10%, but turnover has increased by only 3%, it is worth investigating why.

There may be a perfectly reasonable explanation, particularly if you have recruited ahead of anticipated growth. But it is better to understand the figures than simply allow costs to increase unnoticed.

Should every vacancy be replaced?

When someone leaves, there can be an automatic assumption that a replacement is needed.

Before recruiting, consider whether the job still needs to exist in exactly the same form.

Could responsibilities be reorganised? Could repetitive administrative work be automated? Has technology changed the amount or type of work required?

Conversely, be careful about delaying recruitment purely to save money. Existing employees working excessive hours can lead to falling productivity, poor customer service and eventually the loss of good staff.

Model the cost before deciding

Recruitment decisions should form part of your financial planning.

If you are considering employing an additional person, calculate the full annual cost and estimate the additional sales, capacity or efficiency that the appointment needs to generate.

The same principle applies if you are considering reducing staffing levels. A reduction in payroll costs may look attractive, but not if it prevents the business from delivering work or growing sales.

Use your figures to make the decision

Your accounting records contain much of the information needed to undertake this review.

Comparing staffing costs with turnover and gross profit over time can reveal trends that are difficult to spot when looking only at the bank balance or monthly payroll.

If your staffing requirements are changing, talk to us before making significant decisions. We can help you examine the numbers, model alternative scenarios and understand the financial implications before you commit.

Many successful small businesses have one person at their centre.

The owner knows the customers, agrees prices, deals with suppliers, manages the bank account, supervises employees and makes most of the important decisions. Often, this is one of the reasons the business has succeeded.

But it can also become a weakness.

If too much depends on one person, the business may struggle to grow and could face serious problems if the owner is unexpectedly unavailable.

Look at what depends on you

A useful exercise is to imagine that you could not work for the next four weeks.

What would happen?

Could someone else prepare quotations, authorise payments, deal with important customers or make purchasing decisions? Would employees know what needed to be done without continually contacting you?

The answers can identify areas where the business is particularly dependent on you.

This does not mean handing over control. It means creating a business that can function without requiring your involvement in every decision.

Introduce systems gradually

Start with activities that happen regularly.

Documenting important procedures, allocating responsibilities and giving employees appropriate authority can gradually reduce dependency on the owner.

Technology can also help. Good accounting, customer management and workflow systems make information available to other people rather than leaving it in the owner’s head.

The objective should be to make the business easier to manage rather than introduce unnecessary bureaucracy.

Measure what is happening

One reason owners are reluctant to delegate is the fear of losing control.

Good management information can help.

Regular information about sales, margins, cash flow, costs and other key performance indicators allows you to see what is happening without personally supervising every activity.

This can become increasingly important as a business grows.

Think about the eventual value of the business

Owner dependency can also affect what happens when you eventually want to sell.

A purchaser may be reluctant to pay a substantial price for a business if important customer relationships, knowledge and decision-making disappear when the owner leaves.

Reducing owner dependency is therefore not simply about making life easier today. It can help create a stronger and potentially more valuable business for the future.

If your business depends heavily on you, consider discussing the issue with us. The financial information we already prepare may help identify where greater delegation, better systems and improved management information could make a difference.