Being a Business Owner

When software I use every day got hit with a wave of online criticism, my feed was full of it, and it would have been easy to get swept along with it.

The posts were angry, the comments were piling up, and everyone had a take. But instead of reacting, I did some digging, and what I found changed how I read the headlines. Here's how I went about it, and how you can do the same for any brand, product or influencer in your own industry.

I'm sharing:

• Why a wave of online criticism rarely tells the full story.
• How I looked past the headlines to form my own view.
• What three separate moments taught me about how brands handle public backlash.
• Why constant change and AI headlines are leaving business owners feeling more defensive.
• Why it's worth reviewing what you pay for, from software to memberships, and whether each one still earns its place.

Forming your own opinion takes a little more effort than joining in. But it's the only way to make decisions that are genuinely right for your business.

Let's Connect:

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Right Click Accounting

The RCA Hub

Useful Links:

A Note on Our Partnership with Amelia Sordell and Xero | Gen3 Marketing

Response from Xero regarding Amelia Sordell

Rachel Harris LinkedIn Brand Guidelines Post

Xero Company Accounts and Tax Software

Aaron Patrick Automated Reports Post

I went to the Digital Accountancy Show at ExCeL London, and two sessions from HMRC stood out as the ones most likely to affect UK business owners: their digital transformation plans, and how e-invoicing will work.

This week I'm sharing:

• What HMRC told us about its digital transformation plans, and why it wants more software developers involved in Making Tax Digital.
• Why HMRC chose not to make a business bank account mandatory for the MTD roll-out
• Which VAT-registered businesses e-invoicing will affect, and which it won't.
• How "four corners" e-invoicing works, from your accounting software to your customer's.
• Why it's worth getting your processes ready 6 to 12 months before the deadline, and how to use AI safely while you do.

Change can be overwhelming but there's plenty of time and the businesses that start preparing early are the ones that won't be scrambling when it becomes mandatory.

Let's Connect:

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LinkedIn

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Right Click Accounting

The RCA Hub

Useful Links:

The Maple Project

The Digital Accountancy Show

Preparing for Mandatory E-Invoicing in the UK

Peppol Interoperability Network for E-Invoicing

If running a business in the UK feels harder than it used to, you're not imagining it.

Rising costs, tax changes and a general sense of stagnation are weighing on a lot of business owners right now, and it's worth saying out loud. I'm sharing how I'm thinking about it, why I don't think it means giving up, and a new resource I've built to help.

I'm sharing:

• Why so many UK business owners are feeling the squeeze, and why that strain is valid.
• Why relocating or restructuring isn't as simple as it sounds, and why proper advice matters first.
• How to find local support and funding that might already be available to you.
• How to set goals for 2027 that go beyond turnover, starting with what your business actually gives you.
• Introducing the Right Click Hub: key tax dates, templates, resources and live co-working sessions.

Growth might be slower right now, but that doesn't have to dampen the reasons you started. If your business still gives you freedom, purpose or something you love doing, that's worth protecting.

Let's Connect:

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LinkedIn

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Be sure to check out:

Right Click Accounting

The RCA Hub

Useful Links:

Accountex Recap Podcast (S2 EP5)

The Financial Times

The RCA Hub

There's a word doing the rounds in accounting circles that most business owners have never heard, and once you understand it, it could change how you plan for next year.

DIGITisation and DIGITALisation sound almost identical, but they mean very different things for how your business runs. One is about moving an old process onto a screen. The other is about rethinking that process completely for the digital age, including e-invoicing, which is coming for VAT-registered businesses.

I'm sharing:

• The actual difference between digitisation and digitalisation, and why it's more than just semantics.
• What e-invoicing is, who it'll affect, and why it's a genuine step change rather than just a new format.
• A real example from my own business of turning a paper checklist into something AI now helps manage.
• Why this isn't about replacing people with AI, but opening up what's actually possible.

You don't need to overhaul everything overnight. But knowing the difference between fixing what you have and reimagining it completely could shape how your business grows next year.

Let's Connect:

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LinkedIn

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Ways to work with me

Right Click Accounting

Blackline Academy

Useful Links:

Preparing for Mandatory E-Invoicing in the UK (Blog)

AccountingWeb podcast with Richard Sergeant

If your tax code changes, you'd assume HMRC tells you and your employer straight away. Right now, that's not always happening, and it affects both sides.

I've seen the same issue crop up across multiple employers and employees recently, including within my own company: an employee's tax code changes, but the employer never receives the official notice to update it. It's even happening to me right now, on both sides of the payslip. So this week I'm sharing:

• What a tax code notice actually is, and what should happen when a tax code changes.
• The pattern I'm seeing where an employee's tax code changes, but their employer never receives the notice to update it.
• What to do as an employee if your payslip doesn't match the tax code HMRC has told you, rather than assuming it'll sort itself out.
• What employers can, and legally can't, do to help when this happens, and why staying on top of it protects your PAYE liability too.
• The genuinely baffling moment HMRC offered to resolve it by fax.

Whether you're the one being taxed or the one running payroll, it's worth checking rather than assuming everything's correct. A five-minute look now could save an unexpected bill, a longer wait for a refund, or a payroll headache down the line.

Let's Connect:

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Ways to work with me

Right Click Accounting

Blackline Academy

Useful Links:

ACAS

Government Gateway

Thinking about going to IdeasFest? Here's an honest, first-timer's take before you buy a ticket.

I went for the first time this year, and it was a genuinely mixed experience: some of it brilliant, some of it overwhelming, and worth knowing about before you commit your time and money.

I'm sharing:

• What it's really like as a first-timer, from the missing Wi-Fi to figuring out where the talks actually were.
• Why some of the content felt too surface-level for me, while still being exactly what someone else needed to hear.
• The real cost of attending, tickets, hotel, food and the time you lose to recovering afterwards.
• The two talks I ended up speaking at completely unplanned, and how that went.
• Why post-event burnout is real, and why I don't think you need to rush back online straight after.

Not every event has to change your life to be worth going to. Sometimes it's enough to just show up, take it all in, and figure out afterwards what it actually meant for you.

Let's Connect:

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Be sure to check out:

Ways to work with me

Right Click Accounting

Blackline Academy

Useful Links:

Ideas Fest

Libby Walklett - The Ethical Bookkeeper

Tara Askham - She Starts Smart

Grace Hardy - Hardy Accounting

A stranger on LinkedIn decided a business owner's £90,000 turnover wasn't "healthy." Yet they had no context of what it actually took to get there.

A comment thread about VAT registration turned into one accountant judging another accountant's client, and it struck a nerve with me. Turnover means nothing without the story behind it, and business owners deserve better than being judged by the people meant to support them.

I'm sharing:

• The LinkedIn comment that questioned whether hitting the VAT threshold really counts as a "healthy turnover".
• Why the same number can mean completely different things depending on someone's circumstances.
• Why so many business owners feel too nervous to ask their accountant a "stupid" question.
• Why judgment from anyone you pay for advice should be a red flag, not something you just accept.
• Why now's the time to advocate for yourself if a service provider isn't giving you what you actually need.

Nobody gets to decide what counts as success in your business except you. They weren't there for the late nights, the risk, or the reason you started in the first place.

Let's Connect:

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Ways to work with me

Right Click Accounting

Blackline Academy

Episode Title:

Five Regulatory Changes Hitting UK Business Owners All At Once

Description:

Right now, UK business owners are facing several major regulatory and legislative changes landing at once, each one separate, each one significant, and together they're creating real pressure. This episode walks through what's changing and why it matters, without expecting you to become an expert in any of it.

I'm sharing:

• Making Tax Digital, and why HMRC are starting to mandate anyone who hasn't already registered
• The AML supervision reform, which will move anti-money laundering oversight for accountants and other regulated professionals to the FCA
• The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, including new identity verification rules for company directors
• The Employment Rights Bill, and why it's making some businesses hire more cautiously
• Data protection and AI, and why now's a good time to review how your business handles data under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025

If you're feeling the pressure of it all landing at once, that's a real, shared experience, not a sign you're falling behind.

Let's Connect:

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Be sure to check out:

Ways to work with me

Right Click Accounting

Blackline Academy

Useful Links:

S2 EP9 - "What the heck is MTD"

MTD for Limited Companies

MTD for Self Employed

AML Supervision Reform

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act - Transition Plan

Employment Rights Act 2025

Data (Use and Access) Act 2025

Saying no to a potential client can feel like leaving money on the table. But sometimes it's the smartest decision you can make.

Software that used to do one thing well is now trying to do everything at once, and keeping up with it all was becoming impossible. So earlier this year, I made the decision to become a Xero-only accountancy practice, even though it meant turning away clients using other systems.

I'm sharing:

• Why software that used to have one clear purpose is now trying to do everything, and what that's doing to businesses trying to keep up.
• The decision to become a Xero-only practice, and why it meant saying no to some potential clients.
• Why I don't think my team can do a brilliant job if they're spread across too many systems at once.
• Why being upfront about what we can and can't support matters more to me than saying yes to everyone.

Because I'm a firm believer that doing fewer things brilliantly will always beat trying to be everything to everyone!

Let's Connect:

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Be sure to check out:

Ways to work with me

Right Click Accounting

Blackline Academy

Useful Links:

Monday.com

Pinterest

CapCut

Xero

Earlier this year, I emailed my clients to explain a new partnership between two platforms I use, Xero and Anthropic, the company behind an AI tool called Claude. I gave every client the choice to opt in, opt out, or have a chat if they weren't sure.

Then someone questioned why I'd bothered, since accountants don't usually announce every software change. I'm always interested in other people's point of view so started thinking about their opinion and why I felt different when it comes to AI.

I'm sharing:

• Why I chose to proactively tell clients about a new AI partnership, and gave them a real say in whether to use it.
• The pushback I got and why someone believed AI deserves no more transparency than any other software update.
• What actually makes AI fundamentally different from traditional software, in a way that affects your financial data.
• Why even the companies building AI can't fully explain how it reaches its answers.
• Why staying informed doesn't mean becoming an expert, it just means paying attention.

Transparency isn't about being an AI expert. It's about giving people the choice to understand what's actually happening with their own information.

Let's Connect:

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LinkedIn

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Be sure to check out:

Ways to work with me

Right Click Accounting

Blackline Academy

Useful Links:

AAT Bookkeeper Community Call

Diary Of A CEO with Daniel Kokotajlo