Doing your tax Self-Assessment can be stressful because it can get you flagged for investigation by HMRC, you can have fines for late filing, additional charges and interest for late payment and you’ve no idea about upcoming tax liabilities. You don’t even know if you really have a business. So in this episode Neil tells you how you can get on top of your business finances and stresses the importance of doing so. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

• Ensure you do your books and meet the deadline for your tax return so that you know you’re making money and don’t get fined. 

• Keeping proper accounts of where your business finances are, are bloody important part of being your own boss. 
• These days a book keeper isn’t necessary in order to keep on top of your books, use accounting software that can link to your bank and your phone. 
• The benefit of doing everything digitally is that it’s fast and easy to do which allows you to do what you do best. 
• It only takes 10 minutes a week to do your accounts, as long as you do it consistently and regularly. It’s also a lot better than leaving it all last minute. 
• If you leave everything last minute, then you’ll get stresses which will then have a negative impact on all other aspects of your business and even your personal life.  

• No matter how good you do your taxes, HMRC will find some way of fining you. 
• If the business part of you isn’t good, then you wont be able to sustain being a good tutor. 

BEST MOMENTS 

“Accounts are vital for your survival and to your success” 

“There’s nothing mysteriously difficult about keeping your books in order” 

“If your back office is a mess then it’s likely to spill over into other parts of your business” 

“Business first then tutor” 

VALUABLE RESOURCES 

• The Tutor Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tutorpodcast 

ABOUT THE HOST 

Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! 

CONTACT METHOD 

Neil Cowmeadow 

[email protected]