Author: admin

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The hidden costs of being too helpful to clients 

Here at Minerva Accountants we are fortunate to have the best clients. This is a deliberate strategy on my part as I feel that we do our best work for people we like. I often put down the phone after a call and think ‘that’s my favourite client!’ 

The downside of dealing with such wonderful business owners is that we have to remind ourselves not to be too helpful. 

  • Over-servicing and scope creep – while we include telephone support in most of our packages it’s easy to do too much. Much as I love my work I’m running a business and not a charity so it’s important to charge for extras. If it’s not a quick answer and requires either calculations or research then we book a paid call. 
  • Constantly saying ‘yes’ can have an emotional cost when it becomes hard to set boundaries when you need to say ‘no’ 
  • Giving away too much begins to erode profitability so you need to work extra hours or take on more clients. More clients means not enough time to service the ones that you already have so it’s a lose-lose. 
  • Setting expectations early is important. As in any good improv class the answer is ‘yes, and … ‘ In our case it is ‘yes, and … that will cost £x or £x per hour’ 
  • Clear boundaries improve client relationships. I’ve lost count of the number of times on online forums when accountants close to burnout are complaining about clients who expect them to answer the phone in the evenings or over the weekend. The simple answer is to turn off the phone (or send calls to voice mail) outside of office hours.  

I hope you are setting the right boundaries in your business for your profitability and your health. Good clients won’t push these boundaries. 

If you think you’re over-servicing then contact us for our Over-Servicing Assessment and reclaim your profitability  

Scale up 4 Growth grants are back! 

For businesses with 5-249 employees and where activity and outcomes are delivered within a 50 mile range of UWE Bristol 

https://www.uwe.ac.uk/business/businesses-and-employers/scale-up-4-growth

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Why most businesses plateau and how to break through 

1.There is a limit to how much one person can handle, both in terms of practical work and mental load. Even if you are prepared to work an 80 hour week! If you want a decent work-life balance then you need to systemise, automate, and delegate in order to grow beyond your personal limits. 

2.More clients doesn’t always equal more profit. The most profitable clients are often those that are the best for for your business. These fit your systems so you can work more efficiently AND they fit your expertise so you can provide better value. 

3.Every business has bottle necks. These might be in the workflow itself or it may be that you and your limited time are the bottleneck. 

4.You need to make the mindset move away from technician to business owner. Stop trying to do everything yourself. This will increase your profitability, scalability and saleability 

If you’d like a copy of our Small Firm Growth Breakthrough Blueprint please email hello@minervaaccountants.co.uk

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A double workload ahead? 

I’ve been speaking on the topic of MTD for 10 years now. Initially to our own clients, then to other accountants and bookkeepers, and now to business owners. One of the reasons I’ve been trying to encourage people to pull their finger out is because there will be a period of double work. 

In case you haven’t already realised, and it seems that many haven’t, you will have to submit a normal tax return for 2025/26 AND three quarterly returns for 2026/27 during the 10 month period April 2026 – Jan 2027. 

Do, if you aren’t ready for MTD yet … pull your finger out! (And give me a shout if you need a hand) 

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What’s your UX like? 

User experience (UX) can make or break your business.  

I woke up at silly o’clock this morning dreaming about the poor UX in a particular bit of our accounting software. Every time I use it I get annoyed. There’s a similar irritant in our practice management software. Things that were poorly designed. 

We try our best to ensure that dealing with Minerva Accountants is smooth and seamless. We work with tech-savvy clients so we use a lot of automated chasing BUT we also ensure that any client who replies to the emails is met with a human response. 

We prefer to communicate by email for traceability and so that the whole team can see what is happening with clients BUT, if something is not straightforward, we leap onto a telephone or Zoom call. 

AI and technology can make things run smoothly behind the scenes but it takes a human to think through a human friendly UX. Take some time this week to review the customer journey in your business and make it as smooth and friendly as possible. 

1.How do the first contact you? 

2.What is your onboarding process? 

3.What is the process for delivering your goods or services? 

4.What happens when something goes wrong? 

5.How easy is it for customers to speak to a human being of they need to? 

What one thing can you do to improve each of these touchpoints? 

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Would you give up your business and go back to employment? 

Every business owner has probably considered this at some point, and you may even think about it on a regular basis. 

Comfortable, regular income, regular hours (even if you do end up working more than your contract), the ultimate responsibility lies with somebody else, and you can hand in your notice and walk away if things become too much. 

But compare that to the freedom of running your own business. I set up my own small accountancy business after I was unable to find flexible work that would allow me to prioritise my young children. I was only going to do a few sets of accounts from the kitchen table but my corporate background running businesses meant that it grew far beyond that. I started, built, and eventually sold, Hudson Business Accountants and Advisers while working an average of just 25 hours per week. (If you want to know how then read my first book, The Numbers Business: how to build a successful cloud accountancy practice) 

Now that my kids have grown and flown, I work a full week, but I run three businesses. Okay, two businesses and a side hustle. Whilst I still enjoy flexible hours, all my businesses are remote as I like to work as I travel. And our whole team have the same freedom. 

As the business owner I also get to choose the work that I do and the clients that I work with. We only have the nicest clients which make work more enjoyable AND we are more motivated to do more for them. And I love it when we can help others, whether business owner clients of Minerva Accountants or accountant clients of Hudson Business Advice, to have that same business that they dream of. 

If I could find an employer who shared my values and provided enjoyable work and the same flexibility, I would jump at the stability of employment but, until then, I love what I have built. And I want to help others to fall back in love with their business too. 

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Company Cars 

Company cars can seem like a good buy for your business but the individual is heavily taxed if they are available for personal use. You don’t even need to drive them, they just need to be available.  

Company cars are not really tax efficient and we often advise clients to buy the car privately and just charge the company for mileage. For one client with expensive taste in cars we even recommended staying as a sole trader rather than a limited company. (I know your mate at the pub probably told you that you could save a shedload of tax by being a limited company but this isn’t always true! Ask us to do the detailed calculations for your chosen car) 

This is because cars are treated as benefits in kind and taxed as if you have additional salary.  The value of this benefit is based on a percentage of list price (including accessories) even if you buy them second hand. The employee pays tax and national insurance and the employer also pays national insurance. 

The percentage used for electric vehicles is much lower than for others although this is increasing each year. 

As well as the vehicle any fuel for personal use is taxed at a flat rate for the year so work out how much you use to see if it is tax efficient. 

If you’re still considering a company car then you may be able to reduce your overall tax burden by many different means: 

  • If you lease a car (operating lease, not a finance lease) you may be able to reclaim half the VAT on the lease payments 
  • Consider electric vehicles or at least lower emission cars 
  • Consider a van if that would be suitable for your work as this is taxed differently 
  • If you don’t use the car personally then make sure that it is not insured for personal use and is not kept at your home overnight (difficult if you work from home) 
  • If you have a taste for expensive cars it may even be worth you running your business as a sole trader or partnership rather than a limited company  
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We all have the same 24 hours per day … 

How patronising! Am I the only one who gets wound up by trite comments like this?  

We might all have 24 hours per day but we have very different responsibilities and priorities. 

You might have family to care for, health issues, different work/business commitments, different commutes, gym and fitness requirements, food prep, and a need for good sleep AND quality relaxation. 

There are all sort of processes/hacks that we can implement to get more out of our 24 hours. I try to share many of them here.  

But please, don’t judge others or feel that you have failed because you don’t get as much done. 

When I had small children I worked a 25 hour week which taught me to be very efficient and to insist on well trained clients who fitted our business well. Now that my kids have grown and flown my time is my own.  

I still choose to work ‘only’ 35 hours per week using the processes and automation that I learned in my first businesses. These days I am able to travel more freely and take advantage of working holidays. I still don’t seem to prioritise the gym though! 

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Minerva Tax Review

Ideally, we would sit down with our clients each Feb/Mar to discuss any tax planning required before the end of the tax year. But many of our clients are too small to have the necessary management accounts to provide reliable information, or they just can’t afford a proactive fee so we provide them with a mini-review each year.

When we complete year end accounts for our clients we complete a 10 point tax review for each business as standard to ensure that they are making the most of their various allowances.

1. Are they using the most appropriate trading vehicle eg sole trader or partnership vs limited company?

2. Should they register for VAT voluntarily or if they have exceeded the rolling 12 month limit (currently £90k including reverse charge income)? If already VAT registered are they on the most suitable scheme?

3. Should their spouse be a partner, shareholder, or employee?

4. Are they taking the most appropriate salary vs dividends?

5. Are they approaching certain cliff edges such as 25% corporation tax, higher income child benefit charge, etc and are there legitimate ways to keep their income below these limits?

6. Are they investing in pensions?

7. Should they be paying/receiving interest on their DLA?

8. Are they using part of their home for business and should they claim these costs?

9. Are they eligible for Research and Development tax credits and is it worth claiming (as the fees can be quite high for legitimate experts)?

10.Would they benefit from an EIS/SEIS scheme?

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Compliance alone won’t grow your business

Good compliance is essential. It keeps you legal. But it is always looking backwards and does little to help a business to grow. Many accountants only do once a year accounts and many business owners are happy with this.

Real growth comes through planning, looking forward, and taking actions.

To help with this we run FOUR strategic planning days Jan – Mar (2 for accountants and 2 for other business owners) and another in the Autumn.

But we don’t just run them for other people. My year end is July, a legacy from when my life and business revolved around my young children and the school year. I work through the same SPD myself every Summer to work out my priorities and plans each year.

We look at:

  • Personal goals
  • Business goals
  • Your offer
  • Your competitors
  • Your ideal client
  • Your positioning and USP
  • SWOT analysis
  • Goals
  • Blockers
  • Actions

Yes, I know that covers more than strategy but, for small businesses, it’s enough to have a clear plan and we have clients who come back to repeat the exercise with us.

When did you last look at your own business in this way?