http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/ The latest Blog feeds from www.accountsninjas.co.uk en-us Thu, 07 May 2026 12:14:36 +0100 Rocketspark http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/post/24388/shopify-payouts-vs-sales-why-your-bank-balance-doesnt-match-your-dashboard/ Ever looked at your Shopify sales and thought,"Wait, where’s all that money?"You're not alone.Here’s what’s really happening 👇🛒 Shopify Sales ≠ What Hits Your BankYour sales dashboard shows gross revenue—the total before fees, returns, and chargebacks.But when Shopify sends payouts, it subtracts:✔️ Payment processing fees✔️ Refunds✔️ Shopify fees ✔️ Currency conversions✔️ Chargebacks (ouch)The result?Your bank deposit is always lower than your “sales” numb... Wed, 14 May 2025 20:39:26 +0100 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/#post24388 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/post/24376/shopify-store-owners-do-you-track-your-ad-spend-roi-weekly-monthly-or-not-at-all/ I speak with a lot of eCommerce founders, and one of the most common blind spots I see is not knowing how much their ads are actually making them.... Mon, 12 May 2025 18:38:52 +0100 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/#post24376 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/post/21865/as-a-sole-trader-what-records-do-i-need-to-keep/ If you are self-employed, then you must keep adequate records of your business income and expenses in order to prepare an accurate self assessment tax return. This page explains what business records are and how long you need to keep them. Your accounting record will vary depending on the size and nature of your business... Sat, 27 Apr 2024 13:50:36 +0100 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/#post21865 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/post/21863/can-i-pay-my-tax-bill-monthly/ If you pay tax under self-assessment, it can sometimes be difficult to ensure you have enough money to pay HMRC when the payment deadline arrives. It can be a good idea to put money aside regularly to pay your tax. Here I’ll explain how HMRC budget payment plans work and how these can ease the stress of facing a large tax bill.... Fri, 26 Apr 2024 16:32:20 +0100 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/#post21863 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/post/21860/how-does-tax-work-if-youre-self-employed--have-a-job-as-well/ Tax when you’re both employed and self-employed can be a bit confusing.As we all know,  employees are paid through the PAYE system, where their tax is calculated and paid automatically. If you make income through self-employment,  this  however, falls outside of that and becomes untaxed income. The duty for paying tax is as follows: Employer: your workplace should calculate and deduct the appropriate taxes for all income related to your salary. This also includes Class 1 Na... Fri, 26 Apr 2024 15:41:44 +0100 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/#post21860 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/post/21856/how-do-pensions-work-for-sole-traders/ If you’re self-employed as a sole trader or a partnership, you don’t have to pay into a pension scheme. However, it’s important to consider whether you should start paying into a pension scheme.You could start contributing to a personal pension scheme. These contributions would be made after tax, meaning you contribute directly from your bank account into your pension scheme. You can therefore, claim tax relief from HMRC in relation to the pension contributions you make during the tax year... Fri, 26 Apr 2024 12:20:47 +0100 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/#post21856 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/post/21845/sole-trader-can-i-claim-for-pre-trading-expenses/ It’s quite likely that as a new business owner, you’ll need to buy things prior to trading such as:·      Stock·      Maybe a website·      Advertising·      Hardware/ software·      Etc, etc…These are known as ‘pre-trading expenses’.... Thu, 25 Apr 2024 15:24:39 +0100 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/#post21845 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/post/21838/what-is-a-simplified-sales-invoice/ If your customer requests an invoice, you can only issue a simplified invoice if the total value (including VAT) is £250 or less. However, if the total amount is more than £250, you’re required to issue either a full VAT invoice or a modified VAT invoice, which will show VAT inclusive values (rather than VAT exclusive values).... Wed, 24 Apr 2024 12:37:00 +0100 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/#post21838 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/post/21837/what-details-do-i-need-to-put-on-my-sales-invoices/ You might see quite a few different sales invoices; some might have a date on, others don't; some have VAT on but no VAT number on them. It’s not surprising that  people get confused, so what should you include on your Sales Invoices?... Wed, 24 Apr 2024 11:53:45 +0100 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/#post21837 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/post/21836/how-do-i-pay-myself-as-a-sole-trader/ As a sole trader in the UK, you are essentially the business (so you do not have a separate legal identity to your business). Therefore, you have direct control over its finances. Paying yourself as a sole trader is very straight forward, as all you need to do is transfer the money to your personal account (assuming you have a separate business bank account). It's important to keep your personal finances separate from your business finances for accounting and tax purposes.You do not need to be r... Tue, 23 Apr 2024 19:33:39 +0100 http://www.accountsninjas.co.uk/blog/#post21836