inniAccounts Blog

8 March, 2010
by James in:

March inniAccounts Software Updates

We've been busy over the last few weeks working on several new features for inniAccounts.  I'll be the first to admit they're not terribly exciting, however they're pretty essential updates for contractors and freelancers who prefer to be as 'hands-on' as possible with their accounts.

Here's a quick run down of the new features:

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5 March, 2010
by Carl in:

HMRC Finds A Coding Glitch

You may have heard that HMRC have recently implemented a new PAYE computer system – good news in the long term, but during the changeover process HMRC identified one or two technical discrepancies which have resulted in some incorrect tax coding notices being issued.

While somebody somewhere in the depths of HMRC is no doubt busily fixing this glitch, official guidance has been on how contractors might be affected – here it is in a nutshell:

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5 March, 2010
by Carl in:

Good News for Student Debtors

It’s not often you have cause to mention the words ‘student loan debts’ and ‘good news’ in the same breath, but in this case it might just be appropriate. HMRC have announced a new initiative to cut out student loan over-repayments, which frequently occur if you repay your loan off via PAYE deductions (pretty much everybody, then).

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23 February, 2010
by Carl in:

In Search of a Contractor Accountant

Our guide to identifying this sought-after breed

Contractor Accountant

It recently came to the attention of the inniAccounts statisticians that, every month, 4000 people conduct Google searches for online accounting services using the term ‘contractor accountant’. This seems fair enough: you’re a contractor, you need an accountant…typing the two words makes perfect sense, and as a result the internet is full of sites containing ‘contractor accountant directories’ or similar such tools.

But descriptions of what a contractor accountant actually does seem to be thinner on the ground. So what the hell do we do? What can you expect from us? Why choose a contractor accountant over a non-prefixed accountant? Do we have special powers, like superheroes (sadly, in my case, the answer to the final question is no, but I can help with the others)?

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12 February, 2010
by Matt in:
8 comments

Top Ten Low Cost Cars for Contractors and Freelancers

We all know that claiming for your business mileage is a simple and effective way to reduce your tax bill. HMRC's mileage rate is fixed at 40p per mile (for the first 10,000 miles) so, to maximize your savings, it's definitely in your interests to find the most efficient car with the lowest possible running costs. However, it's a big job to work out the true efficiency of your prospective vehicle, especially if you want to consider all bases – including depreciation, road tax, insurance, servicing, fuel efficiency and all other running costs.

Fortunately, not only are Dean and I true petrol heads, we're also pretty handy with excel, so we've selected ten cars, loaded their vital statistics into our spreadsheet and created the ultimate efficiency barometer, calculating the true running costs per mile for each of our chosen cars.

Here’s the result: inniAccounts’ top ten cars for contractor and freelancers:

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10 February, 2010
by James in:
2 comments

Top 25 Essential Websites for Contractors and Freelancers

As I'm sure you'll know, many members of the inniAccounts team are experienced contractors and freelancers. So this week we've put our heads together, put our bookmarks on the table and come up with our list of the top twenty-five contracting sites and resources that make our lives a little bit easier.

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1 February, 2010
by James in:
1 comment

Get inniAccounts free for life - offer extended

Good news if you haven't yet had a chance to sign up to inniAccounts for free – this brilliant offer is still available until the end of March.

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4 January, 2010
by James in:
1 comment

Online accounting software - now free for life

We’re excited to announce that, to celebrate our recent makeover, we’re offering our unique accounting software free for life. If you sign up to inniAccounts before 31st January 2010 (extended until 31st March 2010), you’ll have free access to inniAccounts Lite for as long as you’re with us. That’s a saving of £7.95 per month.

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3 January, 2010
by James in:

New look, new features - it's even easier to stay on top

As you’ve probably noticed, we’ve had a makeover. Our new look is the first of a number of exciting developments; we’ve also refreshed our website, and launched a brand new help centre. The help centre offers step by step user guides, helpful hints and new discussion forums which allow you to chat with the inniAccounts team and with fellow contractors and freelancers.

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22 November, 2009
by Carl in:

VAT holiday over

The Government’s one-year VAT holiday will end on 1st January 2010, with rates expected to return to 17.5% from the 15% we have enjoyed all year. HMRC have confirmed the normal tax point rules will apply: date of invoice or date of payment, whichever comes first.

So if the invoice or payment is made before 1st January, VAT will be at the rate of 15% - anything after that date will be charged at 17.5%. To help us through the transition, HMRC have issued some guidelines we should note:

  • VAT should be calculated at 17.5% from 1st January.
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