Lionheart Virtual Assistance

Lionheart Virtual Assistance Certified bookkeeper | Keeping your books balanced | VAT | Making Tax Digital

I've sat across from a lot of business owners who apologise before we've even opened their books."Sorry, it's a bit of a...
09/06/2026

I've sat across from a lot of business owners who apologise before we've even opened their books.

"Sorry, it's a bit of a mess."
"Sorry, I know I should have kept on top of this."
"Sorry, I don't really know what any of this means."

They apologise like they've done something wrong.

They haven't. They've just been running a business, doing the thing they're actually good at (and why they started the business in the first place) and hoping the numbers sort themselves out in the background.

They won't, but that's not a character flaw. It's just not their job.

It's mine.

If you're still in the "I'll look at it later" phase, I'd love to chat. No judgement, no jargon, just a clear picture of where you actually stand.

Cash flow problems often aren’t about sales, they’re about unpaid invoices.Credit control doesn’t need to be scary. It’...
04/06/2026



Cash flow problems often aren’t about sales, they’re about unpaid invoices.

Credit control doesn’t need to be scary. It’s about:
- Tracking what’s owed
- Sending timely, polite reminders
- Spotting late payers early
- Following up consistently

And it’s not just about chasing.

Looking at the average of the last 3 months can help you forecast cash flow more accurately, and if you know certain months are usually quieter, you can plan ahead instead of being caught off guard.

Do you chase invoices regularly or only when you feel the pinch?

Nobody starts a business thinking they'll end up doing absolutely everything. And yet, the emails, the decisions, the ch...
02/06/2026

Nobody starts a business thinking they'll end up doing absolutely everything.

And yet, the emails, the decisions, the chasing, the checking, the remembering. The following up on the thing you followed up on last week.

That person is usually you.

It's fine at the beginning and you don't always notice it when you're in it. Until a day off doesn't really feel like a day off. Until you're the reason something hasn't moved forward, not because you don't want it to but because there are only so many hours and you're already in all of them.

Being the bottleneck in your own business is one of the most common and least talked about signs that something needs to change.

Not because you're doing anything wrong, but because the way you're set up hasn't kept pace with how much you're carrying.

The businesses that grow well aren't the ones where the founder does everything. They're the ones where the founder has put the right support around them.

Where do you feel the bottleneck most in your business right now?

Spend 10 minutes each week reviewing your unpaid invoices.Most cash flow issues don’t come from lack of salesthey come ...
28/05/2026



Spend 10 minutes each week reviewing your unpaid invoices.

Most cash flow issues don’t come from lack of sales
they come from work you’ve already done that hasn’t been paid.

A quick weekly look at your aged receivables report means you:
- Chase sooner
- Avoid missed payments
- See trends of late payers
- Protect your cash flow
- Feel more in control

Do you check your aged receivables regularly or only when the bank balance looks low?

Sometimes the nicest thing someone can say isn't about numbers at all.Sue came to me after being badly let down by someo...
26/05/2026

Sometimes the nicest thing someone can say isn't about numbers at all.

Sue came to me after being badly let down by someone she'd trusted with her books. Invoices slipping through the net. A VAT threshold missed. The kind of damage that builds up when no one's actually doing the work.

That's what good bookkeeping does. It takes away the noise.

If your books feel more like a source of stress than a source of information, I'd love to chat. Drop me a DM or book a free discovery call. Link in the coments.

HMRC has increased the approved mileage rate for cars and vans from 45p to 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business mi...
22/05/2026

HMRC has increased the approved mileage rate for cars and vans from 45p to 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year.

The last change to this rate was over a decade ago. It means more money back in your pocket if you claim mileage.

If you're not tracking your business journeys, you really should be.

Not sure how it works or whether you're claiming correctly? Drop me a message.

Did you know that incorrectly recording or claiming VAT can lead to fines of up to 100% of your business turnover?That’...
21/05/2026



Did you know that incorrectly recording or claiming VAT can lead to fines of up to 100% of your business turnover?

That’s not profit… that’s turnover!

If HMRC audit your records and believe VAT was wrongly claimed and deliberately concealed, the fine could be between 50–100% of turnover.

Even errors deemed as “careless", so recorded incorrectly in error, can result in fines of up to 30% of turnover.

It’s a strong reminder of why accurate bookkeeping matters and why getting qualified support is key. Getting the details right protects your business from unnecessary risk.

Do you feel confident your VAT is being recorded correctly?

Most business owners I speak to have a version of the same habit.The tab that stays minimised, the report that opens and...
19/05/2026

Most business owners I speak to have a version of the same habit.

The tab that stays minimised, the report that opens and then closes again, the month-end that keeps getting moved to next week.

It's not laziness, usually it's a dread that the numbers might confirm something you're not ready to deal with. So it's easier not to look.

But not looking doesn't change what's there. It just means you're making decisions without the full picture.

Everything feels lighter when your finances stop being something you're avoiding and start being something that's just taken care of.

When you open Xero and it makes sense, when someone flags something before it becomes a problem, when you're not the one who has to remember to check.

That feeling of dread doesn't have to be the default.

What's the financial task you find yourself putting off most?

Claiming or buying clothes through your business is often seen as a real grey area, however it's actually really clear ...
14/05/2026



Claiming or buying clothes through your business is often seen as a real grey area, however it's actually really clear cut.

Workwear, PPE and branded clothing, all of these are absolutely fine. They have a clear business purpose.

Clothes for networking, photoshoots, podcasts or events. This is a hard no.

HMRC enforces wholly and exclusively as rule.

If it is not wholly and exclusively for business use it is a no.

The nice outfit you bought for networking, could also be used for a personal event.

If in doubt get in touch.

For a long time, I think a lot of business owners carry an unspoken belief that asking for help means we're not quite ma...
12/05/2026

For a long time, I think a lot of business owners carry an unspoken belief that asking for help means we're not quite managing.

That if we were organised enough, capable enough, on top of things enough, we'd be able to do it all ourselves.

So we keep going, we work late, we add it to the list, we tell ourselves we'll sort it properly when things calm down.

But things don't calm down, they just get bigger.

When you've been wearing all the hats for so long, you forget you can take some off and give them to someone else.

There's a different way to look at it.

Knowing what to hand over and when isn't a sign that you're struggling. It's one of the clearest signs that you're thinking like someone who's building something rather than just surviving it.

The business owners I work with aren't people who couldn't cope. They're people who decided their time and headspace were worth protecting.

That's not weakness, that's a very deliberate choice.

Has outsourcing ever felt like something you had to justify, to yourself or anyone else?

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