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Blue Marble Business Services

BlueMarble Bookkeeping is a professional, home run business. Tailored to helping your business grow.

10/06/2026

There's a new government agency checking employer compliance and it launched in April 2026.

The Fair Work Agency has consolidated HMRC's enforcement powers into one body with a clear focus:

✅ National Minimum & Living Wage, are you paying the right rates?
✅ Holiday pay, are you calculating it correctly for all worker types?
✅ Statutory Sick Pay, are eligible employees receiving what they're entitled to?

This isn't just about large employers. This new service will consolidate enforcement powers and has a much wider reach meaning small businesses are firmly in scope.

The three most common mistakes we see from small employers:
🔴 Paying the wrong wage rate after an April increase
🔴 Miscalculating holiday pay for part-time or irregular workers
🔴 Not keeping adequate payroll records to prove compliance

If you're not 100% confident your payroll is upto date - this is your sign to get it checked.

Source: Gov.uk / Fair Work Agency factsheet 2026

08/06/2026

☀️ Heading off on holiday soon? Amazing, you deserve it!

But before you set your out-of-office, here's your business finance checklist to make sure nothing falls apart while you're away:

📬 Invoices - sent, chased, and any overdue ones followed up before you go
💷 Payroll - if a pay run falls while you're away, make sure it's processed early or someone has it covered
🏦 Direct debits - check nothing large is coming out that will catch you short
📋 Bills and supplier payments - nothing due mid-holiday that needs actioning
🔒 Access - does someone have what they need to handle anything urgent?
📊 Books up to date - come back to clarity, not chaos

The business owners who enjoy their holidays most are the ones who left things in order.

Give us a call and we'll get you holiday-ready 💙

05/06/2026

📈 Limited company directors, has your take-home pay changed this tax year?

If you pay yourself through a mix of salary and dividends (as many owner-directors do), there are two changes from 2026/27 that may have reduced what's landing in your pocket:

💷 Dividend allowance: just £500

The tax-free dividend allowance has been cut to £500 down from £1,000 last year and £5,000 back in 2017. Any dividends above this are now taxable.

📊 Dividend tax rates have increased by 2%

The dividend tax rate has increased by two percentage points from the 2026/27 tax year, affecting both basic and higher rate taxpayers.

What this means in practice:
🔹 Basic rate taxpayer → 10.25% on dividends above £500 (up from 8.75%)
🔹 Higher rate taxpayer → 35.75% (up from 33.75%)
🔹 Additional rate → 39.35% (unchanged)

If you haven't reviewed your salary/dividend split for 2026/27 now is a really good time to do that.

We can help you work out the most tax-efficient structure for your circumstances.

Source: HMRC / Gov.uk / Simply Business

03/06/2026

Still mixing your business and personal money in the same account?

You're not the first. But here's why it matters more than you might think:

1. Your bookkeeping takes twice as long as every transaction has to be manually checked "was that Asda trip business or personal?" those hours add up fast.
2. You have no idea how your business is actually doing - If your income and living expenses are all mixed together, there's no clean picture of profit.
3. You're making HMRC's job easier to question you - Mixed accounts are one of the most common triggers for queries. A dedicated business account creates a clear, clean audit trail.
4. It makes claiming expenses much harder - Miss a business transaction buried in personal spending? That's money you never claim back.
5. It looks more professional - Clients paying into a business account builds trust. Clients paying into a personal account… less so.

The fix costs nothing, most banks offer free business accounts for sole traders, and it can be set up in minutes online.

If you're not sure where to start, give us a call or DM.

📍 Ringwood, Dorset

01/06/2026

Employment Allowance is one of the most underused reliefs available to small UK employers and it's worth up to £10,500 in 2026/27.

It reduces your employer Class 1 National Insurance liability, pound for pound, up to the cap. For a small business with a modest payroll, that's a meaningful saving every single year.

It won't apply automatically, you need to claim it through your payroll software at the start of each tax year. And it doesn't roll over from the previous year, so if you haven't confirmed your claim for 2026/27, now is the time.

We check Employment Allowance status for every employer we manage payroll for. It's one of those things that's easy to miss when you're running a business and wearing seventeen hats.

If you're unsure whether you qualify or whether it's been claimed, we're happy to take a look.

📍 Blue Marble Business Services | Ringwood, Dorset

Source: HMRC / Gov.uk

29/05/2026

HMRC has just increased the Approved Mileage Allowance Payment (AMAP) rate, the first change in 14 years!

The headline rate for cars and vans has risen from 45p to 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles, effective from 6 April 2026 - reflecting the significant rise in vehicle ownership costs including fuel, maintenance and insurance over the past decade.

Key points for employers and the self-employed:
✅ The increase is backdated to 6 April 2026 - covering the full 2026/27 tax year
✅ Employers can now reimburse up to 55p per mile tax and NI free
✅ Employees paid below 55p per mile can claim Mileage Allowance Relief on the difference through Self Assessment or HMRC's job expenses system
✅ Applies to petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric vehicles equally - HMRC has not introduced separate EV rates Sage

If you've already run payroll or logged mileage claims at 45p this tax year, now is a good time to review and adjust.

As always, we're here if you need help getting this right.

📍 Blue Marble Business Services | Ringwood, Dorset

Source: HMRC / Gov.uk — 21 May 2026

27/05/2026

One of the most practical pieces of financial advice for any sole trader or freelancer:

Set aside 20–30% of every payment you receive into a separate account.

Always try to put 20–30% of every payment you receive into a separate savings account to cover your tax bill it's one of the simplest habits that separates business owners who feel in control from those who dread January.

It covers your Income Tax liability, Class 4 National Insurance, and gives you breathing room for any final adjustments.

The business owners who struggle most at Self Assessment time aren't usually the ones who earned the least. They're the ones who didn't separate the money as they went.

If you'd like help understanding exactly what to set aside based on your profit, we're always happy to have that conversation.

25/05/2026

P60s must be issued to every employee by 31 May 2026.

A P60 shows each employee their total pay and deductions for the tax year and every single employee on your payroll on 5 April must receive one.

Here's what you need to know:
📋 Deadline: 31 May 2026 — no extensions
👤 Who needs one: Every employee still on your payroll at the end of the tax year (5 April)
📬 How: Paper or electronic — but they must be accessible to the employee
❌ Miss it: HMRC can issue a penalty — and your employees may need it for mortgages, tax credits, or their own Self Assessment

If we run your payroll, we've got this covered. If you're doing it yourself and aren't sure where you're up to, give us a call before the end of May 👇

Source: HMRC / Gov.uk

22/05/2026

Green flags for your business finances, how many can you tick?

🟢 You know your monthly profit without having to guess
🟢 Your invoices go out on time (and get chased when they don't come back!)
🟢 You've got a pot set aside for your tax bill
🟢 Your records are up to date — not a box of receipts waiting for January
🟢 You're not dreading year end
🟢 You actually feel in control of your money

How many did you tick? Drop your score in the comments 👇

If you're sitting at 2 or fewer don't worry, you're not alone. Most of the business owners we start working with feel exactly the same way.

That's what we do at Blue Marble 💙 Friendly, local bookkeeping that puts you back in control.

20/05/2026

The UK VAT threshold is £90,000 — and there are two things that catch business owners out every single year:

1. It's based on rolling 12 months — not the tax year
HMRC looks back at the previous 12 months from the end of every single month. So if your turnover from May 2025 to April 2026 exceeds £90k, you need to register — even if your April-to-April figures look fine.

2. You only have 30 days to register once you cross it
Miss that window and HMRC can backdate your registration — meaning you owe VAT on sales you never actually collected from your customers.

⚠️ It's also based on turnover, not profit. So even if you're not making much money yet, if your sales figures are high, VAT applies.

💡 Our advice? If your rolling turnover is sitting above £75,000, start having the conversation now — not when you've already crossed the line.

We help our clients stay on top of exactly this kind of thing. Give us a call.

Source: HMRC / Gov.uk

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Ringwood

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https://www.bluemarblebusinessservices.co.uk/

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