r/selfemployed

I am about to start tracking my miles for Spark and Uber (better halfway through the year than never, I suppose) and I would like to know if you all choose to deduct miles from your total mileage if you do something non work related during your trip.

I’m talking about a trip to the gas station or a fast food restaurant, for instance, then straight back to work.

Would it still count if it is between your starting point and the destination listed on your mileage log? It is a “break” to me, but I’d like to know if there is any literature surrounding this or general best practice.

Thanks in advance! Any additional advice is appreciated!

(UK) Hello, hope this is the correct sub Reddit for this!

I'm currently employed with a company which I have been for the past 5 years, however they are wanting to make me self employed due to them reaching the VAT threshold.. however, they are wanting me to do a 50/50 split on dogs I have groomed in exchange for all equipment being paid for a person helping me with business advice and financial advice, help within the salon, all shampoos, electricity, water etc all paid for and someone bathing and drying some of my dogs for me.. I groom approx 7 dogs a day with a bathing and dryer average cost is approx £60 per dog obviously some more and some less.. is this worth it? Obviously I will be losing pension contributions, holiday and sick pay.. can anyone advice?

Paying myself as a LTD company director

Hi folks. Looking for advice on how to pay myself as a sole Ltd company director.

Im a contract welder in the UK. I bounce from job to job. I recently set up my own company as I've been getting more work which offer LTD company pay.

I want to make sure im getting everything right as I really dont want to be bitten later down the line.

My current understanding is i pay myself the £12,570 tax free amount. I then keep 20% aside on the rest of the money to pay my corporation tax. What's left over i pay myself in dividends which is then taxed at 10.75% which ill also need to keep aside.

Please let me know if I've got any of this wrong.

I also make sure to buy fuel on the company when travelling to work

Thanks in advance folks

Hi im currently in a pickle trying to figure if LTD is the way, from what i hear the rules are more stricter now as a director? Im essentially aiming to pay myself the most efficient way possible? Im not a wiz so im not too sure. At the moment I’m around 60K avg annually in Cyber/IT. Accounting tools helped so far but i think its a good time to switch over as a ltd company? Just wanted to see whats the best way before i go to an accountant.

Genuine question - I've been talking to a handful of plumbers and electricians who say they lose 2–3 hours a week to scheduling clashes, chasing customers for addresses, and writing up invoices in the evening. Some are running their entire business off WhatsApp + Excel.

For those of you running solo or with 2–3 crew:

- What's the actual breakdown of your "admin" time per week?

- Have you tried tools like Jobber, ServiceM8, Tradify? What stuck or didn't?

- If something saved you 2 hours a week, would you actually use it, or is even that too much overhead?

Context - I'm a solo dev (not a trade) and I've been building something to address this, because the existing tools feel built for 20-person companies. Won't name it or link it here, not the point of the post. Mostly just want to sanity check the problem before going further. Genuinely curious if I'm solving a real pain or imagining one.

Hi everyone,
I’m hoping for some advice because I genuinely can’t afford an accountant at the moment.
This was my first year working self-employed in the UK, and I’m trying to understand what counts as tax deductible expenses.
For context, I work in healthcare, but I do not live in the UK — I live abroad and only came to the UK temporarily for work. During the 2025–26 tax year, I worked in the UK for around 2 months, working 5 days a week under a short-term contract.
The sole purpose of my travel to the UK was work. Because of this, I had some major expenses:
Flights to and from my home country → UK (only travelled for work)
A short-term let/accommodation for exactly the 2 months of my contract, purely because I needed somewhere to stay while working
Before expenses, I earned above the personal allowance. However, if these costs are allowable expenses, it would bring me below the personal allowance, meaning I may not owe tax.
My questions are:
Are flights and short-term accommodation for temporary work in the UK potentially tax deductible in this situation?
Is it acceptable if legitimate expenses reduce my taxable income below the personal allowance?
Do I need an accountant for this, or can I realistically self-report everything through Self Assessment?
I’d be so grateful for any advice or if anyone has been in a similar situation. Thank you so much!

I got made redundant from my role in environmental services last year when my firm ceased trading and after finding myself getting increasingly annoyed at the people in whatever factory job I could find, I've gone self employed predominantly being paid a day rate from one of my former colleagues who set up his own business doing pretty much what we did for the same clients, which involves travel around the country in my own car, typically staying in hotels. My rate just pays for me and my PPE and basic tools to get to the site so my business outgoings are fairly minimal. After my mileage hotels and accommodation costs, I'm making between 180 and 220 a day depending mainly on where in the country I am.

My current plan is that every time my business account has £4000, which should be once every 2 or 3 weeks. I pay myself £2000 and will put 26% of that (£520) in a tax pot, and figure over the year I should be making around £40k with 4 weeks off and the odd day here and there when I won't have any work.

Does anyone else on a similar wage use the same method? And does it help keeping track of your finances, bearing in mind I am likely to do 30,000ish miles meaning I won't get 45p a mile reduced off my tax for all of miles driven.

I am going to go self employed soon. I have combined old pensions into one provider and I will transfer my current one too. How do you approach paying into your private pension as a self-employed person? Do you go by percentages or a set amount? How did you decide?
Many decisions as there's the matching part of things missing. Thanks in advance!

I genuinely think a lot of these accounting apps WANT you overwhelmed.

Every app I tried either looked like it was built in 2007 or felt like I needed an accountant just to send an invoice.

Started using this newer software called Ovaro recently and it’s the first time I’ve actually stayed on top of everything consistently.

The difference is it doesn’t feel like “accounting software.

You can literally:

• Speak and it creates invoices with AI

• Snap receipts and it auto categorises expenses

• See live estimates of what tax you owe

• Track mileage automatically with GPS

• Send payment links instantly

• Actually understand your numbers without spreadsheets everywhere

Weirdly it’s reduced more stress for me than any productivity app I’ve used.

Feels like someone finally built invoicing software for normal people instead of accountants.

What’s everyone else using right now?

I’m self-employed doing social media management and I need advice on whether I’m being reasonable or not.

I originally started as an unpaid intern for a woman managing socials for a clinic software company. They stopped working with her and then asked me to take over instead.

At the time, I had very little confidence and experience, so when they asked my rates I honestly didn’t know what to say. We agreed on £12.50/hour for 12 hours a week for Dec 2025 and Jan 2026, and I officially registered as self-employed in Jan 2026. Since then the workload has grown massively.

Originally I was only managing the software socials. Now I’m also helping with the chiropractic clinic socials, engagement, outreach, DMs to potential clients, networking with other pages, content planning, etc. (the software and chiropractic clinic are sister companies)

I’ve gradually increased myself up to around 20 hours a week because otherwise the work simply wouldn’t get done properly. They say they’re happy for me to go over 20 hours if needed, but every time I try to discuss moving to a fixed monthly retainer / clearer structure, I get told:
“we’ll see what happens over the next couple of months.”

I’ve turned down other clients because I was under the impression I’d eventually be working more hours with them up to full time, but there’s still no clear commitment, no signed service agreement (I sent one 2 months ago and have chased up), and no clarity on long term plans.

Meanwhile I know the previous woman they hired was paid significantly more than me (£6k a month to be exact) and apparently did much less work.

Now I’m starting to feel resentful because I feel like I’m being treated as “easy” because I started as the unpaid intern.

I’m considering proposing:
- £2,000/month
- approx 30 hours weekly
- 3 weekly posts for the software company
- 2–3 weekly posts for the clinic
- daily engagement/community management
- outreach/DMs
- around 5 hours weekly visiting clinics for organic content creation

I also want to tell them I won’t be doing the email marketing they’ve asked me to do because it’s outside my service offering and I don’t want to keep taking on extra responsibilities while there’s still no signed agreement or formal structure

Am I being unreasonable here?
And how would you approach this conversation without damaging the relationship?

I’m self employed with an LLC and no employees.

I pay for my own health insurance through the marketplace, but was wondering if other expenses were tax deductible. I’m trying to take better bookkeeping for myself.
I have a new accountant, but I’m not meeting with them for another month or so I don’t feel comfortable calling just to ask, otherwise obviously I would.
Thanks

One of the most common questions I see in here so thought I'd break it down quickly.

Stay sole trader if your profits are under £30,000-£35,000. The tax savings from going limited simply won't outweigh the extra costs at that level.

Start thinking limited once you're past £35,000-£40,000. Salary and dividends combined can save you anywhere from £2,000 to £5,000 a year.

The biggest mistake I see? People going limited too early, or staying sole trader out of habit for years and quietly losing money every single tax year.

Happy to answer any questions in the comments!

I remember just filling out a direct deposit sheet that would get sent to corporate when I worked for large companies…. I’ve worked for myself for several years now and while this doesn’t come up often, now and then there’s a situation where it’s required I have a direct deposit set up in order to access a benefit or feature etc. Chime requires a direct deposit in order for you to utilize their mobile check depositing feature for example. Can I set up a direct deposit to myself? Is there a correct way to do this? Is it just not a possibility when you’re self employed? Just thought I’d put it out there and see if you Human Resource, payroll, banker gods out there had some info.

so ive been running this thing for like two years. it started as just a side hustle bringing in a few hundred dollars a month, but now it’s pulling in a few thousand regularly, and my brain can’t handle the chaos anymore.

my personal account has business income, my business account has personal stuff, i pay myself in like three different ways depending on the month, and i have no clue if i’m overpaying or underpaying taxes. last month, i counted about twelve different transfers between accounts and still couldn’t tell what was mine versus the company’s.

the worst part is when i look at my bank balance i have no idea what i really 

have versus what the business needs versus what i owe. last month i almost missed a supplier payment because i thought the money was still mine. i’ve also accidentally double counted some withdrawals and then panicked wondering if i just lost thousands.

is there some simple system that doesnt require hiring an accountant?

I started my business in January 2023 and have worked M-F + Saturdays. On Sundays I go to church and do errands, cooking, cleaning for the week resulting in no days off. M-F it’s been a broken schedule of 5-8 hours in the morning, then 2-3 hours at night and about an hour drive home. I leave around 7:30/8 most days and come home some nights around 8. Saturdays are lighter, I’m done at 3.

This summer, I’m telling my clients that I’m taking Saturdays off. With student loans starting up again soon, I may need to pick up Saturdays after the summer which sucks. Just exhausted. Any input would be appreciated.

I have set up a couple businesses over the years, one DIY and two through services.

The actual filing part felt almost identical every time.

The difference showed up later with things like reminders and support.

Curious what others noticed.

So I started advertising and doing lawn care, powerwashing, and other stuff to make money to start a non profit. I've ran small businesses before, only a few that were in person, more ecommerce honestly. I just found this sub and was trying to find any help or input on things I need to keep in mind as a sole propriotor while doing this type of work. I want to become an LLC, but I'm not making enough, nor do i have employees, but I've still considered it. Would an LLC be the way to go? I started working about 30 hours/wk doing delivery because advertising was going slow, but thats another story.

I've bounced this off of AI and other people, but I'm trying to get as much advice as possible to get more organized. Im ADD as crap and don't wanna go on medicine. I find myself chasing squirrels in rabbit holes daily, even after working 16 hours so I need to figure out what all to focus on. Small goals, big goals, tax stuff, really any help would be much appreciated

A company I volunteer for has taken me on as tutor. I invoice them for my hours. The shifts will be really ad hoc and if I do 1 per month then I'd be earning just £1000 per year, I don't think I'll do this many. What are my obligations with tax? Do I need to do a self assesment each year or only if I earn over a certain threshold? Do I need to register as anything (such as a sole trader), the invoice is just in my name? I don't want to fall foul of anything.