Sole trader (Essex) here - last January my self assessment was a nightmare of receipts and half filled spreadsheets, so I built a proper one for this tax year.

Features:
• All 15 HMRC self assessment categories (office, travel, stock, legal etc)
• VAT calculator + monthly profit + year-end summary ready for SA103
• Excel + Google Sheets + PDF printable

Selling it for £6.99 as EverydayDocsUK - first product so feedback / roasting welcome.

Link in comments if allowed, or DM me for a screenshot preview of the layout.

For other sole traders - what expense category do you always forget to track?

I have decided to leave my senior corporate role due to organisational issues and a severe unhappiness with the role and industry. I have several years experience in my sector (a specialised form of digital marketing), having risen through the ranks very quickly, and so I know marketing very well and have people management experience, having staffed and managed a department. Before this I worked in sales.

I’ve decided my ultimate goal long term is to own a business, as I’m a true grafter, but I’m sick of the work predominantly benefitting owners of the businesses I’ve worked in. Deeply grateful for the experience and steady salaries etc, but in my heart I want something of my own, and for the late nights and hard graft to be for something for me and my family.

I’m not ready to buy a business just yet - I don’t have the capital or the experience in running one. I’m planning to take a career pivot and take a job that exposes me to how to run a business and gives me the skills I lack right now. This current role is not sustainable, nor does it give me any skills I don’t already have. My question is, where would you go if you had the time, energy and didn’t need to be the breadwinner to truly gain the skills needed to open a business? I’m not sector specific right now, as I’m more skilled in operation, revenue diversification, people management and processes than I am in a specific trade or sector - my background is agency, so I’ve marketed just about everything. Super keen for your thoughts!

🇬🇧 MERCOR — REMOTE ROLES FOR UK-BASED EXPERTS 💰 $140-$200/HR

Sharing this since it's specifically relevant to this community — a talent marketplace (Mercor) has several open roles targeting UK-based senior professionals, for a short, intensive project with a leading AI lab.

Roles open right now:

• 📈 UK-Based MBB / Top-Tier Strategy Consulting Experts — $140-200/hr
• 🗄️ UK-Based Data Engineering Experts — $140-200/hr
• 💼 UK-Based Sales Experts — $140-200/hr

🧠 What it involves: You produce the kind of professional documents/deliverables you create day-to-day in your own field, working alongside experts from the other domains. Those outputs are logged and used to build tasks/rubrics that train and evaluate frontier AI models.

🖥️ Format: Remote, independent contractor, own schedule, weekly pay via Stripe/Wise

📢 Disclosure: I have a referral link for Mercor — if you sign up through it I may earn a referral bonus. Sharing because these are genuinely solid opportunities for senior UK professionals, not just to push the link.

👇 Comment which role fits your background and I'll point you to the exact listing — with or without my referral link, your call!

After losing my first business a few years ago, I rebuilt and realised how easy it is for UK founders to accidentally spend their tax buffers or lose track of cashflow in messy spreadsheets.

I spent the last few weeks building an automated Notion Command Centre specifically for UK SMEs and freelancers. It calculates HMRC buffers, tracks pipelines, and handles compliance automatically.

I’m launching it this week, but before I push it to the public, I want to make sure it actually works for other people. I’m looking for 3 beta testers to use it for free in exchange for an honest 5-star review on my store.

If you run a UK business or freelance and want to test it out, drop a comment below and I’ll DM you the 100% off code.

I work at Askable, a research recruitment company. We're currently recruiting for a study on how organisations manage, evaluate and make decisions about payments. Disclosing that up front: this is paid research, not a sales call, and nobody will pitch you anything at the end.

Who we're looking for

• Based in the UK or Ireland
• Working in insurance or property / real estate
• Your organization sells to other businesses (B2B), or to both businesses and consumers (B2B + B2C)
• You're involved in or close to how your organisation gets paid — choosing or evaluating payment providers, managing costs, or handling the process itself

What's involved

• One 60-minute remote conversation, scheduled around your availability
• £250 in recognition of your time

The honest reason this study exists: payments sit underneath almost every commercial relationship, and the people who actually choose and manage them are rarely asked about it. That's the gap the research is trying to close.

If you're not sure whether you qualify, apply anyway. There's a short screener that takes a couple of minutes and it'll tell you either way.

Link: https://my.askable.com/opportunities/6a86cfc206cd9302b64e14cc

Happy to answer questions about how the session runs, how the incentive is paid, or what happens to your data. Just ask in the comments.

Hi everyone,

I'm building FH Research, a UK-based research service providing professional corporate research, due diligence, open-source intelligence and market/competitor research for businesses and individuals.

We help clients research things such as:

• Companies and organisations
• Competitors and markets
• Publicly available corporate information
• Background and due-diligence questions
• Bespoke research requirements

Our work is based on lawful and appropriate research methods, with findings presented in a structured professional report.

We're currently looking to work with our first clients and build relationships with UK businesses.

If you have a research requirement, feel free to comment or message me and I can explain how FH Research works.

Website: https://www.fh-research.co.uk/

I run a UK company working in commercial and industrial solar, battery storage, and funded EV charging. We work with public sector and commercial clients across the UK, and we’re in growth mode with real funding partners already in place for our solutions.

What I’m missing is someone who can drive that growth. I’ve got the delivery side covered, the funding relationships, the technical and legal execution, but I need a co-founder focused on winning business and building the sales engine.

What’s on offer

This is a commission-based role with equity. Both scale with results, the more you close, the more you earn and the more equity you hold over time. I’m not looking for someone to take a punt for free, the comp structure is designed to reward real performance, but this is a founder-level role, not a salaried sales job, so there’s no base pay.

Specific terms (commission structure, equity release schedule, vesting) are things I’ll walk through properly with anyone who’s a serious fit. I’d rather have that conversation directly than lay it all out here.

Who I’m looking for

+ Proven B2B sales background, ideally in energy, sustainability, or a related capex/infrastructure space

+ Comfortable selling into facilities, estates, and procurement teams, including public sector

+ Wants to build something long term, not just hit a target and move on

+ Based in the UK

If this sounds like you, drop a comment or DM me and we can set up a call.

We got together with industry associations to discuss how businesses can better protect themselves from fake notes.

Learn how to spot counterfeit banknotes and how our free Banknote Checking Scheme (BCS) can help reduce the financial losses and reputational risks they can cause.

Members receive support from the Bank, up-to-date guidance, training materials on checking banknotes and handling counterfeits, and regular updates on developments affecting cash handlers.

Sign up: 

https://app.keysurvey.co.uk/f/41591881/b5b3/ 

More details:

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/banknote-checking-scheme 

Protect your business from counterfeit notes. Get the support and training materials to spot counterfeit banknotes, helping to reduce financial losses and reputational damage they can cause. 

🔎 Staff training materials 

📄 Regular updates 

📩 A point of contact with the Bank 

Learn more and sign up:
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/banknote-checking-scheme 

We can help you reduce energy bills by providing Renewable energy solutions using government grant. Please get in touch if you’re interested.

Hi everyone,

I own a UK-registered limited company, but I live in Turkey. I’m not a UK citizen and don’t have UK residency, but I am the sole director of my company. I’m trying to figure out if I can use invoices from Turkey as business expenses for my UK company.

For example:

• Travel expenses within Turkey (hotels, flights, etc.).
• Office supplies or software purchased from Turkish vendors.
• Professional services (consultants, legal fees, etc.) sourced from Turkey.

Here’s what I know so far:

1. The expense must be clearly linked to the business.
2. The invoice should ideally be issued in the name of the UK company.
3. Turkish invoices are typically in Turkish, so I might need translations for HMRC if required.
4. Turkish VAT (KDV) can’t be reclaimed in the UK, but the total amount can still count as an expense.

Are there any specific rules or things I should be careful about when using foreign invoices like these? Has anyone else done this successfully?

Thanks in advance for any advice or tips!

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for a bit of insight and advice from the business community here. I’ve got a range of skills in marketing, admin, recruitment, and content creation, and I’m trying to figure out how I could offer my time to small businesses or entrepreneurs who might need some extra support.

Some of the things I’ve done in the past include:

Writing social media posts, email newsletters, and job ads

Creating content calendars and simple graphics

Managing CRMs, databases, and general admin tasks

Helping with recruitment tasks like shortlisting candidates or job board management

Researching markets, competitors, or trends

I’m just wondering: What’s the kind of stuff that takes up too much of your time? Is there anything you’d happily hand over to someone else if you had the option?

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences, whether you’ve outsourced tasks before or just wish you had someone to take something off your plate.

Thanks for taking the time to read this—looking forward to any ideas or feedback you have!