Knowledge hub

Learn how to grow a creative business that provides the lifestyle you want

Advice

Employee vs freelancer

Employees or Freelancers? What’s better for your creative business?

Has hiring freelancers seemed like the best option for scaling your business or do you wonder if it’d be more cost effective to employ people in-house?

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creative business

How to make your creative business work for you

Taking a strategic approach can go a long way to getting the things you want out of your creative business.

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People at work

Retaining creative talent while keeping your staffing bill under control

You owe it to yourself and to your creative agency to stay on top of costs – but how do you square that with finding and keeping the best people?

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Woman working on laptop

Guide to Corporation Tax

Corporation Tax is the tax charged on the profits made by a corporate entity (a limited company).

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Stock market numbers

IR35 explained: the guide

IR35 is the most important, and controversial, piece of legislation to affect limited company contractors.

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business expenses for photographers

Cashflow for photographers

Photography, more so than many other businesses, can have real peaks and troughs in the flow of work. For wedding photographers, for example, summer is usually hectic with more clients than can be handled, while winter can be a dead zone. Those who depend on pitching for photoshoots for corporate clients will be aware of.

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Which online accounting software is best?

Which online accounting software is best?

The sheer range of accounting software on the market these days is amazing but, as is the Alchemy way, we like to cut through the fog and give a clear answer. So, here it is: If you’re an individual working as a freelancer, contractor or operating a one-person SME, FreeAgent is best. But if your ...

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House of parliament

What Spring Budget 2020 means for the North West, the creative sector and tech

Rishi Sunak, who has been Chancellor for less than a month, made his first Budget speech on 11 March, and, like most accountants, I was glued to the TV, taking notes. I’ve also dug through the supporting paperwork to see what was hidden there, because there’s always something. The questions I’ve got in mind are, ...

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Playing guitar

What can you claim on business expenses as a musician?

As a musician, you might not be aware of the items you can claim on business expenses. Luckily, if you choose to use me as your accountant, you won’t need to remember any of the below (but I’m always here to help in the meantime). Within the music industry, there’s a lot of items you ...

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