The free membership.

• Day the job is done: send the invoice. It needs a unique number, your business name, address and contact details, the customer's name and address, a clear description, the supply date, the invoice date, the amounts, VAT if it applies, and the total.
• Sole trader using a business name? Also show your own name and an address where legal documents can reach you. Limited company? Use the full name on your certificate of incorporation.
• A week before it is due: check the right person has it and whether they need a purchase order number.
• 3 days late: send the friendly reminder with a copy of the invoice.
• 14 days late: send the second reminder, then phone them the same day.
• 30 days late, customer is a company or partnership: send the final demand and give them 14 days.
• 30 days late, customer is a person or a sole trader: send a Letter of Claim by post under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, then wait at least 30 days from the date on the letter.
• Still unpaid: claim online at gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money. You cannot claim online if you or they have no address in England or Wales.
• If you claim £10,000 or less and they dispute it, you must attend the court's free mediation.
• Court fee examples (claim plus interest): £35 up to £300, £80 for £1,000.01 to £1,500, £455 for £5,000.01 to £10,000.
• Keep a log of every invoice, email and call. You will need it if you go to court.

Subject: Invoice [number]: friendly reminder

Hi [Name],

Just a quick reminder that invoice [number] for £[amount] was due on [due date].

I've attached a copy in case it went astray. You can pay by bank transfer:
[Account name], sort code [00-00-00], account [00000000], reference [invoice number].

If it's already on its way, thank you, and please ignore this.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Business name]
[Phone number]

Subject: Your [order / job] on [date]: what I'm doing about it

Hi [Name],

Thank you for telling me about [the problem, in their words]. I'm sorry. That isn't the standard I aim for.

Here's what I'll do: [the fix: repair, redo the work, replace or refund], by [date].

[If you'd rather have a refund, just reply and say so.]

If this doesn't put it right, reply to this email or call me directly on [number] and I'll deal with it personally.

Thanks for giving me the chance to fix it.

[Your name]
[Business name]

• The tax year ran from 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026.
• New to self assessment, or did not need a 2024 to 2025 return? You had to tell HMRC by 5 October 2026. Register now if you missed it, as you could get a penalty.
• Registered after 5 October 2026? HMRC will give you a filing deadline 3 months from the date on its letter or email. You still have to pay by 31 January 2027.
• Paper tax return deadline: 11:59pm on 31 October 2026.
• Online tax return deadline: 11:59pm on 31 January 2027.
• Want HMRC to collect what you owe through your tax code? File online by 11:59pm on 30 December 2026.
• Pay the tax you owe by 11:59pm on 31 January 2027.
• Do not know your profit for the whole year yet? You still have to send a return.

• Check their right to work in the UK before they start. Use their share code online, or check their original documents with them present.
• British and Irish citizens cannot get a share code. Check their original passport or passport card instead.
• Keep a clear copy that cannot be changed, record the date of the check, and keep it during their job and for 2 years after they leave.
• No proper check? You risk a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker.
• Register as an employer with HMRC before the first payday. You cannot register more than 2 months before you start paying people.
• Only director of your own limited company? You still need to register, even if you only employ yourself.
• Tell HMRC about your new employee on or before their first payday. Get their P45, or use HMRC's starter checklist.
• Get employers' liability insurance as soon as you become an employer: at least £5 million cover, from an authorised insurer. Not having it can mean a £2,500 fine for every day.
• Display the insurance certificate where staff can access it and show it to inspectors. Failing to can mean a £1,000 fine.
• Workplace pension duties start the day your first member of staff starts work.

• Organisations that use personal data, sole traders included, must pay a data protection fee to the ICO unless they are exempt.
• It is a yearly fee. Renew it, or tell the ICO you no longer need to be registered.
• Tier 1, micro: turnover up to £632,000 or no more than 10 staff. Fee is £52.
• Tier 2, small and medium: turnover up to £36 million or no more than 250 staff. Fee is £78.
• Tier 3, large: anyone not in tier 1 or 2. Fee is £3,763.
• Pay by direct debit and the fee is £5 less.
• You may be exempt if you use personal data only for staff admin, your own advertising and marketing, or accounts and records.
• You are also exempt if you handle personal data without a computer or other automated system.
• Use CCTV for crime prevention? You must pay. The ICO says the answer is always yes.
• A dashcam on a vehicle you use for work means you are likely to need to pay.
• Should pay but do not? The ICO can fine you £400 to £4,000 on top of the fee.
• Exempt from the fee? You still have to follow the rest of data protection law.
• Not sure? The free ICO fee self assessment gives you the answer.

• Do a risk assessment: find what could cause harm, decide how likely and how serious, then control it.
• 5 or more employees? You must write down the significant findings of your risk assessment.
• Have a health and safety policy saying who does what, when and how.
• 5 or more employees? Your policy must be written down. Share it, and any changes, with your staff.
• Employ anyone? Display the health and safety law poster where staff can easily read it, or give each worker the matching leaflet.
• First aid: have a suitably stocked first aid kit, someone appointed to take charge of first aid, and tell all staff the arrangements. This applies to every workplace and to the self employed.
• A basic low risk kit: first aid guidance leaflet, assorted sterile plasters, sterile eye pads, triangular bandages, safety pins, sterile wound dressings and disposable gloves. Base it on your own first aid needs.
• Buying a kit? British Standard BS 8599 is a useful guide, but the law does not require it.
• More than 10 employees? You must keep an accident book. A paper book or your own record system both work.
• Give workers information and training, consult them, and provide toilets, washbasins and other welfare facilities.
• Appoint a competent person to help you manage health and safety. You can do it yourself.