Lionheart Virtual Assistance

03/09/2026

Did you know, if another business pays your invoice late you are legally allowed to charge them interest on it?

UK law allows you to charge statutory interest on business-to-business invoices at 8% above the Bank of England base rate, plus a fixed sum to cover the cost of chasing the debt. You don't have to, but you are allowed to. Sometimes just knowing that changes how the conversation goes when someone isn't paying their invoice.

Most of the time you will never need to use it. The value is in your payment terms saying it clearly from the start. People pay differently when they know the clock is real.

Do your contracts or payment terms actually mention late payment interest, or is that something you don't like to think about?

01/09/2026

Three years ago today, Lionheart was launched.

I remember on day 1, sitting in my home office with my shiny new laptop, wondering where to start. I’d left a very comfortable corporate job with some incredible people to build something real, with my name on it and the outcome entirely down to me.

Three years on, I still do a happy dance every time a new client says yes to a proposal or payment lands in the bank for an invoice. It hasn't worn off and I hope it never does.

I could mark today with numbers and milestones, but what it all comes down to is the people. The clients who have taken a chance on me and trusted me with their business (which I still don’t take lightly). The messages of thanks that arrive out of nowhere saying we’ve made a difference. That is the part I didn't fully expect and is another thing I wouldn't trade.

Willow has supervised almost every working day from her spot in the other room with me in her eye-line. She remains unimpressed by the occasion and would like to play ball, but is very happy to have been kept in treats.

So really, I wanted to say thank you. To the team of wonderful associates that work alongside me supporting Lionheart’s clients. To everyone who trusted me and my business with a big part of their lives that often keeps them up at night. It means more than a birthday post can hold.

Client, referrer, team member, fellow business owner always giving great advice/support or someone who cheered me on from the sidelines, if you have been part of the last three years in any way, thank you.

27/08/2026

Always record business mileage as you go.

Trying to piece it together months later rarely works and it usually leads to missed expenses or incorrect claims.

- Use your phone notes
- A mileage app
- Even a simple spreadsheet

Just make it something you update regularly.

The claimable business mileage rate changed earlier this year and was backdated to April, it is now 55p per mile in a personal car so means it could be more expenses going through your business.

Do you track mileage consistently or only when someone asks for it?

25/08/2026

There's a line going round that Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has no penalties in its first year. It's technically right, but there are still penalties on some of it.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is live now. If your income from self-employment or property is over £50,000, you're in it, with one quarterly update already submitted and three more to send this tax year.

Yes, there's a soft landing for 2026/27. No penalty points for late quarterly updates while everyone finds their feet. That bit is real and genuinely helpful.

What it doesn't cover is late payment and your Final Declaration at the end of the year. Both of those still carry penalties from day one.

The headline isn't wrong it's just narrower than it sounds. I've written it all up in this blog. What the soft landing protects you from, the two things it doesn't and why treating this year as practice is the smart move.

If you're not sure where you stand with any of it, my inbox is open.

The MTD ITSA soft landing means no penalty points for late quarterly updates in 2026/27. Here is what it does not cover, and why it lasts one year only.

20/08/2026

Spend 10 minutes each week reviewing your unpaid invoices.

Most cash flow issues don’t come from lack of sales
they come from work you’ve already done that hasn’t been paid.

A quick weekly look at your aged receivables report means you:
- Chase sooner
- Avoid missed payments
- See trends of late payers
- Protect your cash flow
- Feel more in control

Do you check your aged receivables regularly or only when the bank balance looks low?

18/08/2026

People sometimes ask whether they really need a bookkeeper. What I wish more of them understood is how much it costs to get it wrong without one.

Not just financially, although that's real. Miscategorised expenses, incorrect VAT reclaims, records that don't reconcile properly. These things have consequences that don't always show up immediately but tend to surface at the worst possible moment.

The cost I'm talking about is also time and stress. The hours spent trying to untangle something that should have been straightforward. The stress of approaching a deadline with records that aren't in order, or finding out what has been done is inaccurate. The conversation with an accountant (or HMRC) that could have gone very differently.

That's why I care so much about getting it right for my clients. Not because it's tidy, but because it matters.

If you have been wondering whether it's worth bringing someone in to handle your books properly, the answer is almost always yes.

Book a discovery call and let's talk about what that could look like for you.

13/08/2026

Whatever tax you pay, don’t fall into the trap of leaving that money in your main account.

Whether it's VAT, corporation tax or income tax, it’s very easy to look at your balance and think, “we’re fine, I won't spend it” until the payment is due.

Tax and VAT aren’t profit. They’re liabilities you’re holding temporarily.

Move them aside as you go.

Separate account. Regular transfers. No surprises.

If your current approach is “I'll find it when we need it”, this is your reminder to take the stress out of it.

11/08/2026

One thing that keeps me going when it gets tough is remembering why I started.

Not the business plan version of why, the real version.

I wanted to work for myself. I wanted to build something that was mine. I wanted to do work I was genuinely good at for people who valued it. And I wanted to do all of that from my home with Willow at my feet and the sea close enough that a heavy day could be fixed with a beach walk (and a pizza and pint sat on the sand).

On the days when everything takes longer than it should and nothing quite goes to plan, that's still exactly what I have.

I think when you run your own business it's easy to get so deep into the doing of it that you forget the having of it. The freedom, the autonomy, the fact that you built this.

What's the thing that keeps you going on the hard days?

06/08/2026

A small bookkeeping error can turn into a big problem.

We’ve seen:
- One mis-categorised expense snowball into massive corrections.
- Duplicated payments hiding in the background
- Duplicated bills throwing out the aged payables
- VAT figures thrown out by tiny mistakes (like reconciling train fares with 20% VAT and not zero rated)

Catching errors early is what keeps the books (and the stress levels) under control.

When was the last time your books had a proper check-through?

04/08/2026

The bit of my work that takes the longest and gets seen the least is the bank reconciliation and running the reports in the background to make sure it all tallies up.

Every transaction matched. Every account balanced. Every discrepancy tracked down and resolved before it becomes a problem nobody can explain six months later.

Clients don't see it happening. They just see tidy books, accurate reports and numbers they can actually trust.

Which is exactly how it should be.

But I think it's worth saying out loud occasionally that clean financials don't arrive that way.

There is a lot of careful, methodical work that happens behind the scenes to make sure that when you need to know where your business stands, the answer is ready and it's right.

That's the part I take the most pride in, even if it's the part nobody ever asks about.

What's the bit of your work that quietly holds everything else together?