The Purrfect Bookkeeper

07/05/2026

wow, what a win! In my busiest VAT month, HMRC decided to delete my agent account, so that I couldn't submit any VAT returns! All of my clients rallied behind me, and made it happen! At 5:30pm tonight we filed the last VAT return! All on time!! Thank you all!

28/04/2026

Hi. For the first time in many years, I have now space to accept another client for my bookkeeping services: http://www.thepurrfectbookkeeper.co.uk. With over 48 years experience, I support small local business owners with dependable, no-nonsense bookkeeping. If you or anyone you know would like me to take your bookkeeping off your hands, then please get in touch.

Call now to connect with business.

08/05/2025

I recently fell victim to a cyber-attack, and want to warn you all to be wary:
I first discovered this when I tried to log into my agent account for self-assessment and CIS (Construction Industry Scheme) - I couldn't log in, and when I called HMRC (His Majesty's Revenue & Customs) I was told my account was suspended due to suspicious activity. Two weeks later my account was back online. Of course, the first thing I did was change my password. Then I checked the account, and an unknown person had been added into my self-assessment area, and a client had been deleted from my CIS area. I immediately deleted the extra person and changed my password again. I reported the breach to ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) and ICB (Institute of Certified Bookkeepers) and contacted all my clients and all the subcontractors who were recorded in the CIS, probably about 90 people in total. I ran a total scan of my computer and found some trojans (malware disguised as a legitimate file or software).
Now, I'm quite cyber aware and keep up to date with the latest scams, so couldn't figure out what had happened. I have a password manager where all my passwords are encrypted. How could someone possibly get a hold of any? How could a trojan get past my security software?
Today I received a newsletter from AccountingWeb entitled Agent accounts under attack in new cybercrime wave
By Tom Herbert
Cybercriminals are targeting access to accounting firm agent services accounts to file bogus repayment claims for clients, with the illicit funds funnelled into bank accounts controlled by the scammers. Two AccountingWEB readers share their stories.
This gave me my first clue: the purpose of why my account was breached.
Reading the report itself then finally gave me the clue on where to search for the breach: I looked and found that on 24/3 I was approached by a possible new client who needed her self-assessment tax return doing. She emailed me the following day with a pdf supposed to be her last tax return! Of course it wasn't! It ended up being a “pdf.exe” file, which I didn’t run, but just downloading it must have done enough damage. Oh yes, it was sent to me as a zip-file, and I unzipped it!
I now feel better knowing what happened. For the last few weeks, I've felt lost, violated, not sure who or what to trust anymore online or on/in emails. I wish I hadn’t had to learn this, but now I have, I will definitely be sooo much more careful about what files I open!
I hope that none of you have to learn this lesson. Be careful out there!

14/04/2025

As you may or may not know, the Self-Assessments are changing for Sole Traders and Rental Property owners. As of 1 April 2026, the new regulations for MTD IT (=Making Tax Digital for Income Tax), require that regular quarterly digital reports are sent in to HMRC. This means that you need to do at least quarterly bookkeeping in a digital software which is MTD-ready to enable you to send these quarterly updates to HMRC. The end-of-year annual return is also then submitted digitally.

If you have several streams of income, these need to be reported separately in separate quarterly updates. I still need to clarify exactly what this means, as it would not be cost-effective to have several subscriptions for software for each income stream.

The level of total income for the financial year of 2024/25, determines the mandation date as follows:
Total income over £50,000, start date 6 April 2026
Total income between £30,000 and £50,000, start date 6 April 2027
Total income between £20,000 and £30,000, start date 6 April 2028
Total income less than £20,000, start date to be advised.
Note: the total income is considered to be the total turnover for the Sole Trader activities + the rental property income; NOT the profit, but the income!
The financial year remains as 6th of April to the following year 5th of April. You can request this to be changed to the calendar months of 1 April to the following year 31 March, which works easier with some software and I will be doing this for most of my customers.

Once you’ve been mandated, you will remain in the scheme for a minimum of 3 years, even if your total income changes during that time.

HMRC will be sending out letters to all taxpayers who fall within these categories, to advise you of your mandation date.

The following are the quarters return dates:
Quarterly update April-June, due 7 August
Quarterly update July-September, due 7 November
Quarterly update October-December, due 7 February
Quarterly update January-March, due 7 May
Annual return still due by 31 January the following year, same as it is now, but it’s now going to be submitted in a digital form.

I will keep you updated with any news about this. If you have any questions, please do ask.

Lisa 🙂

05/03/2025

Good afternoon.

I attended a webinar this morning, about e-invoicing: E-invoicing is the digital exchange of invoice information directly between buyers’ and suppliers’ financial systems, even if these systems are different.
There are countries who already use this system, in some countries it is mandatory, and in some it’s voluntary. The UK government is considering adopting this system, either mandatory, or voluntary. They are doing this for 2 reasons: 1) is to close the VAT/tax gap: the VAT compliance gap is an estimate of overall non-compliance. It is a proxy for VAT revenues lost due to VAT fraud, evasion and avoidance, non-fraudulent bankruptcies and financial insolvencies, or miscalculations, among other drivers. And 2) to help businesses with efficiency, cost savings and improved cash flow. HMRC is doing a public consultation about this, which closes on 7 May: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/promoting-electronic-invoicing-across-uk-businesses-and-the-public-sector/electronic-invoicing-promoting-e-invoicing-across-uk-businesses-and-the-public-sector -consultation-process . If you’re interested to let them know what you think about this, you can complete the form on that page.

This is my understanding of e-invoicing: all UK businesses, who sell to other businesses (or the government or the NHS), will send an e-invoice from their software directly into their client’s software, from where it can be processed and paid. Even if you don’t send invoices to other businesses, you’re most likely to be in a position to receive such bills from other businesses, so you need to have software in place that can receive e-invoices. For that purpose, there is already a software on the market called Apron, from which I’ve heard very good reports although I’ve not tested it myself. You can receive and pay your bills through Apron. Of course you can receive those e-invoices into QuickBooks, but if you don’t use that system yourself, then you won’t have access to those bills! Whichever way it might happen, it does seem to create a need for businesses to become more digital.
It's not likely to happen before 2030 in any case. But if you want to have a say in it, I recommend that you take part in the consultation.
Keep it simple.
Lisa @ The Purrfect Bookkeeper

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11/12/2024

In the last year or so, I frequently have contacts with training companies, who promote that I shouldn't be spending all my time with compliance work, but instead should become an advisor/consultant. Why? What's wrong with being a bookkeeper?

17/10/2024

OMG!!!!!!!!!
https://www.facebook.com/reel/576327054759528

23/07/2024

My company name and logo are now officially registered trademarked!!!
The Purrfect Bookkeeper ®

13/07/2024

Important update regarding Alex Selles Llorens, our beloved vet from Forest Row who was unfairly ousted from his own practice by giant Medivet. If you're interested, you can follow his story along in The Friends of Alex Selles Llorens. I coudn't share the message, so I've copied it here.

Please also go to Change.org and sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/demand-immediate-reinstatement-of-dr-alex-llorens-our-trusted-vet

To start with a personal message from Alex’s wife
Dear Community, Friends and Supporters,
I would like to take this opportunity to express my heart felt thanks to you all for the extraordinary way you have bravely and boldly stood up for Alex.
Your support has been instrumental to giving him the strength to endure the torture of witnessing his beloved patients suffering as a result of his forced absence.
The pain of not being allowed to help animals who need it as well as their owners, is something Alex struggles to put up with every single day and night... I want all of you to know that your touching words of support, wonderful cards, heartbreaking letters, beautiful pictures, even delicious homemade cakes and little gifts of appreciation had an enormous impact on Alex especially in those first weeks of his struggle. He was so hurt by this whole situation, that despite my deepest love for him, I know it wouldn't have been enough to pull through if it wasn't for YOU all too. This whole Community and devoted Clients from far and wide gave him strength to fight for what's right, which is a demonstration of how special and powerful you all are.
It has been 3 months since he was asked to "not attend the clinic" and it is absolutely heartbreaking for him to be deprived of his identity, of what he loves the most and of what he's best at. What Alex managed to build in the last 12 years with his hard work and dedication, has been destroyed within those 3 months right in front of his eyes.
Despite this horrendous situation, I sincerely believe that there is a silver lining and the good will prevail!
Many of you ask what can be done and how can you help more...
So far, we have been trying to cover legal fees ourselves, however, it is highly likely that the dispute with Medivet will have to be resolved through Court proceedings. This might significantly raise the costs to an estimated 125-150k. Therefore, any help, however big or small would be greatly appreciated. This total cost does not have to be payed straight away, as Court proceedings comprise of various stages and could take approximately 12-18 months. All the money raised will go towards legal fees. If things get resolved in any way or the case settles earlier, the surplus will go towards establishing a new practice and a charity chosen by Alex.
All the invoices and account balance will be made public and available for anyone to view to ensure a complete transparency.
I know that with our huge following of Facebook group supporters as well as thousands of people who signed the Petitions, the donations won't have to be big to make a significant difference, especially if spread over a few months.
As little as a 'lottery ticket', 'lunch out' or a 'bottle of wine' can make a big difference if everyone who supports Alex and wants him back gets on board.
I am of course mindful that many people might be in financial hardship themselves and with the price raise at the clinic as well as no 'price matching' allowed since Alex's absence, it might not be easy to donate much or at all.
I would like you to know that Alex would never want anyone to get into an even bigger financial hardship as a result of donations they make, he also would never want anyone to feel bad if they are not in a position to donate anything.
I would also like to ask you to simply continue trusting in what you know about Alex and how you and your animals experienced him, he's always been an open book to everyone. You all know him, most of you have known him for years, you have all experienced his love and compassion for animals and veterinary medicine...
Alex is dying to be back doing what he loves…..making animals feel better without ripping off their owners...
I can’t express my immense gratitude to everyone enough for what you have done so far… Alex and I will be forever grateful for this.
He sends his love to you all and to all his patients!
With lots of love,
Barbara (Alex's wife)
As you can tell from Barbara’s message we have been busy in the background. As we all know Alex is in partnership with Medivet in Forest Row and embedded within that agreement are certain confidentialities. This means that Alex cannot share, apart from with his legal team, any details about the situation until such time as the information comes into the public domain.
Alex and his legal team have been trying to resolve the partnership agreement. However, over these last few weeks it has become clear that Alex is in dispute with Medivet and faces the possibility of having to resolve the dispute through the Court’s process. As a result of this dispute Alex is forced to raise funds in order to fund his legal case against Medivet.
This is where we can help. There is a real chance that the legal costs may exceed £150,000, so everything and anything we can do to raise funds will really help towards setting Alex free of Medivet and back to looking after our animals.
Barbara, Alex’s wife, Mike and I have been clear that fund raising and the use of funds must stand up to scrutiny and as much of the funds raised goes towards the defined purposes. We have now opened a bank account for this purpose, payments can only be made by two of us agreeing to make a payment. We will keep formal accounts of donations and expenses. Donations will be confidential but we will provide information about total donations received and expenses met.
The use of funds will be:
Meeting Alex’s legal costs in relation to the dispute with Medivet,
Contributing towards the cost of establishing a new practice,
Any surplus funds will be donated to animal charities of Alex’s choosing.
Please help us free Alex from Medivet by making a donation to
Bank Name: HSBC
Business Account Name: The Friends of Alex Selles Llorens
Sort Code: 403808
Account No: 51659340
IBAN: GB18HBUK40380851659340
BIC Code: HBUKGB4B###

Demand Immediate Reinstatement of Dr. Alex Llorens, Our Trusted Vet

04/07/2024

wow, I just watched the USA presidential debate from last week, with Robert Kennedy Jr also answering the questions. OMG, what a farce between Biden and Trump! I don't think that mud slinging fits anywhere in the definition of "debate". And neither answered the questions asked. I really hope that neither of these come into power in November.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reacts in real-time to the first presidential debate of the 2024 cycle between President Biden and former President Donald Trump.