Wolfe Consultancy

Wolfe Consultancy Bookkeeping, payroll, VAT, operations and business support for small businesses, sole traders, CICs and limited companies across the UK.

Flexible, affordable, and no jargon.

If you're a sole trader or landlord earning over £50k — read this before Friday.Your first Making Tax Digital quarterly ...
05/08/2026

If you're a sole trader or landlord earning over £50k — read this before Friday.

Your first Making Tax Digital quarterly update is due 7 August. That's this Friday.

Not your tax return. That's still January. This is a new thing — a short summary of your income and expenses for April to July, sent straight to HMRC through compatible software.

864,000 people are in scope for this first wave. A lot of them don't know it applies to them yet, or think they've got until January like always.
If that "wait, is this me?" feeling just kicked in — it's probably you.

The good news: the update itself takes minutes once you're set up. And there are no late-submission penalty points on your first four updates while everyone finds their feet. But you still need to be signed up and using recognised software.

If you're not sure whether this applies to you, or you've had a letter from HMRC and quietly ignored it — message me today. Two days is enough time to stop it becoming a problem.

[email protected]

“Do I have to move to Xero or Sage for Making Tax Digital?”I had this question from a new client today.He’s run his busi...
30/07/2026

“Do I have to move to Xero or Sage for Making Tax Digital?”

I had this question from a new client today.

He’s run his business using Excel for years. He knows his spreadsheets inside out and really didn’t want to change to accounting software just because of the new Making Tax Digital rules.

The good news is, in many cases, you don’t have to.

There are bridging software solutions that allow you to continue keeping your records in Excel while still meeting HMRC’s Making Tax Digital requirements.

Every business is different, so it’s important to get the right advice, but don’t assume you have to throw away a system that’s working well for you.

If you’re worried about Making Tax Digital, or you’ve been putting it off because you don’t want to learn new software, get in touch. There may be a simpler solution than you think.

Contact: [email protected]

Bookkeeping | VAT | Payroll | Making Tax Digital | Business Support

I’m getting asked about Making Tax Digital almost every day at the moment, so here’s a quick reminder.If your combined g...
27/07/2026

I’m getting asked about Making Tax Digital almost every day at the moment, so here’s a quick reminder.

If your combined gross income from self-employment and property is:

✅ More than £50,000 based on your 2024/25 Self Assessment tax return, you should already be using Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2026.

✅ More than £30,000 based on your 2025/26 Self Assessment tax return, you’ll need to join from 6 April 2027.

A point that catches a lot of people out is that HMRC looks at your combined qualifying income from self-employment and property. It’s based on your gross income (before expenses), not your profit. Employment income under PAYE doesn’t count towards these thresholds. 

So, if you’re self-employed and also receive rental income, make sure you’re looking at the total qualifying income from both sources.

If you’re not sure whether Making Tax Digital applies to you, or you’d like help getting set up before the deadline, leave a question in the comments or send me a message. I’d be happy to help.

So this is what happens when I go down a rabbit hole on a Saturday. It started with three Apple subscriptions hitting my...
13/06/2026

So this is what happens when I go down a rabbit hole on a Saturday.

It started with three Apple subscriptions hitting my account this morning — and I had absolutely no idea what two of them were for.

That sent me straight into my bank statements. Direct debits, recurring charges, a service I was certain I’d cancelled, subscriptions I’d completely forgotten about. The whole lot.

My first thought was — this would make a really useful guide for parents. Because most of us can’t afford to pay someone to do this for us, but we also never seem to find the time to do it ourselves. So I started putting together a step-by-step resource — something you could actually work through at home to get a clear picture of where your money’s going.

Then it hit me. Businesses need this too.

The difference is, a parent will find the time eventually because the money pressure forces it. A business owner usually won’t — because every hour goes into generating revenue. Subscriptions, utilities, insurance, phone contracts — they just quietly renew in the background while you’re busy keeping the business running.

So today I’ve been developing two things: a parent-friendly guide (coming soon to my Etsy shop — wolfewisdom.etsy.com) for anyone who wants to work through it themselves, and a Business Financial Health Check through Wolfe Consultancy, where I do it all for you.

Weird rabbit hole. Productive Saturday. Two new things in development before lunch. 😄

Now I want to hear from you — parent or business owner:

👉 When did you last shop around on utilities, broadband, mobile or insurance?
👉 Do you actually know every subscription leaving your account each month?
👉 When did you last get a proper picture of where your money really goes?

Drop a comment below — I’d genuinely love to know. 👇

I became a bookkeeper because I was a mum.What took me years to realise was that many of the skills I used every day at ...
11/06/2026

I became a bookkeeper because I was a mum.

What took me years to realise was that many of the skills I used every day at home — managing bills, budgets, schedules, paperwork, appointments and a hundred other things — were actually valuable business skills.

That realisation opened doors for me and eventually allowed me to earn an income while having more flexibility in my family life.

Because of that, I’ve put together a free Hidden Skills Workbook called:

Could You Already Be a Bookkeeper?

It’s not a course. I’m not selling anything. There are no subscriptions, upsells or catches.

I simply created it in the hope that it might help someone else recognise skills they already have and perhaps see opportunities they hadn’t considered before.

If you’d like a copy, comment WORKBOOK below and I’ll send you the link.

If you do find it useful, I’d genuinely love to hear your feedback.

Mandy x

Following on from my mileage post…One thing I’ve learned over the years is that most people don’t miss out on mileage cl...
04/06/2026

Following on from my mileage post…

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that most people don’t miss out on mileage claims because they don’t know the rules.

They miss out because they don’t keep the records.

So I’ve put together a simple Business Mileage Tracker that you can print and keep in your vehicle.

🚗 Date
🚗 Start Mileage
🚗 End Mileage
🚗 Total Miles
🚗 Business Purpose
🚗 Estimated Claim Value

Simple.

If you’d like a copy, comment PDF below and I’ll send it over.

Feel free to tag a self-employed friend, sole trader or small business owner who might find it useful.

How Being a Mum Made Me a BookkeeperI didn’t leave school, go to university, get a fancy degree and walk straight into a...
01/06/2026

How Being a Mum Made Me a Bookkeeper

I didn’t leave school, go to university, get a fancy degree and walk straight into a consultancy business.

I became a bookkeeper because I was a mum.

I needed jobs that worked around school runs, sports days, sick children, parents’ evenings and all the chaos that comes with raising a family.

Over the years I worked in finance, administration, operations, payroll, project management, governance, charities and small businesses.

At the time, it often felt like I was taking the long route.

What I didn’t realise was that every role was teaching me something different.

How to manage cash flow when money is tight.

How to organise systems that actually work.

How to solve problems without throwing money at them.

How to deal with people.

How to keep things moving when everything feels like it’s falling apart.

Twenty-five years later, those experiences have become the foundation of Wolfe Consultancy.

I don’t know everything, and I don’t pretend to.

But I’ve spent decades in the real world helping organisations stay organised, compliant and operational.

There are accountants who are brilliant at tax.

Payroll specialists who know payroll inside out.

HR experts who live and breathe employment law.

My strength is different.

I’ve spent years working across multiple areas of business, which means I often see connections and solutions others miss.

Sometimes the long route turns out to be the best training of all.

What’s one skill life taught you that you never expected to use professionally? 👇

Well, I nearly missed this one…As most of the fishermen I work with through the Lyme Bay Fisherman's CIC will tell you, ...
31/05/2026

Well, I nearly missed this one…

As most of the fishermen I work with through the Lyme Bay Fisherman's CIC will tell you, if I come across something useful, everyone hears about it. 😂

So here’s today’s little public service announcement…

HMRC has increased the approved mileage rate for cars and vans from 45p to 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles.

What caught my attention is that it’s been backdated to 6 April 2026.

So if you’re self-employed, a sole trader, consultant, tradesperson, or running a small business and claiming mileage using HMRC’s simplified expenses method, it might be worth checking you’re using the new rate.

Not life-changing money, but if you’re driving around seeing clients, attending meetings, site visits, suppliers, etc., it all adds up.

Anyway, this was one of those “I should probably tell people” moments, so now I’ve told people. 😁

Bookkeeper confession…Nothing strikes fear into my heart quite like being handed a shoebox full of receipts. 😳😂Current F...
29/05/2026

Bookkeeper confession…

Nothing strikes fear into my heart quite like being handed a shoebox full of receipts. 😳😂

Current Friday evening plans:
✔ Sort receipts
✔ Put in date order
✔ Highlight VAT
✔ Wonder where my weekend went

Everyone says “just get the client to use an app.”

But let’s be honest… if they haven’t uploaded a receipt for six months, are they really going to start using software? 🤣

Bookkeepers - what are you using for receipt capture these days?

Dext?
Hubdoc?
AutoEntry?
Something else?

And does it actually work in the real world, or is everyone still receiving carrier bags and shoeboxes full of paperwork?

Asking for a friend… 👀😂

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