A warehouse bought for £400,000 in 2015 can sit on the books at £300,000 while an estate agent values it at £650,000 — and both figures are correct. This article unpacks the difference between historical cost and fair value accounting, why UK SME balance sheets rarely reflect true market worth, and the specific moments — selling up, borrowing, insuring — when you need a real valuation instead.
Month-end close is a race against the clock, and that is exactly when duplicate payments and miscoded invoices slip through. This article explains how AI anomaly detection works in plain terms and walks through a real worked example of a £4,200 duplicate payment caught before the accounts were signed off.
When a lawsuit, warranty claim, or dispute is still unresolved at year-end, should it appear in the accounts? IAS 37 and FRS 102 both apply a strict three-question test — present obligation, probable outflow, reliable estimate — to decide between a provision, a disclosure note, or nothing at all. This article walks through a worked unfair dismissal claim, showing exactly how a solicitor's probability assessment becomes a defensible £27,000 provision figure, plus the tax and audit pitfalls SME owners commonly miss.
Making Tax Digital is no longer optional for VAT-registered businesses, and MTD for Income Tax is arriving fast for sole traders and landlords. This guide explains the digital link rules, upcoming thresholds, penalty risks, and a worked VAT example so SME owners know exactly what to do next.
Many SME owners assume revenue should hit the profit and loss account the moment an invoice is raised or cash is collected. Under IFRS 15 and revised FRS 102, that is often wrong. This article breaks down the five-step revenue recognition model with a full worked example of a £60,000 software and support contract, showing exactly how to allocate transaction price and recognise revenue over time.
Growing businesses often outgrow FRS 105 without realising it. This guide compares FRS 105, FRS 102 and IFRS with a worked example showing how the same investment property produces three very different sets of numbers.
