Knowledge hub

In this edition of Community Spotlight, we spoke to self-taught jeweller, Esh: a self-taught, freelance jeweller building a more fulfilling career for herself; one that can fit around her life and potential health concerns in the long-term.

In this edition of Community Spotlight, we spoke to SQSP Queen, Katy. As is so often the case, going freelance has allowed Katy to live the life that she has always wanted: by the sea, doing a job she loves, on her terms.

“I had an argument with my wife and went to Italy for 5 years” is the perfect example of an excuse that HMRC *won’t* accept for a late tax return. So what does count as a reasonable excuse? And is it ever okay not to submit a tax return? We explain all in this blog.

Payments on account are designed to spread the cost of the upcoming year’s tax bill, but the assumptions used to work out your payments might not be quite right if your income has changed between tax years.

To ensure that all of the information in your Coconut tax return summary is right, it’s important to take the time to check that all of your transactions are categorised correctly. This helps us determine which transactions fall into income or expenses.

Adjustments in Coconut are a way for you to account for any income or expenses that you haven’t already captured in your transactions. This could be extra income outside of your Coconut account, cash expenses, or work from home (WFH) allowance and mileage.

Once you’ve got your income, expenses and any other allowances and adjustments organised in Coconut, you’re ready to fill in your tax return. You'll most likely be completing your Self Assessment online through the Government Gateway—so this article lays out what you can expect from the process.

When you’re a sole trader, you can deduct a wide range of business-related costs from your taxable profit. Here’s a handy list of the most common things which count as "allowable expenses".

If you have a student loan or income from other sources, such as employment salary or rental income, this may affect what you’ll need to pay or the tax rate applied to your self-employment income. Here's what you need to know.

When you’re self-employed and VAT-registered, you can choose between the standard or flat rate VAT schemes. Here’s what you need to know about both.

2021 will be a year that we’ll remember at Coconut for a while. This year saw a big change in our business come to fruition.

What's the difference between BACS, CHAPS, and Faster Payments? Here's what you need to know about all three types of bank transfer, and why we use Faster Payments at Coconut.

The barefoot accountant provides accountancy services to creative sole traders who just want to be fabulously creative and not worry about the boring stuff. Operating from a shop front in Hertfordshire, the firm delivers personalised tax and accountancy services in a relaxed and judgement-free zone.

Imagine if clients and you could un-muddle business and personal without having to open a new bank account?

Sole traders: read on to find a list of the UK's Personal Allowance, income tax and National Insurance rates for the 2021/22 tax year.

We want to help you protect yourself against Covid-19 fraud. Here’s what you need to be aware of and what to watch out for.

Saving can often be an afterthought when you're freelancing and have a fluctuating income. But it doesn't have to be—discover some money saving habits in this article.

For Paul, Covid-19 has brought many collaborations that will help his business to boom once the pandemic is over. Find out how he's adapted in this interview.

Freelancing can be really liberating and often helps people to take control of their careers. But how does that work if you start freelancing at the very beginning of your career? Find out by taking a look at Ben's story.

Self employed people come across plenty of challenges when they're building a business from the ground up. Find out how to overcome them in our latest blog.

With November's lockdown already upon us, we've put together a list of the latest government updates to make sure you can navigate your way through it.

We asked 500 self-employed people how they feel about saving for tax - take a look at the results and see how Coconut can help you to save for tax soon.

Find out how fitness instructor Elle Linton adapted her business when covid-19 hit the UK this year and the role that digital played in making it happen.

Covid-19 support for self-employed people: Bounce Back Loans. And we've teamed up with Swoop to help you navigate the application process.

Our answers to the big questions we've had about the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme from our customers and the wider self-employed community.

Here's our quick guide to effortless expenses to make sure you're not missing out on key tax savings.

Understand the VAT Cash Accounting Scheme. Who it's for, how to qualify and what it could mean for you and your business.

It’s often the first question people have when starting their self-employment journey. Should I become a limited company or a sole trader? Read our guide to find out the pros and cons of each, and decide which is the best setup for you and your freelance career.

Read this short article on how to save your self-employed business time and money by separating your business expenses from your personal expenses.

The self-employed population contributes £271 billion to the UK economy - so why are so many still getting messed about when it comes to getting paid?

Time for your annual tax return for HMRC? We’ve created a list of the top five business expenses most commonly overlooked.

Coconut has won the final stage of Nesta’s Open Banking Challenge: Open Up. We’ve won £250k so far from the previous three stages. What does it mean for our customers? More here...

Rentable workspaces are making more appearances in some of the larger UK towns and cities. We speak to some industry players, as well as some people who have used this style of working.

Katy Carlisle from Freelance Folk looks at how 'imposter syndrome' can affect people who are self-employed, and discovers what other freelancers and small business owners do when they’re doubting themselves.

What is living life as a 'digital nomad' really like? And why is this work revolution on the rise? Coconut speaks to three freelancers who have lived and breathed the lifestyle, and give their advice to those considering the leap.

Worried about filing your taxes as a freelancer? In this article, we’ll show you how to plan ahead so you can nail your self-assessment like a pro.

Can you ever avoid procrastination? We find out how to beat procrastination and why our mind constantly tries to distract us.

Can I get a mortgage as a freelancer? Yes. Will it be easy? No. But that’s not an exclusive issue for the freelancer demographic.

Freelancing can seem daunting, especially if you are going it alone for the first time. Making mistakes is part of any job, and freelancing is no different.

Most freelancers experience a client who doesn’t pay on time, especially those just starting out. So how do you deal with these clients?

Flying solo is pretty great. But how do freelancers look after their own mental health when it’d be all too easy to let the loneliness rule our lives?