Hi,

We used to ship to the US, but stopped when the new tariff rules came in. Since then, we haven’t been able to figure out whether we can send goods to the US or how to handle the charges correctly

Does anyone know the correct process for shipping goods from the UK to the US after the recent tariff update?

We understand that customs duties need to be paid, but how and at what stage should they be paid?

Also, how do we calculate the tariff so we can adjust our pricing accordingly?

I’ve been searching for information, but I can’t find any clear guidance. I’d really appreciate it if anyone could advise or point me in the right direction.

Thank you in advance.

Hi,

I started my business up in February this year, i am a cleaning services company, I am now almost full with just me and getting enquiries nearly everyday which I can't take on due to it only being me, now my next phase is to expand my business as my brand has really taken off! I just need some advice on whether it's best to have self employed cleaners I sub to or to take on a few people on PAYE, so many people are giving me different advice but I really want to have my company known for it's excellent domestic cleaners, just don't know which way to go...

I’m running a test offer for UK Businesses, offering pilot software projects at £499 to validate ideas or automate small workflows and solve their long-standing pain points.

I would love your feedback. Does this sound appealing or too low-priced for the UK market?

Hi! I was hoping to get some advice from anyone with experience selling on TikTok Shop, please. We’re struggling with the bookkeeping side of things.


We currently use Sage, so TikTok Shop isn’t connected to our accounting software — everything is entered manually. Every month, TikTok sends over their invoices showing the associated fees, etc. There’s also the finance summary available via Seller Central.


The fees listed there differ from those on the invoices, so I’m unsure whether we should be inputting both the invoices and the amounts on the finance summary, or just one of them.


I have, of course, contacted TikTok Shop support, but like most marketplaces they are ****.

Thank you for any help!

Hello to everyone,my name is Dan,me and 2 friends we started a company called TerraFresh and we are importing fruits from Mexico.
This is new for us and trying to get some help and suggestion, we want to focus more on bananas and avocado.Any ideas where to look up for buyers, we are bringing like between to 1-5 containers of bananas.
Looking forward to see if anyone can point to right direction where I can find buyers.
Thank you

I am looking for some advice on selling my business. I have never done this before and the more research I do the more of a mine field it seems to be.
How do I value the business correctly?
Best ways to advertise it?
Would using a business broker cost a lot of money?
Legal expenses?
Any other areas I should be looking at?

I’m in the process of starting up an agency to supply to the private care sector (nursing homes, residential homes, learning disability services) based in the South west.

I’m wondering what smaller agencies are charging their staff out at. I’m looking at £23 hour of just weekday rate, but as a smaller not yet established agency, I don’t want to go in too high and put off potential clients and ruin the business before even starting.

There’s no magic number, but here are some rough ranges people are reporting in 2024/25:

• General website average: around 2.5–3%
• E-commerce: about 2–2.7%
• Desktop usually beats mobile, but mobile traffic is higher, so it balances out
• UK and Northern Europe often see slightly higher conversions than Southern EU, especially where delivery and trust signals are stronger

If you’re below ~2%, you probably have some big wins available (e.g., checkout friction, unclear delivery info, trust badges, slower mobile load times). If you’re closer to 5%+, you’re likely in “optimise revenue per visitor” rather than “fix broken funnel” territory.
What conversion rates are others seeing in the UK/EU right now, and what’s moved the needle most for you?

Hello,

I own a UK-registered company selling on Amazon (FBA model) and I am a non-UK resident.
During 2023–2024, I paid VAT on Amazon service invoices (mainly advertising fees) while not VAT-registered. Amazon has now informed me that, as a Non-Established Taxable Person (NETP), I should have been VAT-registered from the start.
I am now VAT-registered effective January 2025.

---

Can I reclaim the VAT paid on Amazon invoices from 2023–2024, or offset it against VAT due on my past sales?

Hi everyone,

I'm working on a new product for small businesses in Europe to take the headache out of digital marketing.
Right now, we’re building the first version of the product and want to make sure we’re solving the right problems.

If you run a small business (or help someone who does), we’d be so grateful if you could take 10–15 minutes to fill out a short questionnaire. It’ll help us better understand biggest marketing challenges that small businesses face.
Let me know if you’re interested, and I’ll share the link to the questionnaire on Google Forms.

Thanks so much for your time and input! If you have any questions or thoughts, please let me know.

Svetlana

Do you know of a website where I can list and sell large amounts of e-waste stuff?

Most of the ones I've found online charge a fee, which doesn't seem like a great way to start.

hi guys, this is my first time here. I don't know if I need a food liscense if I am importing cardamom from India about 10kg to England to sell in corner shops. the packaging is done in India aswell.

Hello I am a French dealer of pants and jacket Nike running and under armour I will explain to you what I am looking for and apparently in England there are suppliers: So, to clearly explain to you what I want to order from you. At first, I would like to place an order of 15 to 20 items of Nike running/ under armour than jackets and pants, for example, so that the Nike running future fast defines about 2 to 5 set, Nike division pants and jackets, black or gray hybrid pants under armour, Nike aeroswift pants Nike always a jacket then a dye jacket, Nike phenom elite pants (of course, I would be ready to put the right price). Then, if you think you won't be able to find these items or, for example, not have enough, it's quite understandable because I told you, I have WhatsApp and I could send you the items I want in photos. I'm a French merchant, that's why I order in a set

Please excuse grammar, Im the muscle of the operation not so much brains!

Essentially I am in the process of starting up construction company. I've registered with companies house (Ltd) & set up a business account.

My brother has a very well paid job and has offered to "front" me the money to get properly up and running. He's stressed that the business is 100% going to be mine & he isnt desperate for the money back until I'm turning a profit. He also isn't interested in charging any interest, he only wants what he gives. The question is what would be the best/legal way to get the money into the business.

I.E
Would a "gift" to myself that i can then put into the company be the better option or would that make repayments a minefield?
Or
Is it better to get a formal contract written up and him loan it directly into the business, in which case are there any taxes/fees to be expected?

I appreciate this is probably a no brainer question for people with the knowledge so apologise in advance.

Thanks

Hi, I'm trying to redesign the ICHASETERMS1 letter so that it includes unallocated payments and outstanding credit notes, regardless of their date. I've changed the criteria of the report so that it shows it but I need to change it to a negative value.

Currently the Expression is this:
Due > 0 ? AUDIT_SPLIT.DATE_FLAG <> 1 ? SignedAgedTransaction : 0 : 0
but I want to amend it so that if AUDIT_HEADER.TYPE is "SC" or SA" then SignedAgedTransaction needs to turn negative. I'm good with Excel but knowledge of those formula seem to be of no help here!!

Tried for a long time now, no luck!

Any help much appreciated

Thanks!

Hi,

A job falls within the scope of CIS and reverse charge, and the (new to us) client has asked for a deposit invoice up front. It's a long-ish contract and the work hasn't started yet so at this stage we don't know exactly how much will be labour and how much materials, so can anyone please explain how to deal with this deposit invoice as far as the CIS is concerned.

(We deal with lots of CIS but so far not had a client who has requested a deposit invoice!)

Many thanks.

Hi
I’m struggling to work out the best CRM to use. I have built my website in Wordpress, tried using mail chimp for email subscribers but don’t know if this is the best option as they seem to want you to upgrade just to use the email automation feature

Hi All,

I am conducting some research on sales and AI.
As the title of my question states, do you think AI is having a big impact on sales and if so what impact is it making?
I have a 9 question questionnaire which will take 5 mins of your time.
Im asking for 5 mins of your time to fill this out and also to start discussions on this page.

Joel

A customer ordered an item from me which was sent out as normal. Its a large item but breakable and we have a trusted delivery partner that delivered it. I have info on my website that says that the delivery guys will unpack it with the customer but this didn't happen for whatever reason. The customer then contacts me over a week later saying he's opened the item but its badly damaged and can I send a replacement. I have seen pictures and it is damaged badly.

They have had it in their possession for well over a week and it could have been damaged by the customer in that time. I think the Consumer Rights Act says risk passes to the customer on delivery but the customer is saying that if they report it damaged within 30 days then its me who has to prove it wasn't already damaged at delivery.

I don't have proof because the delivery guys didn't open like they are meant to, but we haven't ever had a problem before.

Can I refuse a replacement or a refund since they didn't open it for well over a week? If they file a money claim will they end up winning?

Hello,

As i am just setting up my business profile i just wondered if this is the right place for my business to advertise?

Are people on here looking for a Mobile Bar Service ?

Regards
Gary
GJ Events

My accountants have sent me draft accounts for my limited company for approval. They have shown Profit/Loss of Disposal of Asset under Administrative expenses in Detailed Profit and Loss Account to the value of £26031.
They have added back this figure in Trade Profit Computation. Profit after dis-allowable expenses is £54588 which has resulted in Trading profit before capital allowances has now become £80619. Capital Allowances shown are £5542 and final Trading profit is £75077. Corporation tax at 25% is £18769.25 and after Marginal relieff of £2623.85, corporation tax liability is £16145.40

My question is HMRC changed rules in 2023 that non trading losses after April, 2017 were not able to get this relief. My understand is that if these losses occurred prior to April, 2017, Can my company still get relief rather than adding to taxable profits.

In May 2020, I applied for a £15,000 Bounce Back Loan, which was approved instantly. The funds were used primarily for lead generation as business had slowed due to the pandemic. Unfortunately, this strategy didn’t work, and despite my best efforts, I had to cease trading in November 2020.

In July 2020, I entered into a Trust Deed (the Scottish equivalent of an IVA). Shortly after, I submitted a DS01 to Companies House to dissolve the company, but the bank objected.

Below is an excerpt from an email I sent to the bank in October 2021, after multiple phone calls and emails explaining the situation. By then, this was the sixth time I had explained my position, as the bank continued to pursue repayment of the loan:

"The company has not traded now for nearly a year and is insolvent, with no income and no expected income. There are no funds to pay for liquidation and no assets.
I personally have entered into a Trust Deed, so I am now in a payment arrangement with creditors. This is largely due to the failure of the company in question.
I submitted a request to have the company struck off, but this was suspended in August—I assume this was your doing as there are no other creditors?
I was assured by one of your advisors that the debt would be dropped since the company is no longer trading. However, we seem to be going around in circles.
I have no way of entering a payment plan or making any other contribution towards this debt. The company is no longer trading, is insolvent, and unable to service its debt.
There was no personal guarantee required for this loan. Had there been, it would have been covered by my Trust Deed, and you would have recovered some or all of your money."

Click to expand...

Now, in 2025, the bank is still pursuing me for this loan. I’ve explained the situation more than twenty times, but nothing seems to change. The last update I received was that they would “check in occasionally” to see if there were any updates to my situation.

I even raised a harassment complaint last year, and they paid me £150 compensation, which seems an odd thing to do when pursuing someone for a loan.

At this point, it seems they have no intention of letting this go. I’m looking for advice on my options:

1. Should I appoint a liquidator to formally wind up the company?
2. Am I legally liable for this loan, given that no personal guarantee was required?

It’s my understanding that, since no personal guarantee was requested, the loan should remain a company debt, and the bank cannot pursue me personally. If they had required a guarantee, it would have been included in my Trust Deed, and they would have recovered some of the money.

The company has not traded since November 2020, but I did open a new company which is still trading. Is this company in any way liable for the other company's debt? I know this can be the case with VAT debts.

For context, when I took out the loan, I had no intention of entering into a Trust Deed. That decision was made after the business failed and was something I considered carefully.

And is now asking if we could pay him this VAT (we’ve paid this bill some time back. i’ve had this happen before I can’t remember the best procedure.
I’m thinking it would be easiest for him to issue us with a credit note to cancel his previous bill and just send us a new one.
The problem with that is that the tax point cannot then match the date of supply
I am aware that we could just say “tough luck, mate” but we have no need to do that.
Thoughts please