Blue Penguin

22/07/2026

When the people in marketing use phrases like "special offers" and "exclusive discounts" to get you to sign up for their newsletter.

"Exclusive to basically anyone we managed to get on our CRM system to hit our vanity metrics", you mean?

Even more annoying when you go to unsubscribe, and they warn you that you might "miss out" on the very things you're literally trying to unsubscribe from.

19/07/2026

What's your thoughts on using Whatsapp for business in professional services?

On paper it seems great - easier to get a message to a client, rather than getting lost in an inbox of doom (theirs or mine!)

But, does it risk denigrating detailed, professional advice down to one or two sentences which won't include all the context, and which your PI provider will laugh out of court.

For example "[Accountant's Name] can you send me a copy of last year's tax return" is fine.

But "In the car showroom at the moment, what's better for tax, HP or cash purchase" or "Gonna put £500 a month into my pension... thoughts?" isn't something you can boil down into a few message exchanges.

Or, am I an old fuddy-duddy?

17/07/2026

If you're a qualified or part-qualified accountant in Somerset looking for a change of scenery (and easy parking and dogs and beers in the fridge and a beautiful old stately home as your office...) then here's where you need to apply...

But if that's not you, I'd appreciate you sharing this to someone who is. 🩵

If you know your debits from your credits and you're the kind of person who can't walk past an error in a spreadsheet without fixing it, this is the role for you. Blue Penguin Accountants are a small, independent accountancy firm based near Taunton. They're growing and looking for an Accountant (Par...

17/07/2026

How often do you review your website as if you were a customer?

Perhaps your latest "update" was telling people about your Covid-safe measures. Maybe it was the 2024 budget. Or your new employee who joined the team... and has since left...

But can you beat this nugget from HMRC, letting you know that FIFTEEN years ago, they now accept Faster Payments for VAT.

It made me smile. But maybe I need to get out more.

05/07/2026

Are you old enough to know what this is.... and perhaps even old enough to remember USING one of them?

For the youngsters - this machine is why the numbers on your credit card are raised. (And, frankly, why on very new cards they don't bother any more)

I thought they were extinct but I was at a horse show last year and saw one of these actually being used!! 🤯

01/07/2026

For the most part, this government's tax policies have been damaging to small businesses and to our economy overall. One c***k of good news for small traders, however, is the proposed removal of relief for Low Value Imports.

This is a tax loophole that means overseas suppliers (think Temu, Wish, Shein etc) don't have to charge you VAT on any items less than £135. Which is most of what they sell. So, no VAT, no Corporation Tax, no employment taxes - nothing paid to the UK treasury.

But a small family-owned business in the UK selling the same goods must register for VAT as soon as they hit the threshold, and all of a sudden they're paying over a chunk of their sales price to HMRC, plus all the other taxes they pay, whilst trying to compete with foreign companies on an uneven playing field.

Overall, it sounds like good news. HOWEVER the timetable for implementation is still not until October 2028, so whether it will ever come to light remains to be seen.

High street businesses are set to benefit from action to level the playing field as the government sets out tax and customs reforms.

29/06/2026

This "safe search" censorship on Gemini is getting out of hand...

26/06/2026

How long I wonder until the Tories dig out all those Labour posts from 2022 about "how dare they have a new PM, the public didn't vote for him/her"

I feel a general election incoming.

19/06/2026

A question for my fellow accountants: all the hullabaloo about companies needing to file full P&L data, but with an opt-out for small and micro businesses, which of course 99% of them will take.

A whole load of admin and red tape on all sides - but, as the full iBXRL is being filed to HMRC in any case, wouldn't it just be easier for Companies House and HMRC to just talk to each other and share the data they already hold?

There's no need for "available on the public record" and "being able to be read by Companies House" to be the same thing.

Am I missing something?

22/04/2026

We love our new office. But the walls are quite bare.

Before we put up soulless "hotel art", what do you think would go well here?

What's on your walls at the office? 🖼️

Looking for some inspiration!