🎃If you know me at all, you know I love Halloween. Not just the kids’ costumes, trick or treating, and pumpkin carving — the real thing. My husband and I went on a ghost hunt at Gloucester Prison last Halloween, and had to close a Ouija board session quickly when we realised it was a naughty spirit trying to get through.

Ian? He's happy to make pumpkin soup and roll his eyes at my pumpkin spiced latte, but that is where his enthusiasm ends. Still, October is perfect for shining a light into the corners of your business. Because sometimes what is lurking there can feel a lot scarier than any cell block at two in the morning.

🧛I remember a video call I had a few years ago with a client, Sam. He whispered like he was in a library. “I have had… letters.” I could see several brown envelopes. Most unopened. A silent pile of receipts edging upwards next to them. These envelopes had a way of nudging the room colder — like something was about to scream. October had crept up and everything felt bigger in the dark.

Sam runs a small design studio. Good work, happy clients, steady referrals. But the money was drifting. Supplier bills arrived at random and a few were paid whenever someone shouted the loudest. And the Self Assessment? “I usually do it around the 28th of January,” Sam admitted. “Then I spend three days feeling sick.”

We put the kettle on. Then we turned the light on properly — remotely, as we do now. We work from home and chat with clients by phone or video. It is calmer, faster, and it keeps the routine.

💷 Cash that behaves

Random payments are like doors opening on their own — unnerving and never at the right time. We set one simple structure. Payment runs twice a month, same dates, and suppliers told in writing. If a bill had not arrived, we chased it if we knew it was coming — and we encouraged suppliers to chase too if they hadn't been paid as expected. It trained a habit. From then on, they made sure invoices landed in time for the run.
House rule: we pay on set dates only. No paperwork, no payment.

🫙 Protect the pots that matter

Those pots are your salt circle. As income hit the business current account, we skimmed the right slice straight into pots for corporation tax, VAT and wages automatically. Personal tax stayed separate, in Sam’s personal account, ready for Self Assessment. It feels boring because it is. Boring is dependable. And the interest stays with you, not HMRC. Once funded, nothing crosses the line.
House rule: skim corporation tax, VAT and wages from every inflow; fund personal tax in a personal account.

📉 The margin that slips away like mist

Monsters rarely crash through the door. Margin drifts in like mist down a corridor until everything feels damp. We re-costed his top five services against today’s inputs — subscriptions up, studio costs up, contractor rates up. Either prices rose, or scope tightened. We also thanked and retired two services that ate time and gave little back. “I knew these were dragging me down, I just did not want to look,” Sam said.
House rule: review top sellers quarterly; fix or drop the bottom ten percent.

🧰 Make the admin human

The shoebox by the desk? Think of it as the sealed jar you keep the trouble in until you can deal with it safely. A weekly tidy in the same diarised slot, so that you can't say you haven't the time. Snap receipts, match the obvious bank lines, and list what will be paid on the next run. Little and often beats heroics in January. If lists make you twitch, use the shoebox to store anything financial and clear it every 7 days when you have five minutes in your slot.
House rule: the Rule of Seven — nothing in the books is allowed to age past seven days.

📆 Know your dates and work with them

Personal tax (Self Assessment)
Personal tax runs from 6 April to 5 April. HMRC treats 31 March as an alternative equivalent year end for sole traders and unincorporated partnerships. File by 31 October and HMRC will run their own check and confirm or amend the calculation — like calling in a second pair of eyes before the lights go out. File later, you lose that early check and risk a stressful review at the worst time. HMRC are not infallible and are making more mistakes every year, so if you are NOT using a professional, file as soon as you can. Then, as you know the amount, you can save calmly, keep the interest in your own account, and pay on 31 January without a hitch. Do not pay too early and gift HMRC your interest.
House rule: file and plan cash early. Treat 31 January as a fail-safe, not a target — especially as MTD IT begins on 6 April 2026 for the initial sweep of taxpayers taking over £50k in turnover.

Company (incorporated) year ends and accounts
Pick a year end that stops the floorboards creaking — industry rhythm, clean reporting, or steady cash — and keep business obligations separate from personal ones. Set routines that suit your company’s year end and cash calendar. We choose March. The right date is the one that either suits the industry you work in, keeps your business reporting clean, or your cash planning steady. Make sure it fits at least one of these markers.
House rule: know your company year end and set routines to match it.

🧱🎨🍳 Where the monsters hide by sector

Construction and trades: code projects and shorthand them before work starts, add this to every sales invoice and purchase receipt so each one has a home immediately when the code is added. From here it is easy to work out a job’s profit. Track CIS retentions separately; create payment terms with teeth so you are not asked to be the bank personally.
Creatives and service businesses: define the scope and what a change looks like; bill in stages so cash follows delivery; review WIP weekly so nothing quietly overruns.
Hospitality: re‑cost menus where GP has slipped; match rotas to expected covers; log wastage for a fortnight. If TRONC applies, make sure policy and journals match reality before December.

🖥️ MTD for Income Tax without the chills

Quarterly updates become a friendly house ghost once you have introduced yourself — present, but no longer alarming. From 6 April 2026 many sole traders and landlords will keep digital records and send quarterly updates to HMRC. Choose compliant software now and dry run a quarter over winter. If you already use software, make your routine smaller and more regular so updates are just another small tick.
House rule: prepare now, practise once, then repeat. Systems first, habits next.

🍵 The brown envelopes, opened

We opened every letter. We updated the accounts as soon as possible. We moved money into the right pots. And we filed early. HMRC confirmed the figure, so we knew exactly what Sam had to pay.

Over the next few months, we kept Sam on track. We set payment runs, skimmed sales receipts, and stuck to the Rule of Seven. We planned his pay and dividends so personal spending stayed steady, and he could save calmly for January. The real fright was never the number. It was the un‑looked‑at shape in the corner. Torch on, letters opened, pots funded — and the room goes quiet. By December, Sam’s cash felt calm. In January, there was no banshee and no three days of panic. “I slept,” he messaged on the 31st. Who knew.

Quick Wins

• Set or confirm your payment days and tell suppliers

• Skim every sales receipt or business income: move corporation tax, VAT and wages into pots; fund personal tax in a personal account

• Re‑cost two top sellers/services against current inputs

• Block a weekly tidy slot in your diary and guard it

• If you are in scope, dry run an MTD quarter before Christmas

October tools

• Download: Financial Exorcism Checklist — a one pager to sweep through cash, pots, margin and admin, with three “next moves” based on your answers

• Free eBook: The Financial Exorcism Mini Guide (12 pages) — a calm, step by step routine to banish scary numbers before year end

Calls to action

• Download the Financial Exorcism Checklist [link]

• Get the Financial Exorcism Mini Guide (free) [link]

• Book an MTD Ready Session — software, routines, and your first quarterly plan [link]

• Prefer someone else to deal with the mess? Book a Financial Health Check and we will sort it, little and often [link]