Articles
Running a trade business, quoting accurately, and knowing which jobs actually make money.
What Can a Tradesperson Actually Claim as an Expense?
The expenses you can claim, the ones you cannot, and the four that get claimed wrongly every year — clothing, lunch, training and the phone.
Read article →How Much Should You Mark Up Materials?
Markup pays for the sourcing, the collection, the waste and the guarantee. Why markup is not margin, and what twelve bathrooms a year makes of the difference.
Read article →Getting Paid: Deposits, Stage Payments and Late Invoices
How to structure payments so you are never more than one stage out of pocket, and the statutory interest most trades never claim.
Read article →What Records HMRC Wants, and How Long to Keep Them
What to keep, how long to keep it, what digital record keeping actually requires, and what to do about the years already in the carrier bag.
Read article →Nule vs Fergus: Which App Is Best for Tradespeople?
Fergus is built mainly for businesses with a crew. Nule is built for one person doing all of it. Side by side, and when each one is the better answer.
Read article →Nule vs Tradify: Which App Is Best for Tradespeople?
The feature lists look much the same. The difference is one thing: where your books live. Including when Tradify is the better answer.
Read article →Best Apps for Self-Employed Tradespeople
Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent, Tradify, Fergus, Jobber, Driversnote, MileIQ and Nule — sorted by what they are for, with the plan each answer sits on.
Read article →Making Tax Digital Explained Simply for Tradespeople
MTD is not a new tax. When it applies to you, what the quarterly updates actually are, and why the figure HMRC taxes is not what the job made you.
Read article →How Much Profit Should I Make as a Tradesperson?
Profit is not your wages. Three questions give you the figure your business needs this year, with a worked example of a full year and why your accountant's number is bigger.
Read article →How to Stop Underquoting Jobs (And Protect Your Profit)
The customer is pleased and your profit is not there. The four reasons it happens — time, small costs, memory, no room to move — and what to do about each.
Read article →How to Price Jobs Without Losing Money
A price has four parts: what the job costs, your days, a share of your overheads, and profit on top. Miss one and you have paid for it yourself.
Read article →How Do I Know If My Jobs Are Actually Profitable?
Getting paid is not the same as making money. The sum done twice on one £3,000 job — once with the numbers you quoted, once with the numbers that happened.
Read article →The Tradie's Guide to Making Tax Digital
Making Tax Digital explained for UK tradespeople. Check when MTD applies to you, the quarterly deadlines, the penalties, and how Nule handles it.
Read guide →Guides for Householders and Local Trades
On Nule Rep: how to find a tradesperson you can trust, what to agree before the work starts, how a street recommendation works, and how local work really comes in.
Read the guides →