Accounting for business owners who want financial clarity and control, not just compliance

The Autumn Budget brings changes to employment costs, business rates and the tax paid on savings and rental income. For business owners, the next step is to understand which measures affect your finances and when to prepare for them. Here, we explain the announcements most relevant to your business, along with practical steps to help you update your budgets and prepare for changes to your tax bills. Prepare for higher wage costs from April 2027 The legal minimum wage will increase by 3.9% from April 2027. If you employ staff on minimum wage, you will need to account for this in next year’s payroll budget. Importantly, you may also need to review pay for employees earning just above the minimum, particularly where differences in pay reflect additional responsibilities or experience. When updating your forecast, include any associated increases in employer National Insurance and pension contributions. This will give you a more accurate picture of the cost before you make decisions about recruitment or pricing. Check whether your premises qualify for business rates relief From April 2027, the threshold for full Small Business Rate Relief will increase from £12,000 to £18,000 for qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure properties in England. This could reduce costs for eligible independent shops, cafés, restaurants and other businesses operating from smaller premises. However, a rateable value below £18,000 does not automatically mean a property will qualify. The type of business and the relief conditions also matter. Check your eligibility before including a saving in your cash flow forecast. For businesses with several premises, it is particularly important to understand how the rules apply to your circumstances so get in touch if you're unsure. Review VAT arrangements for marketplace sales From October 2027, online marketplaces will become responsible for collecting VAT on qualifying sales made by UK businesses through their platforms. The rules will cover UK VAT-registered businesses and other UK businesses meeting an annual sales threshold of £90,000 per platform. Exclusions include personal sales, second-hand goods and business-to-business transactions. For businesses selling through platforms such as Amazon or eBay, this could affect how VAT is collected and how payments from those platforms are recorded. So, review how your marketplace reports feed into your bookkeeping. If you sell across several platforms or operate both online and from physical premises, we can help you understand how the arrangements will fit together. Update your mileage policies and transport forecasts The existing 5p fuel duty cut and freeze will continue until 1 July 2027. This avoids a planned duty increase, although wider changes in fuel prices will still affect what you pay at the pump. The 55p tax-free mileage rate for the first 10,000 qualifying business miles in a car or van is also being made permanent. From 6 April 2027, the rate above 10,000 miles will increase from 25p to 35p. If employees use their own vehicles for business journeys, review your reimbursement policy ahead of the change. Check eligibility for targeted electricity support The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will start in April 2027, providing eligible manufacturers with electricity discounts of around 20–25%, including support for costs incurred in 2026/27. Around 10,000 energy-intensive manufacturing businesses are expected to benefit. For qualifying firms, this could reduce a substantial overhead. However, the scheme is targeted, so having high electricity bills alone does not establish eligibility. Check whether your activities fall within the scheme before adjusting your budget. We can help you assess what any confirmed support would mean for your cash flow. Ask suppliers about import tariff reductions The government has announced tariff suspensions covering more than 100 food products, alongside cuts affecting kerosene and fertilisers. These measures may be relevant to hospitality businesses, food retailers and family farms. The saving will depend on the goods you purchase and the tariffs that currently apply. If you buy through a supplier, any benefit will also depend on whether the reduction is passed on. Ask how affected products will be priced and use confirmed figures when reviewing your margins. Review personal tax forecasts for savings and rental income From April 2027, income tax rates on savings and property income will rise by a further two percentage points. This is in addition to the two-percentage-point increase announced in the 2025 Budget. Business owners with personal savings or rental income should review the effect on their overall tax position. This also matters where you own commercial premises personally and rent them to your company. Speak to us if you would like a clearer view of how these income sources fit together. Cash ISA allowance remains at £20,000 The planned reduction in the cash ISA allowance to £12,000 for under-65s has been scrapped. The annual cash ISA limit will remain at £20,000. If you are building personal savings, this preserves an option for receiving savings interest tax-free. With tax on savings income set to increase, it is worth reviewing how your personal savings are held and whether you are using the allowances available to you. Parental pay extended to more self-employed parents The Budget announced that parental pay will be extended to self-employed fathers and partners. For people running their own business, financial support around the arrival of a child could make taking time away from work more manageable. The final eligibility rules and implementation timetable should be checked before including any payment in your plans. Alongside this, consider how the business would operate during your absence and what income you would need to cover your commitments. Turn the announcements into a practical plan The impact of the Budget will depend on your staffing, premises and sources of income. A business benefiting from rates relief may also face higher payroll costs, so it helps to assess the overall effect. Start by updating your cash flow forecast for April 2027 onwards. Include confirmed cost increases and check your eligibility for support before relying on savings. For company directors and family business owners, review your personal finances at the same time. This will give you a clearer view of what the business needs to retain and what is available for you and your family. Talk to us If you're unsure how this Budget will affect you, we can review the announcements relevant to you and update your forecasts, helping you prepare for costs and tax payments with greater confidence. Call us on 0113 240 4100 or book a strategy call to discuss what the Autumn Budget means for you. 

At MSF, our experience of working with family businesses has shown us how much easier succession planning can be when conversations start early. However, when you’re in the thick of running a business, handing it over can feel a long way off, so it’s easy to put those conversations off until circumstances force a decision. In this article, we’ll look at how to plan for your retirement income and divide ownership fairly, along with explaining the different ways to pass on your business and the tax implications of each. Start with the retirement you want Before deciding how to transfer the business, consider how you would like your own involvement to change. You may want to leave completely, reduce your working week or remain involved in major decisions. If you expect to keep receiving income from the business, work out how much you will need and whether the proposed arrangements can support it. We can help you assess the income you’ll need and what the business can realistically afford, so your plans are based on figures you feel comfortable with. Decide what fairness means for your family An equal division of shares may seem straightforward until one child works full-time in the business and another has a separate career. The person running the company may want to reinvest profits. A relative who relies on dividends may prefer more money to be paid out. So, discuss how working family members will be paid and how shareholders will benefit from ownership. It is also worth agreeing what happens if someone wants to sell their shares. Sometimes, other family assets can help balance an inheritance while leaving business ownership with the people involved in running it. The right arrangement will depend on what is available and what your family considers fair. Check the tax position before promising shares Family ownership does not automatically make a business exempt from Inheritance Tax. Business Relief can reduce the taxable value of qualifying business interests. For deaths from 6 April 2026, the individual allowance for 100% relief is £2.5 million, shared between qualifying business and agricultural property. Qualifying value above the available allowance generally receives 50% relief. Unused allowance can be claimed from a deceased spouse or civil partner, potentially increasing the survivor’s allowance to £5 million. Eligibility also depends on the business’s activities. Businesses mainly involved in holding investments generally fall outside Business Relief, and there are conditions around ownership periods and surplus assets. We can help you check whether relief is available, particularly if the business has changed since your last review. Get a realistic picture of the value For Inheritance Tax, market value is the starting point. A private company valuation needs to consider the particular shareholding and the information relevant to a potential buyer. Depending on the business, dividend prospects and the rights attached to the shares can matter alongside its financial position. Getting an appropriate valuation early helps you assess the likely tax exposure and discuss the proposed division of ownership using realistic figures. Let us know if you’d like help arranging a business valuation. Passing the business through your will Leaving shares in your will allows you to retain ownership during your lifetime. Ask your solicitor to review the will alongside the company’s articles and any shareholders’ agreement. Those documents need to support the intended transfer, including any restrictions on who can inherit or acquire shares. You should also agree who could keep the business running if you died unexpectedly. And that person doesn’t necessarily need to be the eventual owner. Making gifts during your lifetime Giving shares to adult children during your lifetime can give them time to settle into ownership while you’re still available to support them. An outright gift will generally fall outside your estate if you survive for seven years, provided you have not retained a benefit in the gifted property. Giving away shares can also create a Capital Gains Tax liability, even when you receive no payment. We can help you understand the potential tax cost before making a gift and check whether relief is available. Using a trust A trust can allow trustees to manage shares for beneficiaries under agreed terms. This may be useful where children are young or the family wants ownership to be managed over a longer period. The tax treatment depends on the trust. Inheritance Tax can arise when assets enter certain trusts, at ten-year anniversaries and when assets leave. Those potential charges need to be weighed against the reasons for using the arrangement. Work out how any tax bill would be paid A valuable business may have relatively little cash available outside its day-to-day operations. Consider how the family would meet a tax liability while keeping enough money in the business. For qualifying business property inherited from 6 April 2026, Inheritance Tax can be paid in equal annual instalments over ten years, interest-free if paid on time. Selling the property can bring the outstanding balance forward. This can help with timing, although the payments still need to be affordable. Talk to us about your plans You may already know who you would like to take over, or you may still be working through the possibilities. You’re welcome to speak to us at either stage. At MSF Associates we always take the time to understand what you want for yourself and your family, then help you work through the financial and tax decisions involved. Call us on 0113 240 4100 to discuss succession planning for your family business.