UK Going Self Employed Guide 2026/27

Why this one

Starting out, almost everything looks equally urgent and most of it is not. This is the order the tasks actually need doing in, what each one costs, and which of the things you have been told are compulsory are not. It also does the two sums nobody does for you before they jump: what a limited company would really be worth, and what day rate a given take-home actually requires.

What you get

• A guide in 25 chapters, as a PDF
• Before anything else: are you self-employed yet?
• Employed, self-employed, or a limited company
• The take-home comparison, worked
• When a limited company IS worth it
• What you give up by leaving employment
• Registering with HMRC
• Week one: the things with legal deadlines
• Week two: money
• Business banking, properly
• Setting your rate, backwards from what you need
• Week three: protection
• Month two: the paperwork that earns its keep
• National Insurance, and what it actually buys
• Month three: the things people get wrong
• The first January, which is where it hurts
• The mistakes that cost the most
• When to get an accountant
• Expenses, including what you spent before you started
• Equipment, in one page
• Cash basis or traditional accounting
• Losses in the early years
• Getting paid, and chasing it
• If it does not work out
• Your first year, month by month
• The ninety day checklist

Need more than one? This is also in the UK New Business Starter Bundle 2026/27 (£29.99) — the same files at a lower price than buying them one by one.

Questions