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BusinessPennyWise's UK small business and freelance hub. Company formation, bookkeeping, card payments, marketplace tools and business exit — all under one page.
Reviewed August 2026 · Reading time: ~9 minutes
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Roughly 4.4 million people in the UK are self-employed. Another 5.5 million work for a small business with fewer than 10 employees. This hub covers the practical decisions each of them faces — sole trader vs Ltd company, bookkeeping, card payments, freelance tools, and eventually exit — plus the affiliate-partnered tools we think work best in each category.
When Ltd beats sole trader, formation process, first-year admin.
Read guide →Marketplace, productivity, admin tools for solo operators.
Read guide →Dext for receipt capture + expense tracking.
Read guide →Flatpay, SumUp, Zettle compared.
Read guide →SellTo, World Businesses for Sale reviewed.
Read guide →Employer contributions save corporation tax.
Read guide →Sole trader is simpler and cheaper to run. Limited company is more tax-efficient above roughly £30,000-£40,000 profit and provides limited liability. See our Ltd company guide.
Compulsory once taxable turnover exceeds £90,000 in a 12-month rolling period. Voluntary registration below that can be worthwhile if your customers are VAT-registered themselves.
Options: card readers (SumUp, Zettle, Flatpay, Square), online (Stripe, PayPal), invoicing-based (GoCardless, Wise). See our card payments guide.
All UK small-business topics.
Open hub →Formation, tax, compliance.
Read guide →Dext and alternatives.
Read guide →Flatpay reviewed.
Read guide →Marketplace and productivity tools.
Read guide →M&A marketplaces.
Read guide →General information only, not personalised financial advice. Pennywise Finance is not authorised by the FCA. For decisions involving significant sums, consult an FCA-authorised adviser or the free MoneyHelper service.