Guides
Accounting, tax and Companies House — explained
Plain-English guides for UK accountants, directors and small businesses. Written for HydraTax — not generic filler.
Companies House · 12 min
How to verify your identity for Companies House — personal codes, deadlines and what to do next
A plain-English guide to Companies House identity verification: who must verify, GOV.UK One Login vs ACSP, photo ID you need, finding your personal code, FAQs for first-timers, and how HydraTax helps with confirmation statements, name changes and incorporation after you are verified.
Read guide →Payroll · 10 min
How to run payroll at HydraTax
A practical walkthrough of HydraTax PAYE: add employees, upload a timesheet, preview statutory sick, holiday, maternity and pension, submit FPS, and email a password-protected pack of payslips to the client.
Read guide →Payroll · 8 min
Why HydraTax is a better place to run UK payroll
Most UK payroll tools file RTI. HydraTax is built around what still goes wrong: FPS with no preview, duplicate HMRC records, timesheets that never become payslips, and payroll living in a different login from CT600 and VAT.
Read guide →Practice · 8 min
The biggest challenges facing UK accountants in 2026
Staff shortages, HMRC digital change, Companies House identity checks and client bookkeeping gaps — how UK practices can stay on top of accounting work without drowning in portals.
Read guide →Small business · 7 min
Bookkeeping difficulties for small businesses (and how to fix them)
Why UK small businesses struggle with bookkeeping — mixed personal spend, missing receipts, VAT categories and year-end panic — and a practical way to keep records HMRC-ready.
Read guide →Corporation tax · 8 min
Changing HMRC rules on CT600: what limited companies must do now
HMRC closed free online CT600 filing on 31 March 2026. MTD for Corporation Tax is not going ahead. Here is what actually changed for Company Tax Returns, iXBRL accounts and software.
Read guide →HMRC · 8 min
What is Making Tax Digital (MTD)?
A plain-English guide to Making Tax Digital in the UK: MTD for VAT, MTD for Income Tax from April 2026, and why MTD for Corporation Tax is not going ahead.
Read guide →Companies House · 7 min
What is a confirmation statement — and why you must file it
A confirmation statement (CS01) is a yearly Companies House filing that confirms your company’s details are correct. Miss it and the company can be struck off. How to file, fees, personal codes and deadlines.
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