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As 2010 and beyond saw the advent of Open Banking, 2020 will be the decade for sustained and conscious maturation of the digital banking world.

What does 2020 hold for Open Banking?

Traditional banking has been in need of a shake-up for years, and 2019 was the year Open Banking found its feet, ushering in a whole new era of digital disruption.

As we wrap up the first month of 2020, we thought we'd assess how the phenomenon of Open Banking will impact us in the coming years. There's no doubt that it will completely revolutionise the financial industry: it's only a matter of time, and a question of how.

1. What we know for sure: Open Banking is changing everything.

By shifting ownership of financial data from banks to consumers, Open Banking is bringing an entire industry up to speed with the connected world. Within a year, it has already given rise to a host of new players and propositions that are bringing transparency, simplicity and control to the consumers' banking experience.

So far, the influence of Open Banking has been most materially felt through the introduction of neo-banks like Monzo, Mettle and Revolut, and the alternative financial reality they are enabling. Starling Bank was built with Open Banking in mind from day one, and has set its sights on democratising access to all sorts of financial services. CEO Anne Boden believes that the future value of banks lies in their role as marketplaces, "connecting people to providers of everything from student loans to pensions based on your personal and business profile." Starling's vision is to become the first holistic one-stop-shop for your financial life – exciting news for us, as a direct integration that would simplify tax and accounting even further.

2. The big opportunities: Finding the white space

Beyond neo-banks, Open Banking is facilitating innovation in the FinTech space that simply wasn't possible before. With third-party access to consumer's financial information comes endless ways to enhance their financial autonomy and decision-making power: Klarna is enabling delayed payments, Tully is tackling tailored debt management, Emma is helping people budget better, and Ember is automating the accounting and tax process for single-person businesses.

However, success remains a challenge, not least due to the abundance of startups in the space. Those with a clear and robust path to profitability – no matter how early stage they are – will find themselves in a stronger position than those without. And according to Ross Sleight, Chief Strategy Officer at digital product accelerator, Somo Global, product differentiation will be more important than ever. "Rather than focusing simply on being the easiest to use, stop and interrogate where the left-of-centre needs really lie," was his sound advice at this year's FinTech Connect event in London, the largest gathering of industry leaders and game-changers. In other words, zig when everyone else is zagging; focus less on customer experience and more on solving an unresolved need. That might sound easier said than done but the white space is definitely there: as Sleight points out, "47% of the UK population don't feel confident in making a financial decision, and 27% don't use any form of online banking." People are looking for simpler more reassuring ways to manage their money, and the opportunities to create this may lie outside services traditionally offered by banks.

3. The biggest challenge: Data protection & misuse

But with high potential for reward comes potential for risk, too. In today's climate of data watchfulness, the key challenge for Open Banking lies in protecting the integrity of its data practices – and in reassuring consumers that their data remains their own. Startups with unclear paths to profitability will inevitably end up exploiting users information for cross- and up-sell opportunities, simply to please investors. Even established players are struggling with the issue: Revolut's recent privacy policy update (which requires users to opt out of data sharing, rather than opting in) caused a stir, raising concerns around best practice.

When it comes to Open Banking, what we find most interesting is the potential for disruption in the accounting space. Whilst there has been much talk of incumbent banks having to adapt to modern times, we've seen far less evolution from traditional accounting platforms. Everyone is neglecting one of the most important FinTech verticals: the automation of tax – and that's where we come in.

Ember is the future of small business accounting and tax management – a progressive system purpose-built for owners rather than accountants. In the way that Starling and Atom have stripped away the complexity of traditional banks, we lighten the load of accounting and tax for contractors and small business owners everywhere. Powered by Open Banking and machine learning, Ember offers the full spectrum of accounting services for the cheapest price in the industry.

Open Banking is at the start of its journey towards increased simplicity and transparency for users – and so are we.

Sign up for Ember now and receive your first month for free!

Few contractors are aware that it actually PAYS to throw your own Christmas bash, even if that's just you cosying up to a roast and bottle of red in your favourite pub.

Last minute Christmas Party ideas for contractors

It's that time of year again, and let me guess...

As a contractor, you're looking on at your employer's Christmas party plans, nonchalantly laughing off the 'full-time employees only' rule whilst secretly lamenting the missed opportunity to get festive for free?

No need! Few contractors are aware that it actually PAYS to throw your own Christmas bash, even if that's just you cosying up to a roast and bottle of red in your favourite pub. Provided that your 'per-head spend' doesn't exceed £150, an annual work event is totally tax-deductible. Even better, that counts for your taking a partner or friend as well.

Read on for five ways to stretch a pp budget of £150 into some epic Christmas party ideas for contractors and small-business owners.

It's an obvious choice, but why not treat yourself to a swanky meal at one of London's finest establishments? You could opt for a classic: the champagne pairing menu at The Savoy Grill comes in at £140 per person and Heston Blumenthals' dinner menu at Dinner and dinner at £105 each. Or, you could be a true baller and order every small plate on the menu at one of London's trendiest new hotspots, like Flor for a seasonal British feast, Caractère for stylish 'mood food' or Silo for zero-waste indulgence.

Immersive entertainment at its best, a Secret Cinema ticket will cost you around £65-85, leaving a healthy budget for pre-game nibbles and a steady flow of drinks whilst there. For anyone unfamiliar with the concept, think cult film classics brought to life at fantastic scale, inviting you in to participate in the plot before the opening credits roll. It makes an epic activity for a small team, or a great Christmas-party-meets-date-night for those flying solo.

If London's good for anything, it's an ever-expanding list of places attaching activities to alcohol. Take your team to any of Swingers' underground mini-golf locations for a guaranteed laugh, or play pastis-fuelled pétanque at Baranis in Holborn. Electric Shuffle does for shuffleboard what Flight Club did for darts, whilst Skate Dine Bowl in Queensway takes it all to a new level: if ice skating, curling, bowling lanes and arcade games all wrapped into one doesn't shout 'Christmas party extravaganza', we're not sure what does.

Celebrating Christmas whilst sharpening your cooking and cocktail-making skills = seriously good bang for you buck. There are some excellent once-off cooking classes in London: Wright Brothers does an oyster masterclass for £65 per person, and E5 Bakehouse's sourdough bread-making costs £150. There's also nothing quite like making a meal together to encourage team bonding. If you'd rather try your hand at mixology, book yourself in at TT Liquor in Shoreditch is fantastic for two hours of making (and drinking) cocktails.

And if you're still lost for ideas (or can't be bothered to plan), there's always the trusty fallback of a good old night on the town. Be it a pub crawl, Christmas karaoke or a sticky dance floor special,  you can't go wrong, as long as you keep those receipts safe (which could become trickier as the night progresses). We'd recommend Brilliant Corners for London's sweetest sound system, Piano Works for a crowd-pleaser and Ridley Road Market Bar for gloriously grungy old-school beats and ginger mojitos.

There you have it: Christmas for contractors, sorted. For more tips on what you can and can't claim, check out our top 10 Tax Hacks. And better yet, for simple software that takes care of all your accounting and tax automatically, so that you can spend less time number-crunching and more time Christmas-lunching, sign up for Ember, for free.

Contractors, did you know that it PAYS to work from home and throw your own Christmas party? Check out our top 10 little-known expenses that can save you money in tax deductions.

Tax-saving hacks for contractors

Running your own company as a contractor can be intimidating, but things like tax and knowing what to claim can be downright scary. As a contractor or small business owner, you're obliged to pay the correct amount of tax to HMRC. You know this already, but what you might not know is that there are a handful of really easy ways to win back cash on tax-deductible expenses, such as working from home and splashing out on a Christmas party.

Another common misconception is that you need an accountant to push the submit button for you. False – you can totally do it yourself. As ever though, HMRC's guidance can be murky, and full of nondescript words like ‘reasonable' and 'fair'. The goal of this article is to help you feel 100% confident in making the decision yourself on what you can and can't claim. When you have all the facts, it becomes second nature.

So, with that in mind, read on for our top 10 unknown expenses that can save you money in the long term as a contractor.

If you work from home – even if that constitutes clearing emails for just two days a week, or running the books once the kids have gone to sleep – you can claim a deduction on certain living costs. For example, if you dedicate your study exclusively to business use and choose to spruce it up with a coat of paint, that's deductible as a direct expense. Equally, things like rent, mortgage interest and real estate taxes can be claimed in proportion to the amount of time you spend using that space for business purposes.

To go the easy way for contractors, HMRC have a flat rate that can be used which allows you to claim £4 a week on home office use, meaning a total allowance of £208 can be deducted for the year.

For homeowners however, you can claim a higher amount as long as you put together a rental agreement between you and your limited company. You'll also need to make sure the amount charged isn't OTT and that you have a dedicated study for your business.

If your mobile phone contract is in your company’s name (and you're mindful about your personal use), the full cost of that contract is tax-deductible. Similarly, if you have a broadband box at home that you use for work, that's cash back in the bank. If you're old-school and love a landline, you'll need to prove that calls you claim on have been made for business purposes. In this case, it might be better to set up a landline dedicated to the company – just be sure that the bills are addressed to the company rather than you as the business owner.

How much can you claim?  If you register mobile phone and broadband contracts in your company's name, you could benefit from a couple of hundred quid's worth of tax savings a year, depending on your rates.

Thankfully as a contractor working on-site, the stress of the Central Line (or whatever might constitute your daily commute) can make its way back to you as a tax deduction. This is because, as a contractor, the business you're working for is technically a client. Careful though – if you're a small business owner traveling to your own office rented by your company every day, that commute unfortunately isn't deductible.

Any trips outside of daily business definitely represents a saving, such as taking a Kapten across London to see a different client or booking flights to a conference in Milan. And when you're in Milan, don't forget to claim back on your hotel, your meals whilst you're there and any fuel, hire or parking charges you might rack up. On top of travel-specific expenses, you can also claim on tips, phone calls or shipping costs you might incur in getting samples or equipment over there. It goes without saying, but keep those receipts safe!

How much can you claim? If you're traveling to your clients office every day, that's on average a deduction of £8 a day (£2,024 per year)! Then, if you're averaging two other offsite client meetings in London per week and one overnight business trip away per year, you could make an extra annual tax deduction in the realm of £800's+.

It might surprise you that as a contractor working from your clients office, you can treat yourself to lunch from your favourite chain and expense it. You just need to make sure you're not having too much of a laugh and keeping it within the limits of company policy (which you lay out when setting up the business).

How much can you claim? An average spend of around £5 per day can be deducted, so with 253 working days in the year that's a total potential for £1,265 in deductions that can be claimed.

Any training courses or materials that help you improve your skills as a contractor are tax-deductible. And with that, of course, comes travel and food expenses you'll need to pay for whilst on a course. Watch out though, HMRC can be a bit sticky with training – they don't like MBAs or courses where the focus is on learning new skills as opposed to building on those that you already have. So for example, if you're starting your own fitness studio, you won't be able to claim on your personal training or yoga instructor's course as you'll be learning it for the first time, but go wild with refresher courses or anything that might update your existing knowledge.

How much can you claim? Training courses can range from anywhere between £50 up to £500, which can be claimed in sweet deductions.

In the UK, there is something called the Tax-Free Childcare Scheme, which is a serious win if you're a contractor with little ones. Provided that you're in work and not on maternity or paternity leave, the government will pay 20p for every 80p you put into childcare, up to a max threshold of £2000's worth of savings, or until your child turns 11. Given that childcare can easily cost £240 per week, this is a no brainer.

How much can you claim? Up to £2,000's worth of savings.

7. Work events, such as Christmas parties

That's right – it pays to get festive and don those dusty reindeer ears. Provided that your per-head spend doesn't exceed £150 (that can be for one event, or spread across a few throughout the year), those expenses can be claimed as a business deduction and are exempt from both tax and National Insurance. So if it's just you working for the company, treat yourself and your partner (as they get £150 allowance as well) to a lavish Christmas dinner (we know a couple spots where £150 will get you prettty far #spoons), and if you have a couple of employees in tow, we've put together a list of ideas for Epic Small-Business Christmas Parties soon.

How much can you claim? £150 deduction per person in attendance (remember you get an extra £150 for a partner if you want to bring them along).

Any kind of marketing that drives business your way is tax-deductible, and that includes paying to promote posts on Instagram and LinkedIn. Getting your name out there is often one of the most challenging elements of contracting, and costs can climb quickly. Luckily, everything from paid search to business cards – and even a new website – contributes to your tax saving. If you're in need of some inspo, sign up for our Complete Guide to Marketing Yourself as a Contractor, dropping soon.

How much can you claim? Will depend on how much attention you pay to promoting yourself, however a main one to keep in mind is the cost of LinkedIn Business Premium for around £45 a month.

Keeping healthy is healthy for your bank balance and tax position, particularly if what you do involves a lot of staring at screens. Eye tests and health checks are tax-deductible, as are the costs of contact lenses or prescription glasses, provided they're used exclusively for screen time. Finally, a reason to invest in two pairs of glasses – one for home 😎and one for work 🤓.

How much can you claim? Average spend on a pair of glasses is around £50 and a private yearly medical check up can be anywhere between £100 to £500 depending on the extent of the MOT. It pays to keep the health in check.

10. Professional magazine or journal subscriptions

Occupation-specific magazine subscriptions, journals and books can be claimed as a limited company expense. For example, if you’re the a contracting editor of a photography magazine and you have a subscription to a rival title, you should be able to claim the cost of this as a business expense as it’s a way for your business to keep up to speed on industry trends and your competition.

How much can you claim? On average, professional subscriptions to magazines range from £10 to £30, meaning that you can claim up to £360 per year as a deduction.

If you keep these 10 simple things in mind when completing your corporation tax return, you've potentially claimed an extra £10k worth of deductions. However, knowing what to claim is only half the battle – how can you be sure the numbers are correct from start to finish?! That's where Ember comes in: a simple software that tracks, manages and submits the numbers to HMRC. It's the glue that holds it all together, and an accounting and tax platform that finally speaks to you in your language.

Join the new age of accounting and sign up for free. You too can wear the finance hat without having to rely on the overpriced accountant 👔

If you're finding it difficult to know where to start your journey as a contractor, start here: our simple 6-step guide to setting yourself up as a contractor.

6 simple steps to start your company as a contractor

So, you've decided to make the exciting leap from employee to contractor. You've secured your first contract and celebrated accordingly, but now's the time to get everything set up before you sign on the dotted line.

The process of setting up as a contractor can be daunting. If you've always worked as an employee, you've likely never have needed to worry about the admin things like accounting, insurance or setting up a company.

We've been contractors before and we know first-hand how tricky getting set up can be. That's why we've put together this handy guide to help simplify it all for you.

Choose your company name. There are rules for company names which you can check here. Company names also have to be unique, you can check if your name is available here.

Set yourself up as Managing Director. Directors have responsibilities such as paying Corporations Tax and keeping company records, you can familiarise yourself with the full list here. You can also check the records you'll need to keep here.

Register your company. You'll need to register an official address and choose an SIC code which identifies the products or services your company provides. You can check the rules for a company address here and choose the correct SIC code here. To register your company with Companies House you'll need to follow this link.

Opening a business bank account can often be more complicated and time-consuming than you'd expect. Additionally, the process can differ greatly between banks. In order to register for a business bank account you'll need the following:

Proof of ID (passport, photo driving license or national ID card)

Proof of address (utility bill, council tax statement, recent bank statement).

Full business address (including postcode)

Companies House registration number (for limited companies and partnerships)

It's also important to choose a bank that suits your business needs. Top tip: we'd recommend checking out Money who have put together a great comparison of business banking products.

HMRC requires you to register for VAT if your VAT taxable turnover goes above £85,000, or if you know that it will. Your VAT taxable turnover is the total of everything sold that is not VAT exempt. You can also register voluntarily if your business turnover is below £85,000. You must pay HMRC any VAT you owe from the date they register you.

Most businesses can register for VAT online here.

IR35 is comprised of two sets of tax legislation designed to combat tax avoidance by contractors and the companies hiring them. It's intended for contractors who are supplying their services to clients via an intermediary, such as a limited company, but who would for all intents and purposes be an employee if the intermediary wasn't being used.

If you are deemed by HMRC to be working as an employee under IR35 you'll have to pay income tax and National Insurance Contributions, as if you were employed.

The good news is that as a contractor, you aren't responsible for determining your IR35 status. That responsibility falls to the company hiring you.

It's important to insure yourself as a contractor. There are two popular types of insurance cover for contractors: Professional Indemnity Insurance, which covers you in the event that you give faulty advice that might cause financial loss to a client, and Public Liability Insurance, which covers you if someone becomes injured or their property becomes damaged because of your business.

You can compare business insurance services here.

Last but not least, accounting is regularly a pet frustration for contractors. When it comes to making sure you're financially compliant, you can either go it alone and navigate the complex accounting system yourself – which is often confusing, time consuming and opaque – or you can hire an accountant to do it for you at considerable cost. As of recently, however, there's a third option: Ember is the first platform to completely automate the accounting process for contractors and SME's. It's simple and intuitive software that shows you only what you need to see – like how much tax you owe and when it needs to be paid – and does all the complicated stuff in the background. Expenses will be automatically categorised and your VAT returns, taken care of. It's seriously great – and if you sign up today here, you'll get 30 days free with an early adopter bonus of 10% off for life.

It's a big bad world out there for contractors, but we're here to light the way, and lighten the load.

6 simple steps to setting up your company as a contractor

It's an exciting time at Ember HQ – we've just closed our first round of funding.

Ember close round of funding

Led by the Startup Funding Club alongside a small group of angel investors, we've raised £250k to get Ember off the ground and into the hands of modern contractors across the UK.

It's been a rich and rewarding journey so far – recognising a gap, aligning on a vision and getting stuck into building the product – and now we're ready and excited to take Ember to the next level. The capital we've raised will accelerate product development and ignite our launch nationwide. We have so many big ideas about how to alleviate the stress of tax and accounting compliance for independent contractors. With the backing and support of our investors, we can't wait to unlock their potential and bring them to life.

Join us or follow our journey by signing up here. We're creating a future where independent workers, businesses and contractors can thrive without the need for an accountant – and as accountants ourselves, we're pretty damn excited.

Software designed for small business owners not accountants. No more accounting jargon, clunky spreadsheets, piles of receipts or stressful tax returns. Just full visibility of your company’s finances in real time, all the time.

Introducing Ember: Accountant-free accounting, for contractors.

The world of work is changing, and the modern workplace (or lack thereof) has never been as exciting as it is today. Jobs have become fluid and work days, flexible; our holidays, unlimited and our colleagues, machines. Driven by technology and accelerated by culture, we’ve gone from closed companies of employees to dynamic networks of contractors. Everything about business is opening up…

It’s difficult to believe that, in an age of automation and professional autonomy, a trade as manual as accounting is still stuck in the dark ages. It’s full of complicated jargon and restrictive compliance; it requires us to pay someone else to know more about our numbers than we do. We’ve managed to bypass the recruiter, the landlord, the salesman in every other aspect of working life – so why is the accountant still very real, very ‘necessary’, and very expensive?

They don't need to be. At Ember, we’re excited by a new age of small business finance that puts the power in the hands of the owner. We've got nothing against accountants; we’re accountants ourselves, hell-bent on catching financial compliance up with the modern day.

Having worked as independent contractors in the UK, we were struck by how labour-intensive the process of small business finance remains: hours spent decoding HMRC’s website, precious time wasted categorising expenses, all whilst feeling increasingly anxious and in the dark about what the accountant was lodging on our behalf.

So we started Ember – a brighter way to account for your business, from starting it, to closing it, and everything in between. Ember is the single software you need to manage your financial obligations. It’s an open system built for the open talent economy: words like debit, credit, ledger, reconciliation and journals are replaced with language you understand, and all the number-crunching you’d be paying an accountant £120 per month to do, is taken care of in the background. What you see is the important stuff: your tax position in real time, your automated tax return for review, all the important numbers in one central feed.

We believe in an economy powered by small business, where everyone is able to work freely and flexibly, with no barriers to contracting or going it alone. Ember is here to empower your ambition. We don’t take accounting lightly, but what matters to us is that you can.

Jump onto our waitlist here to be one of the first to pilot the future of small business accounting & tax management.

Ember is proud to announce they have recently been granted a position on the NatWest Pre-Accelerator programme.

Ember accepted on Pre-Accelerator

We are excited to announce that Ember has recently been granted a position on the NatWest Pre-Accelerator programme. The opportunity comes at the perfect time during the funding round as it will open the team up to key funding events, online learning materials and the chance to progress on to the Accelerator.

Proving yet another important step in raising the profile of the brand and affirmation of the teams vision for the future of banking and accounting.

Further updates to follow after kick off at the 'Ignition' event on the 17th of June 2019.

Ember accepted on Pre-Accelerator programme