This Valentine’s Day, you might be thinking about spoiling your significant other with flowers and chocolates.

If you’re a business owner, then your true love is probably the company that you have built up.

Your business finances need tender love and care, so it is important to understand how to handle things ahead of the new tax year.

What support do businesses need with their finances?

Ahead of the new tax year, it is important to take the time to understand how to strengthen your business’s finances so that you can approach upcoming changes with confidence.

A combination of the Autumn Budget and the Employment Rights Act is set to increase the costs that businesses need to manage.

One of the biggest changes that needs to be managed is the increase in wages.

National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) are both set to increase and this is expected to drive up other wages throughout a company in order to preserve wage fairness.

From April 2026, the increase in employee wages includes:

• NLW (for 21 and over) – £12.71 per hour (up 4.1 per cent)
• NMW for 18-20 year olds – £10.85 (up 8.5 per cent)
• NMW for 16-17 year olds and apprentices – £8.00 per hour (up 6 per cent)

In order to keep employees happy and a working team strong, it will be necessary for businesses to review their wages.

This will only be possible by having a deep understanding of your financial position.

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is also being revised so that you will have to pay it sooner and to more employees.

This will cause unprepared businesses to be scrambling with payroll to keep compliant.

Coupled with these administrative challenges, the increase in wages comes alongside changes to business rates that threaten to put pressure on your operational costs.

International economics continues to be chaotic and this instability is making it difficult to reliably engage with trade across borders.

Even if your business operates solely on a domestic level, the impact of global trade agreements can have a more profound impact on the economy that may impact your business.

How can business owners fall in love with finance again?

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, so why not offload your financial woes to an accounting professional?

Having a team of experts on hand to help you understand your obligations can help you prepare your budget for the year ahead.

We want to help you keep your passion for business and this can be difficult as operational costs rise.

However, understanding your current financial position can give you the ability to adjust to the changes ahead.

Our team will work with you to get an understanding of your unique position and give you the financial support you need to allow you to focus on running your business.

Speak to our team today to bring the spark back to your business.