April always feels like a turning point. The clocks have changed, the evenings are lighter, and there’s a sense that things are moving forward again. It’s a natural moment to reset, not just personally, but professionally too.
For UK business owners, April is more than just spring. The tax year ends on April 5th, and from April 6th, a brand new financial year begins. That makes this the perfect time to properly look back at the year you’ve just completed and get your records in order while everything is still clear in your mind.
In my experience, this is exactly why April is such a powerful time to do your financial tidy-up, because once the year rolls on, the details can get blurry.
And blurred details are where money gets lost.
For UK therapists completing a Self Assessment return, the tax year runs from April 6th to April 5th the following year. Once April 5th has passed, you can submit your return any time from April 6th onwards, right up until January 31st the following year if you file online with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Although the return can be submitted early, the tax itself is normally due by January 31st.
That gap between April and January gives you options.
If you complete your bookkeeping early and submit your return:
- You’ll know exactly how much tax you owe.
- You’ll know whether payments on account apply to you.
- And in some cases, particularly if you also have PAYE income from another job, you may discover you’re due a repayment.
There is something incredibly reassuring about knowing the number.
Even if the bill is higher than you hoped, certainty is far easier to manage than uncertainty.
If you leave everything until the following January, you could be trying to remember expenses from as far back as the previous April which by then can feel like a different lifetime.
In April:
- Receipts are easier to find (including emailed ones).
- Bank transactions are recent enough to recognise.
- You’re more likely to remember cash purchases.
- You can recall expenses that didn’t come with a formal receipt.
That last point is often where things get missed.
Perhaps you paid for parking at a CPD course.
Or maybe you picked up stationery while doing your weekly shop.
When it’s still fresh, you can make a note and support it with bank records or a brief explanation in your bookkeeping. Months later, those small but legitimate costs are much harder to reconstruct, and far more likely to be forgotten.
Here’s what I suggest reviewing once the tax year closes.
1. Make Sure All Income Is Recorded
Double-check that:
- All treatments are logged.
- Your booking system matches your bank account.
- Cash payments (if you accept them) are recorded.
- Gift vouchers are accounted for properly according to the accounting method you use.
Small omissions across a year can distort your figures.
2. Review Shared or Blended Expenses
This is where many therapists unintentionally underclaim, simply because business and personal life overlap.
If you work from home, even partially, you may have legitimate business use of:
- Electricity and heating
- Water
- Internet
- A portion of household running costs
You might use HMRC’s simplified flat rate, or calculate a reasonable percentage based on the rooms used and for how long.
Also consider:
Mobile phone use
If you use your personal phone for client messages, calls, booking apps, social media or supplier communication, a business proportion may be claimable.
Laundry
Washing towels and couch covers at home increases your household utility use. It’s a genuine business cost, even though it happens in your personal space.
Insurance and memberships
Professional indemnity, public liability, equipment cover and association memberships are often annual payments. They can easily be forgotten if they were paid months ago or didn’t generate a paper receipt.
April is a good time to check you haven’t overlooked them.
3. Look at Your CPD and Training
Therapists are wonderful at investing in learning, but sometimes forget the additional costs attached to it.
Have you included:
- Course fees
- Travel
- Parking
- Accommodation, if required
If the training maintains or improves your existing skills within your current trade, these expenses may well be allowable.
4. Reconcile Your Accounts
Match your bookkeeping records against:
- Bank statements
- Card payment provider summaries
- Booking software reports or diary
If something doesn’t align, April is far easier to investigate than December or January when everything feels busy and urgent.
5. Estimate Your Profit
Remember, tax is calculated on profit, not turnover.
Profit is what’s left after your allowable business expenses are deducted from your income.
Once you estimate your profit for the year, you can:
- Adjust how much tax you’re setting aside.
- Decide whether to increase your monthly savings.
- Or, in some cases, realise you’ve already set aside more than enough.
That knowledge puts you firmly in control.
You don’t have to submit your return in April, but there are good reasons to consider doing it sooner rather than later.
Submitting early means:
- You know your exact tax bill.
- You avoid the January rush.
- You remove months of low-level financial uncertainty.
- You give yourself time to plan if the bill is higher than expected.
- And if you’re due a repayment, you won’t delay receiving it.
You still don’t have to pay until January, but the money can sit in your own savings
account in the meantime, earning interest and remaining under your control.
The end of the tax year isn’t just about compliance.
It’s a chance to properly understand your business.
How much did it truly cost to run?
What did you actually earn?
Where did your money go?
If you use April to review, while receipts are still findable and transactions are still familiar, you turn tax from something that happens to you into something you manage deliberately.
And that can make running your massage business feel far less stressful.
About the Author
Esther Smith is a fully booked solo massage therapist with a background in business and a passion for helping other therapists grow their confidence and client base. After being made redundant at 49, she retrained in massage and built a thriving practice from scratch, starting out mobile, renting rooms, and eventually creating her own garden studio. Esther now combines hands-on therapy with teaching others how to market themselves authentically and build sustainable businesses they love. You can learn more about her work at Building A Massage Therapy Business.
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