Quarter Three: News you can use
A Summer of Milestones, Growth & Gratitude
This August marked a major milestone for DS Business Support — our 10th birthday. What began as a small, family‑run bookkeeping service has grown into a trusted nationwide support team working with more than 180 clients across a wide range of industries. Over the past decade, we’ve expanded our services, strengthened our digital systems, and built long‑standing relationships with accountants and business owners across the UK. We’ve embraced cloud bookkeeping early, become Xero Gold Partners, supported clients through major HMRC changes, and grown a team that shares our commitment to accuracy, care, and client wellbeing.
Our summer celebration was a chance to reflect on how far we’ve come: the clients who have been with us since the beginning, the team members who’ve helped shape our culture, and the partners who trust us with their bookkeeping and payroll year after year. It reminded us that DS Business Support is more than a business — it’s a community built on reliability, transparency, and genuine care. As we step confidently into our second decade, we’re excited to continue expanding, innovating, and supporting even more businesses with the same family‑focused values we started with. Here’s to the next ten years of growth, collaboration, and success.
Lots of fun at the DS Business Support Summer celebration!
HMRC Updates: Highlights from the August 2026 Employer Bulletin
HMRC’s August 2026 Employer Bulletin included several important updates affecting payroll, compliance, and employer responsibilities:
Mandatory Payrolling of Benefits in Kind (BIKs) will be phased in between April 2027 and April 2028, so employers should begin preparing for real‑time reporting.
Mileage payment guidance has been updated for the 2026–27 tax year.
PAYE Settlement Agreement (PSA) reminders emphasise timely electronic payments, especially when deadlines fall on weekends.
P11D & P11D(b) submissions for 2025–26 should be completed promptly to avoid penalties.
HMRC issued a tax fraud warning about schemes targeting employers and agencies.
New consultations have opened on lower‑value tax debts and aligning National Insurance recovery time limits with Income Tax.
These updates reinforce the importance of accurate payroll processing and staying ahead of compliance changes, something our team continues to prioritise for all clients.
Software Updates: Xero, Dext & BrightPay
Xero - Recent updates include AI‑powered reconciliation suggestions, enhanced purchase order tools, improved reporting templates, new user permissions, and expanded analytics features. These improvements support faster processing and more accurate financial insights. As a reminder, effective 1 September 2026, Xero’s prices changed, the following is now accurate:
New monthly plan prices:
Ignite: £18
Grow: £39
Comprehensive: £55
Ultimate: £70
For clients currently benefiting from discounted subscriptions, revised pricing will also apply. For example > Grow Discount B: increasing to £24 per month (compared with the standard retail price of £39 per month)
According to Xero, these changes support ongoing investment in the platform, including enhanced security, improved performance, and new features designed to help businesses operate more efficiently. You can find more information about the upcoming price changes and the latest product updates on the Xero website. What this means for our clients? If you currently use a Xero subscription through us, the new pricing will take effect from September 2026. If you have any questions about your plan or would like to discuss the most suitable option for your business, please get in touch with our team.
Dext - Dext has introduced a Time Spent Dashboard, CIS support for sales invoices, expanded Dext Payments (including payroll payments), bank rule import/export, and improved AI Assist categorisation. These updates significantly reduce admin time and strengthen compliance.
BrightPay - BrightPay’s latest enhancements include cross tax year reporting, improved starter pay period selection, flexible payslip publishing rules, RTI submission fixes, better pension contribution handling, and refined P30 reporting. These updates streamline payroll workflows and improve accuracy.
Making Tax Digital: Preparing for Quarter Two
With the first MTD ITSA quarterly update completed in August, we’re now preparing clients for the second quarterly submission, covering July–September. The deadline is five weeks after the quarter end, and as always, DS Business Support will send quarterly MTD reminders to ensure your records are fully up to date ahead of submission.
Looking Ahead to Autumn
As we move into autumn, we’re welcoming new clients into the DS Business Support family, helping them settle into digital bookkeeping systems, and preparing them for the second MTD quarterly submission. Our team is also gearing up for year‑end processes, payroll updates, and the latest HMRC changes highlighted in the August Employer Bulletin. With new features rolling out across Xero, Dext, and BrightPay, we’re continuing to refine our workflows so clients benefit from faster processing, smarter automation, and even greater accuracy. Autumn is always a season of momentum for us, and this year, with our tenth anniversary behind us and a new decade ahead, we’re more energised than ever to support businesses with reliable, compliant, and forward‑thinking bookkeeping.