All posts by Darren Taylor

Darren is a Marketing Manager specialising in Digital Marketing

Top 10 ways to keep your online data secure

It’s Safer Internet Day and to celebrate we’ve produced our top tips for keeping your private data safe online. The day’s main purpose is to promote the safe and responsible use of digital technology for young people. But it’s not...

/ 10th February 2015

Did you know? With Chris McBride

Who are you? I’m Chris and I’m one of the Customer Support Analysts working in the support team.   What does your role at Clear Books entail? The focus of my role at Clear Books revolves around responding to customer...

/ 9th February 2015

Are you looking to create a professional video for your company?

Clear Books Community Exhibition is tomorrow! And there’s just time to squeeze in one last exhibitor case study. Meet Streaming Well, a digital service company which can help with all your business’s digital filming needs!   Tell us a bit...

/ 5th February 2015

Marketing resources to help your business grow

Are you looking to take your business to the next level? The UK Government’s ‘Business is Great’ website has a section devoted to marketing, allowing you to find new ways to win customers and stand out from the crowd. Take...

/ 4th February 2015

CBCE: What you need to know

It’s just one week until Clear Books Community Exhibition. Thanks to all of you who have bought tickets! There’s still time for those who haven’t yet.  Get your tickets for just £10 (fully refundable if you’re a Clear Books customer):...

/ 30th January 2015

Clear Books featured in Elite Business crowdfunding article!

Clear Books has been featured in an article on the topic of crowdfunding in Elite Business magazine. In 2013 and 2014 Clear Books raised over £1.5m from investors over two rounds of crowdfunding, using our own ‘cloud-funding’ platform. This was...

/ 29th January 2015

How Microsoft can help your business get there faster…

We’re really proud that our Community Exhibition on 6th February will be supported by Microsoft, who enable small businesses to grow through technology. Petra Young, Influencer Partner Manager at Microsoft, will be speaking at the event on the day, giving...

/ 27th January 2015

EU VAT changes and Clear Books: an update

As you will probably be aware, on 1st January 2015 the way VAT is charged changed for businesses which sell digital services to consumers in EU member countries. We wanted to give you a brief overview of how we are...

/ 23rd January 2015

Have you booked a review of your finances yet?

There’s no better time than January to start afresh and sort out those things that you’ve been putting off. And if you’ve already booked your ticket for Clear Books Community Exhibition then we’ve got good news. One of the benefits...

/ 22nd January 2015

Top 5 reasons to network

Digital communication makes life a lot easier, but nothing can replace actually going out and meeting people to face-to-face. Here are our top five reasons why you should attend business events and promote yourself and your business in person: 1....

/ 21st January 2015

Achieve your vision with the Business Doctors!

Business Doctor Martin Vessey tells us why he’s speaking AND exhibiting at CBCE on Friday 6th February... Get your tickets here: https://www.clearbooks.co.uk/events/community-exhibition   Tell us a bit about your company. What makes you unique? Business Doctors is a business support...

/ 20th January 2015

Tips for minimising risk when starting your business…

We spoke to Ruth Fouracre, another of our great Community Exhibition speakers, about why she loves Clear Books and what attendees can expect from her talk on risk management... The event, supported by Microsoft, takes place on 6th February in...

/ 15th January 2015

Make the most of your Clear Books account!

When we asked our customers what they wanted from our upcoming business networking event, the most popular suggestion by far was a ‘Clear Books Clinic’ where you can meet our support team in person and get advice and ask questions...

/ 14th January 2015

The art of PR: Meet communications expert Glen Goldsmith

Learning how to effectively promote your business is one of the most important things an entrepreneur should know. In the third of our ‘CBCE speaker’ series, we spoke to  media relations consultant Glen Goldsmith about his upcoming talk at Clear Books...

/ 13th January 2015

Suggest and vote for the Clear Books features you want to see

Users’ ideas posted on our community forum are the source of many of the new features and improvements you see in Clear Books. You too can propose new ideas for features and improvements you wish to see. We consider all ideas...

/ 13th January 2015

Recipe of the month – January

In keeping with the Clear Books slogan of ‘Together We Save Time’, we wanted to introduce a light-hearted new monthly feature to our blog and newsletter - a time-saving lunch recipe from a member of the Clear Books team. With...

/ 12th January 2015

Do more business online in 2015

It might come as a surprise to you to learn that almost half of the small businesses in the UK don’t yet use the internet for their business. With many of you reading this blog using Clear Books online software,...

/ 7th January 2015

How to grow your business with Clive Lewis, Head of Enterprise at ICAEW

It’s exactly one month until Clear Books Community Exhibition and over the next few weeks we’ll be giving you a taster of the exciting speakers you can look forward to hearing at the event. First up, meet chartered accountant and...

/ 6th January 2015

Happy New Year!

We hope everybody has had a relaxing and cosy Christmas and there’s enough leftover turkey and chocolate to ease you gently into January. Our favourite thing about the new year is the opportunity it brings to start afresh and really...

/ 5th January 2015

Clear Books Support Christmas 2014

Clear Books Support will be unavailable from 1pm Wednesday 24th December to 8am Monday 29th December. This will mean that phone and chat support will not be available. Emailed response will still be accepted but the response time will not...

/ 23rd December 2014

Congratulations to the 2014 AccountingWeb Community Award winners!

AccountingWeb have today announced the winners of their 2014 Community Awards, sponsored by Clear Books. We're delighted to be working with such an active online community of accountants and bookkeepers, and these awards are a great way to recognise those...

/ 22nd December 2014

Christmas and the Cloud

Christmas is wonderful: the markets, the twinkly lights, seeing family — and the presents of course. But for small businesses it can cause major logistical headaches: unreliable transport, bad weather, staff on holiday and plenty of colds and bugs flying...

/ 19th December 2014

Pre-Christmas update: Clear Books Community Exhibition

We’ve been thrilled with the response to our upcoming Community Exhibition on 6th February. Almost all of the exhibitor slots have been filled and attendee tickets are selling fast. Don’t worry though — there’s still time to get yours. We’ve...

/ 18th December 2014

Yodlee issues: an explanation

We are as concerned as our users about the repeated Yodlee issues. I feel that an elaborate explanation is appropriate, explaining why the service is unreliable and perhaps more importantly— why Yodlee will always be unreliable (if it wasn’t —...

/ 17th December 2014

Clear Books sponsors the 2014 AccountingWeb Community Awards

For the second year running, Clear Books is proud to sponsor the AccountingWeb Community Awards. AccountingWeb is the largest independent online community for accounting and finance professionals in the UK, and a site that is used often by many Clear...

/ 16th December 2014

Meet ASC Finance for Business!

Are you an entrepreneur looking for advice on how to raise finance for your business? Then ASC Finance for Business can help. They’re just one of the exhibitors already signed up for Clear Books Community Exhibition on 6th February ready...

/ 15th December 2014

Clear Books team doodles Christmas in 30 seconds

To celebrate the coming of Christmas, I asked the team at Clear Books to take part in a fun short activity. Each person was given a random Christmas-related word which they had 30 seconds to draw. Most panicked and spent...

/ 12th December 2014

Clear Books nominated at 2015 Business Finance Awards

Following our recent win at the British Accountancy Awards, we’re delighted to announce that Clear Books has now also been nominated for an award at the upcoming 2015 Business Finance Awards. We’ve been nominated in the category of ‘Software Product...

/ 11th December 2014

Don’t forget Small Business Saturday!

As a champion of small businesses we’re really excited about Small Business Saturday tomorrow. It’s a great reminder and opportunity to head down to the nearest high street and see what your local independent shops have to offer. American Express...

/ 5th December 2014

New resource guide: Introduction to tax for small businesses

  If you’re starting your own business and find tax confusing, our new simple guide to the different types of tax you need to know about will help.   [slideshare id=42090792&doc=clear-books-cloud-intro-to-business-tax-141127061629-conversion-gate01&type=d]   We’ve also included a list of helpful resources...

/ 4th December 2014