Locuming As An Optometrist In The UK - The Tax Mistake We Cannot Afford To Make!

The Single Financial Move to Save You From a Tax Nightmare

It is the one non-negotiable step that separates the financially savvy locum from those destined for HMRC-induced panic attacks: having two separate bank accounts.

Many of us think we're saving time by sticking to a single account, but we are actually setting a catastrophic financial trap for ourselves. Our tax bills should be manageable, predictable events—not terrifying treasure hunts through twelve months of mingled personal spending.

The Self-Employed Sin: Why Mixing Accounts is Financial Failure

When we mix our finances, our bank statements become a "crime scene" where a £450 locum payment sits right next to a Netflix subscription, a birthday dinner, and the weekly food shop.

When tax season arrives, we (or our accountants) have to spend hours painfully separating every single transaction to figure out our true profit. Here is why that's a problem:

• Wasted Money: Every minute an accountant spends untangling that mess is a billable minute we have to pay for.
• Missed Savings: We will almost certainly miss valuable Allowable Expenses because they are buried deep in our personal spending. This means we end up paying tax on money we didn't need to.
• Privacy Risks: If HMRC ever decides to audit our returns, do we really want them trawling through our personal spending habits?

By separating our accounts, we draw a clean, professional line: this is business money; that is personal money.

🔑 The Solution: Our Financial Escape Hatch

The solution is shockingly simple, yet utterly transformative. We need to open a second, separate bank account. It doesn't even need to be a formal "business" account—many modern digital banks offer free, easy-to-use options for self-employed individuals.

Here is how we should manage it:

1. ALL INCOME IN: Every single locum payment goes directly into this business account.
2. ALL EXPENSES OUT: Every GOC fee, professional membership, CPD course, and work-related fuel payment comes only from this account.
3. PAY YOURSELF: We transfer a set, manageable "salary" (our personal spending money) from the locum account to our personal account once a month.

The Result?

When our accountants ask for year-end statements, we hand them a clean, single document showing every business transaction. They are done in minutes, our fees stay lower, and our stress levels plummet to zero.

Let’s stop procrastinating on our financial health. Let's do the one thing today that makes the next tax year a breeze instead of a nightmare.