Sam D'Arcy ❌

Founder

Sam D'Arcy

You probably hate finances, and I love them. I’m not exaggerating, either.

That’s WHY it works so well.

I’ve worked in accountancy since 2015, but I set up The3Key in 2022 after noticing a recurring pattern with the creatives I worked with. Numbers overwhelmed them, causing them to switch off and neglect their responsibilities.

That feeling resonates with me because I started in accountancy straight after school and felt exactly the same. The issue is that ignoring your accountancy and tax affairs is the worst thing you can do because they never disappear.

Using what I felt was essential to know, along with feedback from countless creatives at all levels of the industry, we tweaked and continue to tweak our offering to mould a service that complements our clients.

We’re now a team of five - Me, Charlie, Maddie, Josh and Scott.

Alongside our personal and proactive ongoing service, there are four core elements we want to achieve with you, without you feeling like we’re speaking another language:

👉 Help simplify your accountancy and tax management, reducing the time spent on it and preventing tax surprises.
👉 Ensure you're minimising your taxes by paying yourself in the best way and maximising the expenses you claim from the business. These keep more money in your pocket, not HMRC's.
👉 Make sure everything is correct, so we know HMRC won't be on your case
👉 Help you understand how you're performing, so you're not treading water and guessing what your next move or tax bill is.

That’s a brief overview of how we work and that there may be a less daunting way to manage your accountancy and taxes, so you can focus on what you're good at and growth.

You can see what our clients have to say via our Google Reviews here: https://shorturl.at/1KAuh

Tom Crompton

Our new website is LIVE!

We know how every creative feels about the Tax Man.

Taxes get higher, and you feel you're working harder for your money, in what’s already been a turbulent market over the last few years.

If you want to earn good money, you'll need to pay tax, but we’ll ensure you’re paying as little tax as you need to - legally and correctly 😂

Proactive advice, tailored to you, that you actually understand. You’ll know it’s the best for you, and nothing ever comes as a shock.

Accountancy and tax will start to make some sense to you. You’ll start to understand where you are and save time because of that.

A bonus is we’re not really dry like the average accountant, too 😴

You can check it out here: www.the3key.com (The3Key)

👋 Accountant for creative businesses | Founder at The3Key

The3Key

I bit off far more than I could chew late last year.

I’ll get into what all of that was another time, but one of them was moving office and then making it an office people would want to come to.

We’re 100% office-based. We could work remotely, but we choose not to. It’s convenient when you all live locally.

Anyway, our best work happens as a team, and I like it that way.

The office move was hard, the design was EASY. That was because I didn’t do it. When you work with creatives, the support is right in front of you. One of our earliest clients, Lauren Roberts, delivered the most amazing design.

Now, the design is starting to come to life because work has commenced.

It’s still early days, but we’ve now got a wall that didn’t exist on Monday, and that alone is exciting.

I’m going to keep you updated on this because it’s going to look AMAZING, and I like to show off our clients' work. It just happens that our clients' work in this case is for us 😂

No alternative text description for this image

We always knew who's side we were on…

Accounting for Creatives.

Website 🔜

Walking into a creative event and 5-10% of attendees being clients tells you you’re doing something right.

Being excited about meeting them tells you that you’re working with good people.

Clients menionting to each other, “Tom must have arrived because his sombrero is there” tells you you’ve got pretty good brand recognition.

I’ll tell you what is hard, spotting people you’ve seen so many times on Zoom calls in person. Hair done, the rest of their body and their style - everything you see in person, which you don’t get on a video 😂

A great night at Process Events as they always are. Unbelievable host Frazer Wilson Sparham 😏

 What a laugh with clients, too. A few of them became sombrero-wearing creatives last night 🤣 Fliss Lee Naomi Adkins Izak Jackson Raphael Pavel Kristiyan Zhekov

Tomorrow, we’ll be sponsoring the first Leeds Process Events of the year.

I sponsored these after attending a few in Manchester.

I think they great and, as much as I sponsor them, I’d have said that without sponsoring them. I receive nothing from saying that.

Anyway, I’ll be there, so if you’re going, you might bump into me. Lucky you 😭

If you’re not going, you should probably check out their other events here:

https://lnkd.in/e5jEvJb2

Tomorrow, I’m lucky to support Process Events and watch one of our brilliant clients (Hayley Akins) do her magic at Motion North.

It was only last week that I was talking to Izak Jackson about not liking the start of events when you bump into people you know from social media. I'm very introverted until I'm comfortable speaking to somebody, so it takes a while to settle in.

Speaking to Izak was the first time I've felt like I wasn't the only one, so there'll be people tomorrow who’ll feel the same. So, my advice is just speak because it's likely they feel just as awkward 😂

Also looking forward to catching Cal Lomax, Jai Nutting and Raphael Pavel ✌️

It’s National Apprenticeship Week.

I started in accountancy as 16 as an apprentice.

I was quite lucky where I ended up. It was a Private-Equity backed accountancy practice.

I was the second member of operational staff and it grew so quickly - there was about 40 people four years later.

There wasn’t much I didn’t do. I supported accountants, helped with marketing (😂), cleansed A LOT of internal data and made some bloody good brews.

I then became the accountant at 18, but that happened by proving I knew the job and a lot of trust.

All of my future jobs came from connections of the previous place, so without the apprenticeship, I wouldn't be where I am today.

I've done every role in The3Key inside out, so I have very clear expectations of everybody. I know what a good accountancy business should run like because I've worked my way through one.

I’m fortunate to have been able to employ apprentices, too, because I know how valuable they are. Seeing it from the other side of the table has been new to me, but enjoyable.

Anyway, I think apprenticeships are great. It's not only great for the individual, but an apprentice can become an integral part of your business if you don't take advantage of them.

There’s around a month of the tax year left.
 
Here’s what you should do ASAP👇
 
Creatives don’t always have a substantial amount of expenses, so maximising what you can drives down your Corporate and Personal Taxes.
 
Here are my two recommendations:
 
1️⃣ Provide an annual event for your employees. Yes, even if it's just you 🫵

It comes with conditions.

⏩️ The cost per person is less than £150.
⏩️ All employees are invited.
⏩️ The event occurs annually.

A guest from your family & household can also attend. They would get their own £150 limit 👫
 
The next is every client’s favourite…
 
2️⃣ Give trivial benefits 🎁

These are gifts provided to employees. Each gift has criteria you must meet:

⏩️ The gift is £50 or less.
⏩️ You haven’t received it as a reward for work or performance.
⏩️ It isn’t cash or a cash-exchangeable voucher.
⏩️ There isn’t a contractual entitlement to it.

Gift cards aren’t usually cash-exchangeable, so these are fine.

If you’re a director, you cannot receive more than £300 worth of trivial benefits in a tax year.

These reset on 6th April, so make the most of them - you can get up to £600 tax-free.

** Limited Companies Only **

taplio

The Battle

Sam D'Arcy

Tom Crompton

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreTom Crompton's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Sam D'Arcy

Tom Crompton

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Tom Crompton's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreTom Crompton's LinkedIn Performance