Ask the Collective
The questions independent drinks founders ask most — answered. Distilled from years of community knowledge so the good stuff never disappears in the feed again.
Should alcohol duty be included in or excluded from margin calculations?
Whether to include duty depends on your purpose, but there are two distinct approaches: **For internal analysis and strategy:** Exclude duty from margin calculations. This approach is cleaner and more useful because: - It allows meaningful comparison across different channels (duty-free/export vs. UK domestic sales) - It keeps margins consistent when duty rates change—important because you typically can't pass duty rate increases directly to customers without them accepting the cost increase separately - It gives you a true picture of what's fundamentally changing in your business **For retail/wholesale customer discussions:** Include duty so your customer's margin calculations reflect their actual landed costs. **Key principle:** Members note that duty is not reclaimable like VAT, so it cannot be treated the same way. The standard approach among strategic-minded producers is to exclude duty when benchmarking gross margins, especially since duty rates vary hugely internationally. This avoids the problem where a duty rate change on 1 February (for example) would artificially depress your reported margin percentage despite nothing fundamentally changing in your operation. One member flagged that duty-suspended calculations are more complex and less commonly used.
What should a small drinks producer with 3 employees expect to pay for accountancy and bookkeeping services?
For a small producer with 3 employees, members suggest a reasonable range of **£700–£1,400 per annum** depending on the full scope of services required. Members also noted that specialist accountants with tiered pricing structures exist within the community network. One member reported working with accountants who offer **different levels of pricing** and have proven effective even for more complex setups (multiple entities, inter-company loans), describing them as "game changers" with "reasonable and great work/outputs." If you're facing a significant price increase from your current bookkeeper, this range provides a useful benchmark to assess whether the new quote is justified by expanded scope or an unreasonable jump.