Blog
Guides in English
Short, practical guides for small businesses and freelancers, checked against official sources where rules are involved (MisaNeco Works blog). Each card opens the article in a new tab.
Security
Practical security checklists for small teams, based on official guidance.
Clicked a phishing link at work? What to do next (small business checklist)
Someone on your team clicked a link in a suspicious email, or typed a password into a fake login page. What to do next, step by step, based on the UK National Cyber…
(opens in a new tab)When someone leaves: an account offboarding checklist for small businesses
What to switch off, change, collect and record on the day an employee, part-timer or contractor leaves a small business, with a copyable checklist. Based on Japan's IPA…
(opens in a new tab)How to find reused and weak passwords (and which ones to fix first)
A short guide for small businesses and freelancers: use your browser's built-in Password Checkup to find compromised, reused and weak passwords, decide what to fix…
(opens in a new tab)PHP critical RCE (CVE-2026-109618, CVE-2026-109619): how to check your site and update
On 21 October 2026 PHP released fixes for two critical remote code execution flaws (CVSS v4.0 9.2). The fixed versions, who is at risk, how to check your PHP version on…
(opens in a new tab)Password rules for a small business: what NIST SP 800-63B-4 (2025) actually says
A plain-English summary of the password rules in NIST SP 800-63B-4 (final, July 2025) — minimum length, no forced complexity, no scheduled resets, blocklists, password…
(opens in a new tab)Tax & record keeping
Country-specific rules (US, UK, Canada, Australia), checked against official pages.
What a GST/HST invoice must show in Canada - a checklist and invoice template layout
The information the CRA says an invoice needs so your customers can claim input tax credits, by sale amount (under $100, $100 to $499.99, $500 or more), plus a checklist…
(opens in a new tab)Making Tax Digital for Income Tax - who must join, when, and a simple spreadsheet checklist
A plain-English guide to Making Tax Digital for Income Tax for UK sole traders and landlords. Who must join and when, what digital records and quarterly updates mean…
(opens in a new tab)Paying freelancers in the US - Form W-9, Form 1099-NEC and a simple tracking sheet
A plain-English guide for small US businesses that pay contractors. When to ask for a Form W-9, what Form 1099-NEC reports, the current threshold and deadline, and a…
(opens in a new tab)How long to keep business records in the US, UK, Canada and Australia (and a simple filing system)
The official record-keeping periods for small businesses in four countries, checked against IRS, HMRC, CRA and ATO pages, plus a folder and file-naming system that makes…
(opens in a new tab)Automation & Apps Script
Small automations with tools you already have: Gmail, Google Sheets and email templates.
Save Gmail attachments to Google Drive automatically (free Apps Script)
Label an email in Gmail and its attachments are saved to a Google Drive folder within the hour. A short Google Apps Script, one label, one trigger. No add-ons.
(opens in a new tab)Send appointment reminder emails automatically with Google Sheets (free, no add-ons)
A short Google Apps Script that emails each customer the day before their appointment, using a simple Google Sheet. Copy, paste, set one trigger, done.
(opens in a new tab)How to Automate Invoicing and Payment Follow-Up
Automate invoicing and payment reminders step by step with a spreadsheet, email templates and bank files, with notes for the US, UK, Canada and Australia.
(opens in a new tab)Simple automation for a small hair or beauty salon
Seven small admin jobs a salon or barbershop can simplify with tools it already has: booking, client records, rebooking, stock, takings, rota and replies.
(opens in a new tab)Admin automation for plumbers, electricians and builders
Nine small-business admin jobs for trades, from quotes to invoices, each with what is tedious, a few simple ways to fix it and a first step.
(opens in a new tab)Spreadsheets for small business
Excel and Google Sheets layouts and formulas you can copy.
CSV shows garbled characters in Excel? Open it as UTF-8 instead of double-clicking
Accented letters, symbols or non-English names turning into strange characters when you open a CSV in Excel is almost always an encoding mismatch. Here is how to import…
(opens in a new tab)Stop typos in your spreadsheet: make a drop-down list with Data Validation (Excel and Google Sheets)
The quickest way to stop typing mistakes in a business spreadsheet is a drop-down list. Step-by-step for Excel on Windows and Mac and for Google Sheets, how to keep the…
(opens in a new tab)Project end dates in Excel with WORKDAY.INTL — and the start-date gotcha that shifts every schedule by a day
How to calculate a job's finish date in working days with WORKDAY.INTL, count working days with NETWORKDAYS.INTL, set custom weekends and holidays, and avoid the most…
(opens in a new tab)How to calculate forex position size from your stop-loss (formula and worked examples)
The position size formula for forex in plain English — amount at risk divided by stop distance times pip value — with worked examples for EUR/USD, USD/JPY and a non-USD…
(opens in a new tab)How to work out the business-use share of home costs in a spreadsheet (US and UK)
A simple Excel or Google Sheets layout for splitting rent, utilities, phone and internet between business and personal use, plus the flat-rate options from the IRS and…
(opens in a new tab)How to number your invoices (a simple system, plus a formula that does it for you)
A simple invoice numbering system for freelancers and small businesses (year plus a running number, like 2026-001), why it works, a formula that numbers invoices…
(opens in a new tab)How to calculate prorated rent (3 methods, with Excel formulas)
Prorated rent for a move-in or move-out month, explained with the three common methods (days in the month, a 30-day month, a 365-day year), worked examples, Excel and…
(opens in a new tab)A simple customer follow-up sheet (CRM-lite) for small service businesses
Track last contact and next action for every customer, see who is due today, spot customers who have gone quiet, and count your pipeline with COUNTIFS. Works in Excel…
(opens in a new tab)A simple inventory tracker with low-stock alerts (Excel or Google Sheets)
Log stock in and out, let SUMIFS work out what you have on the shelf, and turn items red when they hit their reorder point. Works in Excel and Google Sheets, plus an…
(opens in a new tab)A simple monthly expense tracker in Google Sheets or Excel (with SUMIFS totals)
Log receipts, pick a category from a dropdown, and see spending by month and category with SUMIFS. Includes a missing-receipt check and a file naming tip. Works in Excel…
(opens in a new tab)A simple quote-to-job tracker for trades and service businesses (Excel or Google Sheets)
Track every quote you send, see which ones need a follow-up call today, and work out your win rate with one COUNTIFS formula. Works in Excel and Google Sheets.
(opens in a new tab)How to raise your prices as a small service business - a simple calculation and a customer letter template
Check your margin, model a price rise for each regular customer in Excel or Google Sheets, and tell customers with a short, clear letter. Includes two email templates…
(opens in a new tab)Simple job costing in a spreadsheet - see if each job actually made money (Excel or Google Sheets)
Log materials, labour and subcontractor costs against each job, total them with SUMIFS, and see profit and margin per job. Low-margin jobs light up on their own. Works…
(opens in a new tab)Build a weekly staff shift schedule in Google Sheets (hours per person, gaps highlighted)
A weekly rota with shift codes, automatic hours per person, red cells when a shift is short of staff, and a view-only link for your team. Formulas also work in Excel.
(opens in a new tab)Track unpaid invoices in Google Sheets (with overdue days and red rows)
A simple invoice tracker that counts days overdue, colours late invoices red, and shows only the ones you need to chase. Works in Excel too, plus a polite reminder email…
(opens in a new tab)Clean up a messy customer list in Excel or Google Sheets (5 formulas, 10 minutes)
Extra spaces, random capital letters, duplicate customers and mixed phone formats. Five simple formulas and two built-in tools fix most of it, in Excel and in Google…
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