Short version: some links on this site earn us a commission. It never costs you anything extra, and it never changes what we recommend.
What an affiliate link is
The Paid Hour takes part in affiliate programmes run by accounting software providers, business banking providers and payment companies. If you follow one of those links and go on to sign up, we may be paid a commission, sometimes a one-off amount, sometimes a share of the subscription for as long as you stay.
You pay exactly the same either way. The commission comes out of the company’s marketing budget, not your pocket, and using our link never removes a discount you would otherwise get.
What it does not affect
- Which products we recommend. If the best tool for your situation is the one paying us nothing, that is the one named.
- The order of comparisons. Nobody buys a position in a ranking.
- What we are willing to criticise. Commission does not buy silence about a product’s weaknesses.
- Whether a product appears at all. Good options with no affiliate programme are included on merit.
How links are marked
Pages containing affiliate links carry a disclosure at the top, before the links appear, so you know before you click rather than after. This is what the UK advertising rules require, and it is also just fair.
Who we have commercial relationships with
We keep this list current rather than making you take our word for it. Last reviewed 21 September 2026.
- SimplyBook.me — active since 4 September 2026. The terms, confirmed by SimplyBook.me on 7 September 2026: 25 per cent of a referred customer’s first payment, then 15 per cent of renewals for up to 24 months, with a 90-day tracking cookie. We are in the SimplyBook.me affiliate programme and are paid a commission if you subscribe to a paid plan after following our link. It costs you no more than going direct. It is named on the one guide that links to it, and the free tool we recommend ahead of it in that guide pays us nothing.
- Safestore (via the Awin network) — active since 18 September 2026. The terms, as published on Safestore’s Awin programme page: £4.50 per valid lead, with a 30-day tracking cookie. We are paid if you request a storage quote after following our link. It costs you no more than going direct. It is named on the one guide that links to it, that guide tells you to get a second local quote, and we have no arrangement with any other storage company.
- Your Virtual Office London (via the Awin network) — active since 21 September 2026. The terms, as published on its Awin programme page: 12 per cent commission on sales. We are paid if you buy a registered office or address service after following our link. It costs you no more than going direct. It is named on the one guide that links to it, and it is listed first there because it is the cheaper option for an England and Wales company, not because of the commission.
- MYCO Works, whose programme runs as Registered Office (UK) Ltd (via the Awin network) — active since 21 September 2026. The terms, as published on its Awin programme page: 10 per cent commission on sales. We are paid if you buy after following our link. It costs you no more than going direct; the programme also offers the discount code AWIN10, which we pass on in the guide. It is named on the one guide that links to it.
- Every other outbound link on this site pays us nothing. Pricing links, source links and anything in a Sources list go straight to the original and earn us no commission at all.
- We have applications open or planned with Tide, Xero and QuickBooks. This page will name each one on the day it goes live, and the guides carry their disclosure notices already so that nothing changes quietly behind you.
- FreeAgent runs a referral scheme that pays in account credit rather than cash, and only to its own paying subscribers. We are not in it, and we would earn nothing from it even if we were, because we do not pay for FreeAgent.
- Starling, Monzo and Mettle — no relationship, and none sought at present.
Outbound buttons on this site run through a /go/ address so we can keep every destination in one place and update it when a provider changes its pages. They carry a sponsored tag, which is the marking search engines ask for. Links used as evidence — the pricing pages and HMRC pages we cite in the Sources list at the foot of each guide — are never affiliate links and go straight to the original.
Categories with no affiliate links at all
There are no affiliate links to investment products, cryptoasset exchanges, brokers or trading platforms anywhere on this site, at any commission, and no product recommendations in insurance, mortgages or pensions. Promoting those is regulated activity in the UK and this site is not authorised for it. Pages on those subjects explain the rules and the tax treatment only, and point to FCA-regulated advice.
Two rules we hold ourselves to
The plain link is always there. Wherever a /go/ link appears, the provider’s ordinary web address is given on the same page, so nobody has to use the commission link.
Verdict first, commission second. Which product leads a comparison is decided by the article’s own conclusion before anyone checks whether it pays. Full detail on the how this site makes money and how reviews are scored pages.
Advertising
This site also carries, or intends to carry, third-party display advertising. Those adverts are served by advertising networks and are not selected or endorsed by us. An advert appearing next to an article is not a recommendation. How advertising affects your data is covered in the privacy policy.
Why we tell you this
Because you are reading about money, and you are entitled to know how the person writing gets paid before you weigh up what they say. The full approach to research and recommendations is set out in the editorial policy.