DIY accounting

[Thermo]

gcol,

you asked for any examples of saving you money that the man in the street might not know, how about any of these?

40p a mile for using your own car for business
claim for directors meeting once a month eg restuarant bill
£150 per person for christmas party!
15 for christmas gifts or 10 if they have advertising on them.
claim for any personal tools you may use in the business
benefits of limited company over sole trader in terms of tax ni etc

 

[Moz]

years ago when It was just me an my mate doing bathroom refits , my wife did the accounts,

everything business/paperwork I threw in some files an she sorted them , til we had a hiccup one year in the early 90s when the taxman wanted us in ,URRRGH !
and did an audit , we was ok but the IR were worse than the gestapo about EVERYTHING ,as they kept reminding me at the time
Ignorance of the tax laws is NOT an Excuse

the year after I used an accountant an he took all the hassle/stress away ,

I would recommend an account if youre a 1 man band and a lil turnover ,dont pay more than £100 for him to check an help you with your year end accounts

 

[WoodYouLike]

I agree with you Thermo, but would like to add something about accountants. Try to select on that does more just 'adding the numbers'
My accountant is also a kind of business adviser (but doesn't invoice me separate for that, all in one very acceptable tariff) and has helped us out great many times. Before (with other company we worked for) we had to pay over the odds for basic accountants services and everytime we called to ask a question we received a hefty invoice! so makes suse you know how and what your accountant is charging you for up front.

(Imagine, being very reluctant to call your accountant, who is supposed to help you to save money! ok, rant over.)

 

[hermes]

claim for directors meeting once a month eg restuarant bill
:

Blimey I never knew about this one, where's my dinner jacket? Does that include dancing girls?

 

[kendor]

Thanks hermes.

Thermo, it's not so much the fact that I want to save money. I feel that my requirements are very basic and I find it hard to understand whether I actually need an accountant. Hence the book, to see what sort of things I need to look at.

I buy equipment, do jobs for people, get paid and that's it. Yeah I have a van and tools, diesel etc. What I don't want to happen is for me to do my books, give all the stuff to the accountant and for them to say "yeah that's ok" and just send it off.

Please don't think I'm be-littling accountants far from it, I just don't really understand the ins and outs of what's what. That's why I want to find out - before I even contact an accountant. I have a phone number for one, I just want to find out a bit before hand to make sure what's what.
Gcol

If it's just help in filling in tax returns then the tax office itself will help you in every way.
Books are just a matter of keeping record of outgoings and incomings this can be as simple as a duplicate book and keeping all receipts, this helps you fill in the boxes on the tax return easier, you must keep records for inspection if any queries from the taxman come up but if you are honest in what you put down there shouldn't be any hassle, accountants only really come into their own when you earn enough, firstly to employ them and secondly to save you money when you are earning enough if you don't do enough work to justify them then filling in your tax forms shouldn't be a worry at all, it's only when you get into the realms of vat registration that it starts to get a bit technical.

 

[WoodYouLike]

If it's just help in filling in tax returns then the tax office itself will help you in every way.
Books are just a matter of keeping record of outgoings and incomings .....

accountants only really come into their own when you earn enough, firstly to employ them and secondly to save you money when you are earning enough if you don't do enough work to justify them

Hi Kendor
I'm of a completely different opinion than you here, I'm afraid.
First of all, books are not just there for keeping records of outgoings and incomings, they should be able to tell you how you're doing at any moment of the year (i.e. making enough profit per job, per sale etc, plus informing you if investments - could be from advertising to new tools - are justifiable)
Secondly, a good accountant can be of tremendous value for starting and/or small companies helping them to grow, they there not just for 'adding the numbers'.

But like I said, that's my personal opinion and experience

 

[kendor]

If it's just help in filling in tax returns then the tax office itself will help you in every way.
Books are just a matter of keeping record of outgoings and incomings .....

accountants only really come into their own when you earn enough, firstly to employ them and secondly to save you money when you are earning enough if you don't do enough work to justify them

Hi Kendor
I'm of a completely different opinion than you here, I'm afraid.
First of all, books are not just there for keeping records of outgoings and incomings, they should be able to tell you how you're doing at any moment of the year (i.e. making enough profit per job, per sale etc, plus informing you if investments - could be from advertising to new tools - are justifiable)
Secondly, a good accountant can be of tremendous value for starting and/or small companies helping them to grow, they there not just for 'adding the numbers'.

But like I said, that's my personal opinion and experience

Ah you are talking from a business view i was referring to the compliance with tax etc view.
Yes i agree with you on that, about keeping a business plan up to date and all but the author's direction i think was more on the lines of do i need an accountant in order to fill in all the statutory paperwork, and in his case the paperwork should be relatively easy. after all the form is basically a-b=c is it not

 

[WoodYouLike]

after all the form is basically a-b=c is it not

We're not self-employed, but I do find the self-assessment form (at this moment) easy to fill in (on-line, so it's checked straight away, and moneys due from Inland Rev are also paid straight away into our account It's so simple nowadays, I remember the struggle I had filling in the first ever UK selfs-assessment form, was like going back into time with pencil etc, since I was already used to filling it electronically in good old NL)

 

[jbonding]

gcol, just spoken to my wife, who is a certified accountant and now is a self employed book keeper for lots of small businesses, says the following:-

if you want to learn she cant really recomend any books, but contact learn direct or one of your local colleges as most will do a basic quick course to give you an idea.

in terms of programs, if you are vat registered and do cash accounting then go for sage, if not then go for quick books.

she also says and cannot stress highly enough, spea to your accountant first and find out exactly what they want from you in terms of record keeping etc, and if you havnt got one, get one!

hope it helps! (thank god ive got her! )

thermo hope your missus might be able to enlighten me, ive been talking to a couple of lads on site and overheard this and that. theres gonna be a change as regards selfemployment,cis,business, in april but its being put off until jan2007. im currently cis 4 and receive a voucher every month off whoever im working for but this is gonna change, you will now have to set up a business and bill for the work. Ive not spoken to my accountant yet and ive not searched the net as im not worried, ill see my accountant in april or i can ring him any time, just thought you might be able to enlighten me on the changes.

 

[kendor]

gcol, just spoken to my wife, who is a certified accountant and now is a self employed book keeper for lots of small businesses, says the following:-

if you want to learn she cant really recomend any books, but contact learn direct or one of your local colleges as most will do a basic quick course to give you an idea.

in terms of programs, if you are vat registered and do cash accounting then go for sage, if not then go for quick books.

she also says and cannot stress highly enough, spea to your accountant first and find out exactly what they want from you in terms of record keeping etc, and if you havnt got one, get one!

hope it helps! (thank god ive got her! )

thermo hope your missus might be able to enlighten me, ive been talking to a couple of lads on site and overheard this and that. theres gonna be a change as regards selfemployment,cis,business, in april but its being put off until jan2007. im currently cis 4 and receive a voucher every month off whoever im working for but this is gonna change, you will now have to set up a business and bill for the work. Ive not spoken to my accountant yet and ive not searched the net as im not worried, ill see my accountant in april or i can ring him any time, just thought you might be able to enlighten me on the changes.

Funny this seems to be an ongoing thing? i was self employed on 714 about 6-7 years ago and talk was then of changing things with those self employed becoming businesses as sole traders or with a partner becoming limited companies, the tax people have been trying for ages to do away with self employment due to fiddling, saying those that work for any particular payer for more than a few times are actually being employed by them and should be PAYE hence the advise to become companies.
so it's still going on then? it's such a quagmire that i don't think they'll ever sought it out!
One thing that sprung to my mind during my self employed days was that forming your own company took the onus of liabilities away from the employer such as clearing rubbish, health and safety, and insurance etc of course companies were eager for this to happen.