Accountants advice

[BN9 BHA]

Would you service your own boiler/car/rewire your house/install double glazing/fit your own kitchen, bathroom/defend yourself in court etc etc or get in somebody who actually knows what they are doing and how to do it.

It might cost, but it will probably be done better.

I would fit my own bathroom

 

[Westdene Seagull]

I'm not connected to the company although do know the MD indirectly - try www.crunch.co.uk

 

[gasgull]

I do my own books,I'm not VAT registered .one man band.my accountant does my returns once a year for £110.
I've been with her for 10 years,I have been reasonably happy but others have said i would be better off financially if i employed a maybe more aggressive account ,may be more expensive but would I gain in the long run.

 

[drew]

My accounts are all in good order, all receipts sorted into sales, expenditure so I presume its just a case of filling in a tax return.

I was not trading before this financial year, i understand tax returns in Jan 14 are for the financial year apr 2012 - apr 2013. So if I understand correct, I will not have to file a tax return until Jan 2015?

If you are doing it online then yes, returns for the tax year ended Apr 14 don't need to be filed until Jan 15. You will need to register long before that to get your id set up which is a bit of a pain. As for what you can claim, google each thing and see what comes up. If you are filing paper returns for the same year then these have to be submitted by 31st October 2014.


I am self employed and do my tax return on line. Having said that, it is a relatively straight forward business model, ie a driving school.

 

[Gazwag]

My accountant has quoted £600 - £1000 plus Vat to prepare accounts and tax return. I think I will be saying goodbye to him tomorrow.

My accountant has quoted £600 - £1000 plus Vat to prepare accounts and tax return. I think I will be saying goodbye to him tomorrow.

I would expect a charge of £400-£500 (plus VAT) for a set of sole trade accounts and a tax return, if the records are well kept and there are not numerous sources of income. You says your receipts and expenditure receipts are all sorted, do you also prepare a cash book and agree this to your bank account, if not analysing numerous loose receipts is quite time consuming. PM me if you want for details.

 

[cliveh27]

I am a one man band, and I have employed an accountant for the past 12 years since I started my company. I think there are three advantages: (a) the tax man has never scrutinised my accounts - if I did them myself then I am sure the IR would crawl all over them; (b) my accountant knows all the little ways of claiming for expenses and other things, and I am sure he has saved me thousands over the years; (c) there are lots of legal considerations in running a company (e.g. IR35 for people like me) and my accountant knows exactly how to deal with them and gives me good advice.

 

[cloud]

If your accounts are very straightforward then do them yourself, but the chances are that if you have been charged more than £500 then your situation may be more complex.

Are you a sole trader or a company? Do you know which expenses are claimable and which aren't? Would you be able to deal with depreciation? What if you make a loss? Are you near the VAT threshold?

 

[Garage_Doors]

My accountant has quoted £600 - £1000 plus Vat to prepare accounts and tax return. I think I will be saying goodbye to him tomorrow.

Silly money. Accountants charge between £125 -£200 for most builder type self employed people.
Form filling is easy its when it comes to knowing the allowances and calculating type 2 & 4 NI contributions.
Most of those I know actually get a refund so this easily covers the cost of the accountant.

 

[EDS]

Cheers. I am under the impression that I can claim on all expenditure like rent ( space in a retail outlet ), phone, fuel, cost of stock, stationery, van hire for deliveries?, website hostings?

Correct me if I am wrong. I am learning all the time.

The fact that you are only "under the impression" shows you are not totally sure of what you can and cannot claim, but there are many resources around the internet, even from HMRC themselves that can teach you if you have the time to learn. But I find it is totally subjective, when I was working on building sites I done my own but now I have a business my accountant saves me FAR more than he charges.

 

[EDS]

I think it really depends on your turnover and profit as to wether its worth your while. I was always told that accounts prepared by a professional were much less likely to be scrutinised quite so exactly by the taxmen and of course knowing all the things you can claim relief on are very important in keeping your bills as low as possible. If you ever are investigated - as I was once - then a regular accountant is important and can save you a small fortune. 4 to 5 hundred is about the norm if you are a one man band and if you sort your own CIS or employers bollox out without the accountants input. Don't ever expect any help from HMRC on any matters ffs though.

I was once at a dinner party where some members of a tax office were there and they told me they have three bands of accountants, those they hardly check ever, those they check randomly and those that they absolutely scrutinise as much as their resources allow.

 

[nwgull]

The fact that you are only "under the impression" shows you are not totally sure of what you can and cannot claim, but there are many resources around the internet, even from HMRC themselves that can teach you if you have the time to learn. But I find it is totally subjective, when I was working on building sites I done my own but now I have a business my accountant saves me FAR more than he charges.

This is a good point. Not only that, but even if you did have all the correct information available, it'd probably cost less for a professional to do your books than you'd be able to earn doing whatever it is you do for a living in the time it'd take to you do them yourself.

 

[cloud]

That is a very good point. I do my own books but it still takes me ages to work out all the mileage. The sooner I replace my car, and can claim depreciation and petrol, the better.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

That is a very good point. I do my own books but it still takes me ages to work out all the mileage. The sooner I replace my car, and can claim depreciation and petrol, the better.

You see, this is EXACTLY where an accountant can advise you. My accountant recommended I own my vehicle and just claim mileage allowance for business use - far more tax efficient and a lot less complicated too.

I have an O-level and an A-level in accountancy and also specialised in International Accountancy in my final year of my Business Studies degree - so I know quite a bit more than the basics and can easily prepare my P&L and Balance Sheet. However, I pay my Accountant £1k to do that for me and submit to HMRC and Companys House.

My accountant recommended joining the Flat Rate VAT scheme - in doing so I was able to add 20% to all my invoices and then pay HMRC 14.5% back - this nets me about £1.2k per year [depending on t/o] which covers my accountancy fee.

They are tax experts too and this is a continually moving target with various allowances and thresholds - leave to the experts I say.

I compare what they do with Solicitors doing house move conveyancing. Yes, I could probably do it my self and save some money, but could I afford to make a mistake - no! So I leave to the experts.

 

[kc1]

I'm not connected to the company although do know the MD indirectly - try www.crunch.co.uk

Yep, they are great. I use them and have no problems. Worth a look.