[Mike #1]

they are helpful but they are making the online sa more complicated each year , which can make it difficult to understand it took twice as long last year than the previous year to submit online return , after nearly 10 years of doing my own books i have now got an accountant its one less thing to worry  for £23.50 a month including tax return well worth it and a lot less aggro

[AuRavelling79]

Vince raises a good point here. I would say though, that my accounts are very detailed, ie every penny paid to me by every customer is detailed individually. I don't claim for anything that I shouldn't, and receipts are kept to support my expenses wherever possible. Therefore if I was to be subjected to a spot check or audit, I would have nothing to hide or fear. The daily/monthly accounts all tally with my tax returns.

John

 

I do similar to John except I put down the daily/monthly amount earned (whether I collect that day or not) and detail any cash expenses. I have a separate business account and use that and it's associated credit card for all business transactions.

At the end of the year I add up the monthly figures earned to give a gross total and then we go through all the expenses and deduct one from the other - this leaves the net amount to declare.

To put money aside for tax I put away 12.5% of all cash and cheques receipts into a savings account to go towards the tax bill. (12.5% because the first 6K of earnings is tax free plus a sum to my wife is tax free because she does my books).

When my van becomes "paid for" next month I think I will investigate paying £200 per month on a direct debit to HMRC in the new year so as to ease the pain! I know I might lose 1 or 2% in interest but once it's handed over I can't touch it! I think Tosh does similar.

[Nathanael Jones]

My accountant charged me €600 +VAT the past few years,.. EVERY year she saved me more than she charged me.

For me though the main advantage is peace of mind and reduction in stress. When an accountant does it you know its done right, and its done quick. When I tried to do it myself the first year I spent weeks reading books, online guides, the revenue website, attempting to fill out forms and getting more & more stressed every day. When I finally relented & took my books to a professional I found I'd done loads wrong! She fixed my mistakes & claimed back loads I didn't know I could.

[lee_dewing]

thanks
lee