[Smudger]

Unless it's changed again since 2009 - small companies can write off ALL their expenditure in any tax year (ie total cost of van etc..) you can choose to do it the old fashioned way if you wish

[Pure Glass]

Ace-thanks smudger

I've got around 7k to write off already this year. Hope it cuts my first bill

Steve

[Mike #1]

they are always changing the rules thats why i got myself an accountant , that way i benefit  financially  by claiming for everything  that i can  , and i dont make mistakes with my books which i will be fined for by not keeping proper books,  they fine you for everything these days

[Smudger]

Pro - totally agree but you should try to keep up with things yourself.

last year was our first and the accountant tried to do the capital dep. on our expenditure which would have
meant a tax bill - we insisted we wanted it off in one go which reduced the bill hugely 

just waiting to see what we have to pay this year ....

Darran

[GB Window Cleaning]

what type of accountant would people recomend to use for a window cleaning business?

[Paul Coleman]

what type of accountant would people recomend to use for a window cleaning business?

One with a good oven.

[GB Window Cleaning]

what type of accountant would people recomend to use for a window cleaning business?

One with a good oven.

okay, gas or electric? what about trouser waist size? does this matter much or should i be more intersted in the colour of the socks he wears on wednesdays?  

thanks for the sarky response!  

but any real answers welcome!  

[Paul Coleman]

what type of accountant would people recomend to use for a window cleaning business?

One with a good oven.

okay, gas or electric? what about trouser waist size? does this matter much or should i be more intersted in the colour of the socks he wears on wednesdays? 

thanks in advance for the sarky response! 

but any real answers welcome! 

OK.  The serious reply this time 
I'm sure you wouldn't want your books burned to a crisp anyway.

I'm a sole trader.
The accountant I have is reasonably priced (c. £250 a year) but I do make it pretty easy for him.
He is not chartered.
At the last count, he had never had any run-ins with HMRC.
I've been a loyal customer and been with him since I started (20 years).  What I'm saying here is that if you find one that seems OK, stick with him/her.
Also, I know from our conversations that he would be fine about doing a payroll and VAT returns, and would have no problem with any expansion of my business - if I ever decide to go in that direction.
He's OK about me picking his brains on some issues though I imagine that if I took up loads of his time he would want to charge for this (no problem with that).
If there are any odd looking items in the expenditure list, he asks me about them rather than just deleting.  I never put anything in there unless I can reasonably regard it (or a proportion of it) as a business expense anyway.  By odd items that may be a bit unusual I mean things like sunglasses (safety device due to looking up more with WFP), a heater and duvet (to avoid water freeze-ups), key cutting, bicycle pump (for trolley tyres), fee to be weighed on weighbridge (I needed to check how much water I could put in the tank when I first got the van)  etc etc.   So long as I can show that it is for work he is fine with it.

So ask the accountant questions based on where you think you might want to go with this business.
Chartered will usually cost a lot more but is probably unnecessary.  It used to be that if you were a limited company you had to go chartered.  I believe that this was changed a few years ago though.

[GB Window Cleaning]

what type of accountant would people recomend to use for a window cleaning business?

One with a good oven.

okay, gas or electric? what about trouser waist size? does this matter much or should i be more intersted in the colour of the socks he wears on wednesdays? 

thanks in advance for the sarky response! 

but any real answers welcome! 

OK.  The serious reply this time 
I'm sure you wouldn't want your books burned to a crisp anyway.

I'm a sole trader.
The accountant I have is reasonably priced (c. £250 a year) but I do make it pretty easy for him.
He is not chartered.
At the last count, he had never had any run-ins with HMRC.
I've been a loyal customer and been with him since I started (20 years).  What I'm saying here is that if you find one that seems OK, stick with him/her.
Also, I know from our conversations that he would be fine about doing a payroll and VAT returns, and would have no problem with any expansion of my business - if I ever decide to go in that direction.
He's OK about me picking his brains on some issues though I imagine that if I took up loads of his time he would want to charge for this (no problem with that).
If there are any odd looking items in the expenditure list, he asks me about them rather than just deleting.  I never put anything in there unless I can reasonably regard it (or a proportion of it) as a business expense anyway.  By odd items that may be a bit unusual I mean things like sunglasses (safety device due to looking up more with WFP), a heater and duvet (to avoid water freeze-ups), key cutting, bicycle pump (for trolley tyres), fee to be weighed on weighbridge (I needed to check how much water I could put in the tank when I first got the van)  etc etc.   So long as I can show that it is for work he is fine with it.

So ask the accountant questions based on where you think you might want to go with this business.
Chartered will usually cost a lot more but is probably unnecessary.  It used to be that if you were a limited company you had to go chartered.  I believe that this was changed a few years ago though.

thanks for that paul! i really appreciate your time and advice mate!

thanks again

GB

[SunShineCleaning]

they are always changing the rules thats why i got myself an accountant , that way i benefit  financially  by claiming for everything  that i can  , and i dont make mistakes with my books which i will be fined for by not keeping proper books,  they fine you for everything these days

Which is the best reason to get an accountant, I'm obviously out of date with my knowledge.