Well, i speak as i find.
Funnily enough the guy who reccomended my accountant to me is self-employed himself (he is a wardrobe fitter) but does all his own books and accounts. He was fitting wardrobes at a house i was cleaning when i first set up my business and we got chatting. He was telling me that he does all his own accounts as he has the expertise, the knowledge, and the time to do it. But even he said that i should find an accountant if it was that i was really as blind to accounts as i said i was.
With that he then told me about this accountant who he'd fitted wardrobes for and since then i've used this accountant to do all my paperwork (more or less). All i have to do is record in an exercise book how much money i have taken each week and also how much i have spent. Thats all i do with my 'book. When i take my book to him (usually once a year) i take all my bank statements, fone bills, tax return, and then 3 months later i get it all back with a bill for his services. A tax bill follows in due course but for the first 3 years of my accounts this has been -literally- minimal.
He said his job is to make sure i dont pay a penny more in tax than i should do. It is just like Art said, we are 'experts' in what we do and it is better to concentrate on what we do best IF we dont have the time and confidence and/or understanding to do other parts of our business. I am not a stupid or thick person but having this doen for me is the best £200 i spend in a year.
Although they are 'our' accounts, an accountant is the one who is chiefly in the poo if it all goes wrong (though of course you are still liable to pay the difference in a tax bill if the accountant makes an error AFAIK)./ I am not knocking those who go it alone with the old accounts, but its just not for me and i am not a beliver in speculation and assumption etc so i chose to pay someone who is (supposedly
) in the know.
All i can say is it works for me.
Stephen
