[Art]

Have you ever been outside a hairdressers when the lady comes out over the moon with how she looks? Then the next and the next, except that they all have exactly the same hairstyle, which in turn looks exactly like the stylists.

Put it another way, is it best to  accept a web template for your site or better to try to create your own?

Be your own financial director.

New Van next year? £1000 pole to service work you might not get?

Being on top of your books is the same to me as running a good business. Not all accountants understand our business.

Just read Stephens post. That is sensible. but the accountant is in no way liable, it's all down to you.

You've totally lost me with that post.

So to summarise your advice.

Your saying that the best thing to do is forget about an accountant, get yourself on a course and do it all yourself?

Arthur

[windowwashers]

Have you ever been outside a hairdressers when the lady comes out over the moon with how she looks? Then the next and the next, except that they all have exactly the same hairstyle, which in turn looks exactly like the stylists.

Put it another way, is it best to  accept a web template for your site or better to try to create your own?

Be your own financial director.

New Van next year? £1000 pole to service work you might not get?

Being on top of your books is the same to me as running a good business. Not all accountants understand our business.

Just read Stephens post. That is sensible. but the accountant is in no way liable, it's all down to you.

You've totally lost me with that post.

So to summarise your advice.

Your saying that the best thing to do is forget about an accountant, get yourself on a course and do it all yourself?

Arthur

sod that Art, get an accountant that does their job and that suits your business, I tell my accountant what I want and she does it as best she can

[Art]

Have you ever been outside a hairdressers when the lady comes out over the moon with how she looks? Then the next and the next, except that they all have exactly the same hairstyle, which in turn looks exactly like the stylists.

Put it another way, is it best to  accept a web template for your site or better to try to create your own?

Be your own financial director.

New Van next year? £1000 pole to service work you might not get?

Being on top of your books is the same to me as running a good business. Not all accountants understand our business.

Just read Stephens post. That is sensible. but the accountant is in no way liable, it's all down to you.

You've totally lost me with that post.

So to summarise your advice.

Your saying that the best thing to do is forget about an accountant, get yourself on a course and do it all yourself?

Arthur

sod that Art, get an accountant that does their job and that suits your business, I tell my accountant what I want and she does it as best she can

Ian, that's what i do. I'm just curious about VG's posts

[windowwashers]

Have you ever been outside a hairdressers when the lady comes out over the moon with how she looks? Then the next and the next, except that they all have exactly the same hairstyle, which in turn looks exactly like the stylists.

Put it another way, is it best to  accept a web template for your site or better to try to create your own?

Be your own financial director.

New Van next year? £1000 pole to service work you might not get?

Being on top of your books is the same to me as running a good business. Not all accountants understand our business.

Just read Stephens post. That is sensible. but the accountant is in no way liable, it's all down to you.

You've totally lost me with that post.

So to summarise your advice.

Your saying that the best thing to do is forget about an accountant, get yourself on a course and do it all yourself?

Arthur

sod that Art, get an accountant that does their job and that suits your business, I tell my accountant what I want and she does it as best she can

Ian, that's what i do. I'm just curious about VG's posts

VG likes to be different me thinks 

[Londoner]

The most significant thing about employing an accountant is that when he submits your details to the revenue it goes on his headed paper and the revenue are much more likely to believe him than they are to believe you.
Also, he should save you at least his fees in tax but I personally have doubts about my accountant. I went to him because he was recommended by a friend but he doesn't inspire me with a great deal of confidence that he is claiming for everything I could be entitled to.

[Sir Squeaky]

The most significant thing about employing an accountant is that when he submits your details to the revenue it goes on his headed paper and the revenue are much more likely to believe him than they are to believe you.
Also, he should save you at least his fees in tax but I personally have doubts about my accountant.

I have doubts about every accountant.
They're making big money out of you.

I had an accountant for a few years.
When I started doing it myself I ended up paying £150 more tax.

But I saved nearly £200 by not using the accountant.

Unless you've got a big complicated business it's a waste of time.

[Moderator David@stives]

Not a waste of time for me

My time is more valuable cleaning windows, when i get a reciept it goes in my tin,

Once a week i email the hours my staff have worked, takes me 2 mins, get an email back with the payslips

At the end of the year i hand my accountant my "George" print off for money recieved and hand over my tin of reciepts, thats as much as my involvement is.

To me that is priceless , all for the sum of £300 a year.

My time is better spent moving my business forward without worrying about compiling my own accounts.

[xxmattyxx]

Not all accountants understand our business.

   And in the very same light, not all window-cleaners understand the laws of accountancy and tax returns.

[Sir Squeaky]

My time is better spent moving my business forward without worrying about compiling my own accounts.

It's done once a year (usually about 2nd Jan), and takes me an evening.

Not exactly a hardship to save £200-odd.

[Bertie Boo]

The most significant thing about employing an accountant is that when he submits your details to the revenue it goes on his headed paper and the revenue are much more likely to believe him than they are to believe you.
Also, he should save you at least his fees in tax but I personally have doubts about my accountant.

I have doubts about every accountant.
They're making big money out of you.

I had an accountant for a few years.
When I started doing it myself I ended up paying £150 more tax.

But I saved nearly £200 by not using the accountant.

Unless you've got a big complicated business it's a waste of time.

Squeeky

So in other words you were £50 up, but then you had to spend the time doing the accounts......was the time you spent doing it worth the £50 you saved (its a genuine question BTW) ?

Stephen

[Bertie Boo]

well, whether my accountant uses a 'template' or not, what i know is that i dont have to do a fat lot when it comes to my accounts and that i haven't had much to pay in my first 3 years in tax.

For what he is charging me it is worth it (to me). His fee is one of the smallest of my costs during the year. Even if he wasnt claiming for all that he might, he certainly claims for more than i knew i could. For me its a toss-up as to whether i want to do it myself or pay to have it done, and for me personally its worth it. I have no head for figures.

Stephen

[windowwashers]

My time is better spent moving my business forward without worrying about compiling my own accounts.

It's done once a year (usually about 2nd Jan), and takes me an evening.

Not exactly a hardship to save £200-odd.

Speaky are you upto date with all the changes with accounts etc and do you check regular one evening to do a full years accounts?? you could be costing yourself money, I did myself, now pay others so so much easier and they know all that is needed to now with updates etc as this is their job at the end of the day

[Alex Gardiner]

Accountants are worth their weight in Gold (or tax returns!)

[NBwcs]

When I started out being self employed, the accountancy bit was the "worrying " part, but there is so much free help out there (including from the tax office) that as a one man band,I really cant justify the expense of an accountant when its actually fairly simple. Nobody has a better understanding of your own business than yourself,and once you,ve looked into it, you,ll find that if you can prove somethings been bought for business purposes, you can claim at least some sort of percentage for it.
A friend of mine (not a wc) has an accountant who manages to keep his tax bill down to a ridiculously low amount, but I know for a fact that some of the things he gets him to claim for ,are simply wrong.IE  He claims for milage AND fuel/garage bills etc. Its all very well, but once the tax office cotton on,hes going to be facing a huge bill for several previous years incorrect accounting.
I fully understand why people use an accountant, particularly if you employ people, but its not for me.

[macmac]

Accountants are worth their weight in Gold (or tax returns!)

yeah, i agree with that one. mine costs me about 300 a year, i have to do nowt, he does it all & has saved me tons of money since i went self employed
It is a large respectable accounting company & every year i try to work out my tax liability myself & have to say, i never get it down as low as what they do. He told me from the start that they didn't do anything (and wouldn't if asked) that wasn't totally above board so that gives me peace of mind too as i know any mistakes in my tax liability is down to me at the end of the day.

tony

[williamx]

There's the obvious stuff like fuel, equipment purchases etc etc, but what else to you claim? I consider these to be legit. Mobile phone. Stationary. All equipment. Fuel. A room in my house for office use. There may be more. What about paying my wife say £50 a week for bookwork? Ideas and opinions, folks?

Feen

In the tax mans own words, they say that you can claim any expense which is incurred for the sole purpose of earning business profits, and EXCLUDING all personal elements.

So if you are claiming for a phone then that phone must only be used for your business, if you do use it for personal use then this usage must be taken away from what you are claiming.

With motoring costs you have 2 choises only, you can claim for all the costs involved to run your vechicle like road tax, fuel, insurance, AA/Rac membership and so on, but remenber if you use you vechicle for private use then this percentage must be taken account for.

Or you can go the mileage way which means that you can claim 40p for each mile upto 4000 miles then it drops down to 25p.

Which ever way you go you cannot change to the other method unless you aquire a different vechicle.

As for claiming a room, yes you can claim a percentage of the gas, electric and council tax used, so if you use a spare bedroom you work the percentage out as follows.

You count how many rooms are in your house, you cannot count the kitchen, bathroom, and toilet, so if you live in a 3 bedroom house and have 1 living room and 1 dinning room.  You have 5 rooms and you use 1 for business which = 1/5th, this is the amount you can claim for.

The most important thing to remenber is they DO NOT allow you to store any type of bedroom furniture in this room, if you do then you will have to pay back what you have claimed for plus interest and fines, and this will go back for 6 years.

If you only use a part of a room, then you can claim a nominal amount of £2.00 per week.

As for you paying a wage to your wife, if you do then you will also have to pay for employers liability insurance also sickness/holiday and even maternity payments.

The Inland Revenue do free courses, it's worth its weight in gold, remember an accountant will save you money, but if you give the accountant the wrong information and the tax man do a tax investication, then you are liable for the back taxes, fines and interest and not the accountant.

The tax offices computer picks at ramdon thousands and thousands of business for a closer look at their accounts, so remember it could be you, and they go back 6 years so kept them records or you are in big Doo Doo.  

[Sir Squeaky]

The tax offices computer picks at ramdon thousands and thousands of business for a closer look at their accounts, so remember it could be you, and they go back 6 years so kept them records or you are in big Doo Doo. 

No you won't be. Not unless they can prove you wrong.
Which they won't be able to.

Domestic work cash in hand is untraceable.

[macmac]

The tax offices computer picks at ramdon thousands and thousands of business for a closer look at their accounts, so remember it could be you, and they go back 6 years so kept them records or you are in big Doo Doo. 

No you won't be. Not unless they can prove you wrong.
Which they won't be able to.

Domestic work cash in hand is untraceable.

NEVER under-estimate the power & ability of these people, you are very foolish if you do. It is also up to you to prove yourself right not just them to prove you wrong!
There are many, many ways to catch you out. without going on about them but for instance-

You have no recorded earnings for such & such dates Mr. squeeky, BUT i see on these dates you have indeed claimed for fuel, here, look at your reciepts! etc. etc

tony

[Feen]

Williamx, Thanks for your comprehensive reply. The only thing I will comment on is that my accountant told me that Tony Blair  (the holy ar*ehole himself) pushed this through: you can claim your mobile phone bill wholly for your business, but your landline you cannot, if you are self employed.

[Village Gleam]

You are supposed to regularly reconcile payments into your bank account and keep a record of cash in hand, which is carried forward on a weekly basis. This clarifies what drawings you have made , and any cash you may pay into the bank.