should i get an accountant

[fozzer]

hi i am really eager to start window cleaning but before i get started i want to be legal i know i need public liability insurance. but it is the accounts, tax and bookkeeping that is putting me off. could i just keep a record have one column with income total that up then my expenditure in another column total that and then take my expenditure away from my income.

and then there is the tax returns

Also how much would i be looking for getting an accountant to sort my accounts and tax out.

thanks in advance

 

[PDixon cvs]

I write amounts received each week take away expenses then transfer 20% into savings is a to cover tax at end of year

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[PJ Bullard]

Filling out a tax return online is not as dauting as it sounds. The forms are reletively straight forwards and the basic information you need are:

Income

Expenses

Milage

Keep records of all the work you've done, plus all the expenses like equipment, parking costs, breakdown cover (if you have it), company mobile phone costs ect

Also record your business milage each day you go out to work. I just clip a small bit of paper to my clipboard and each day at the start I write the start milage, and at the end of the day - you guessed it - the end milage. Then add these figures up at the end of the week to give yourself a figure and record it in your bookeeping.

 

[Alien Human]

Yes.

I pay about £400 per year - job done.

 

[CMRwindowcleaning]

I pay £250 a year for mine. Not hard really and sometimes think I can do it myself but the accountants themselves are tax deductible so why not!

Get a seperate account from your personal one and only use this account for anything business related take all online payments cheques and cash through it and pay for all diesel and work related bills through it. ...I use natwest because they have an online option to put all your transactions for the whole year into a spread sheet which can then be marked, petrol, insurance, tools ect.

The account doesn't have to be a business account which you pay for it can just be another personal account as its not illegal to use a normal account for your business.

At the end of every financial year download your accounts into the excel spreadsheet and email the details over to your accountant and they will work all the figures out and put them into the right sections they will love your for this and they shouldn't charge you that much as its not that much work but if you give them lots of crumpled up receipts and make them chase everything and fill the gaps you have missed then they are likely to charge you more.

They will also advise you on things you may not have been aware of like using a part of your rent bill to deduct on your tax bill for using a space in your home to do work (office) deducting money from your phone bill or broadband bill.

Good luck.

 

[Pigeon]

I write amounts received each week take away expenses then transfer 20% into savings is a to cover tax at end of year
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holy sh-ite you could cheat on your income, if its all you need to do i must say i do envy your tax system. here i pay upfront each month, setting at the beginning of the year a number of which believe my turn over will be, then the tax is calculated and it get divided into ten payments. plus vat every 3 months.

 

[PDixon cvs]

That's all I was ever told I need to do plus keep all my paperwork and receipts it's never been an issue so far

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[chris clean]

Fozzer you have been on the forums for a long time now saying you are thinking about starting a window cleaning business but not sure how to record income etc or should you have accountant or should I use bookkeeping software. if you are serious just go out and do it get customers then when you have money coming in decide the best way to record it!! The longer you wait and delay the less likely you are to do it!