Hi Folks,
I started my own company a year ago but i've only just taken on a contract which I start next week.
I have sent the forms into HMRC to declare the company active (i had declared it dormant) and i've sent in the forms to register for flat rate VAT.
At this point though I'm starting to worry if I need an accountant or if I can do it myself. I really want to fully understand it all myself so learning about accounting and doing it myself seems enticing, also the Mrs has shown a strong interest in learning about it in order to help me out.
Due to this i'm considering using Freeagent and doing it all myself, especially since my contract is fairly low paying compared to others so paying £100 a month for an accountant would seem rediculous.
The problem is I have questions about things and I'm starting to think an accountant might be a wise choice as there is a lot of conflicting information online.
So my question is, do I need an accountant or will I be ok going it alone? If you think I should get an accountant do you know of any that work with Freeagent that you'd recommend?
Somebody might ask what my "questions" would be to an accountant so i'll outline the kind of stuff i'm worrying about.
1. I don't know how to structure it so that I pay the least tax possible, I think if I pay myself minimum wage and the rest in dividends it would work out fine, but i've heard that paying more in salary can reduce tax due to CT relief?
2. I've paid thousands in server hosting fees over the last year and a half while the company has been dormant, and I bought a server, all out of my own money. Can I claim all these costs back now? Even though the company was inactive and I assume the payments would be in a previous year?
3. I have also bought equipment that I only use for work (such as a macbook pro), can I simply sell this to the company in order to get money out of it tax free in the beginning?
Thanks for your time reading this.
I started my own company a year ago but i've only just taken on a contract which I start next week.
I have sent the forms into HMRC to declare the company active (i had declared it dormant) and i've sent in the forms to register for flat rate VAT.
At this point though I'm starting to worry if I need an accountant or if I can do it myself. I really want to fully understand it all myself so learning about accounting and doing it myself seems enticing, also the Mrs has shown a strong interest in learning about it in order to help me out.
Due to this i'm considering using Freeagent and doing it all myself, especially since my contract is fairly low paying compared to others so paying £100 a month for an accountant would seem rediculous.
The problem is I have questions about things and I'm starting to think an accountant might be a wise choice as there is a lot of conflicting information online.
So my question is, do I need an accountant or will I be ok going it alone? If you think I should get an accountant do you know of any that work with Freeagent that you'd recommend?
Somebody might ask what my "questions" would be to an accountant so i'll outline the kind of stuff i'm worrying about.
1. I don't know how to structure it so that I pay the least tax possible, I think if I pay myself minimum wage and the rest in dividends it would work out fine, but i've heard that paying more in salary can reduce tax due to CT relief?
2. I've paid thousands in server hosting fees over the last year and a half while the company has been dormant, and I bought a server, all out of my own money. Can I claim all these costs back now? Even though the company was inactive and I assume the payments would be in a previous year?
3. I have also bought equipment that I only use for work (such as a macbook pro), can I simply sell this to the company in order to get money out of it tax free in the beginning?
Thanks for your time reading this.
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