When to get an accountant?

[definitionofself]

Hey all

Firstly thanks for replying to my other thread asking about payee and if any of you that are ltd do not use an accountant, the replies where very helpful and have lead me to this new question

I went Ltd in May and did that myself and since then have worked a contract and now have 18k in a business account for the company. As there was initially no money in this account I paid for the expenses of the contract from my personal savings but naturally kept all petrol VAT receipts etc. So now the time has come to pay myself I asked here about PAYEE and got recommended to use an accountant, I'm wondering when is best to do this? I could survive off savings to later in the year if that reduces accountancy fees for the year or should I have done this already ?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Andy

[Contreras]

Hey all

Firstly thanks for replying to my other thread asking about payee and if any of you that are ltd do not use an accountant, the replies where very helpful and have lead me to this new question

I went Ltd in May and did that myself and since then have worked a contract and now have 18k in a business account for the company. As there was initially no money in this account I paid for the expenses of the contract from my personal savings but naturally kept all petrol VAT receipts etc. So now the time has come to pay myself I asked here about PAYEE and got recommended to use an accountant, I'm wondering when is best to do this? I could survive off savings to later in the year if that reduces accountancy fees for the year or should I have done this already ?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Andy

Postponing getting an accountant won't save (much) in fees because the bulk of the effort is in doing the end of year accounts, just that many split this over 12 easy payments. I doubt you'll find an accountant who will charge a month or two to do full EOY accounts, especially if you've been muddling through for the year.

Is your co. VAT registered and on the Flat Rate Scheme?
Are you (or will you be, retrospectively,) claiming 45p/mile?

If the answer to both is Yes then you don't need petrol receipts.
If the answer to either is No then why not?

Receipts are needed for other legit business expenses, but there's no need to pay out of personal savings, that's what the company debit card is for.

You'll probably want to pay salary before the end of the tax year to get your NI stamp assuming you didn't already get this with previous employment in this tax year. For this the company will need to be registered as an employer. You'll want to pay dividends too, to use up your personal allowance.

It's PAYE not PAYEE (as per responses in the previous thread).

All of the above is basic contracting #101 which can be found with some trivial research effort and there is obviously more to know beyond this. If ANY of it is news to you then you need help. You had 3 accountants respond in the previous thread. If you do nothing else then pick up the phone and give one of them a call.

[malvolio]

Quick summary - If you have to ask that question, the answer is probably "Last May".

HTH

[GazCol]

Quick summary - If you have to ask that question, the answer is probably "Last May".

HTH

Very much this.

[TheFaQQer]

Quick summary - If you have to ask that question, the answer is probably "Last May".

HTH

If not before.

[jmo21]

Postponing getting an accountant won't save (much) in fees because the bulk of the effort is in doing the end of year accounts, just that many split this over 12 easy payments.

It's amazing how many people don't realise this.

[Clare@InTouch]

Some advice is useful early on, and by delaying you may delay the point at which you can act on it and therefore lose out. We sometimes get that with new clients when we find that their accountant, if they had one, didn't mention something that could have saved a few hundred/thousand in tax but it's now too late to do anything about it. The right mix of salary/dividends for example, especially now that RTI is around and you can't simply backdate a salary. Or FRS. Or shareholders.

You may well find an accountant who won't charge you catch up fees, many of the contractor specialists won't as they want to offer an incentive to help you on board, but waiting in order to save £500 in professional fees could cost you more in lost opportunities. Or in penalties if you've done something wrong in the meantime.

[northernladuk]

It's amazing how many people don't realise this.

+1. Just beggars belief.

[PEEL]

something

Hi Claire, besides giving advice and doing the personal tax return, what do accountants do when the end client is using something like Clearbooks? I get the impression that Clearbooks basically creates the end of year accounts based on the information that I enter, along with VAT stuff. I am currently feeling that with something like Clearbooks and some simple PAYE software I could almost go-it alone (or get a cheaper accountant). Not quite there yet though, need to do some more research first.

[GazCol]

Hi Claire, besides giving advice and doing the personal tax return, what do accountants do when the end client is using something like Clearbooks? I get the impression that Clearbooks basically creates the end of year accounts based on the information that I enter, along with VAT stuff. I am currently feeling that with something like Clearbooks and some simple PAYE software I could almost go-it alone (or get a cheaper accountant). Not quite there yet though, need to do some more research first.

Besides giving you general advice they'd be advising you on whether it's tax efficient to run a PAYE scheme.