selling as a business on ebay-advice please

cyril82

I think we have moped up the op's tax issues, the concensus being do it yourself (at least for now)

but i still think the op would be better with a seperate bank account to track and log his business transactions, as his statements would then, in effect form his accounts as they would show his money in, money out, and if he pays for everything on his card he will be able to track where his money went, i.e a debit on his statement to royal mail, he knows that is a postage expense, debit to staples, ryman etc he knows how much he spent on stationary.

it a very basic method of accounting and not one i've used myself but on such a small scale i think would probably be an easy option for the op.

missindecisive

thankyou to all of you for your very helpful replies. I was kind of avoiding the idea of a business bank account (well for now anyway) mainly to keep costs down, I used to work for one of the big 4 and I am aware that there are charges associated with running a business account..as I would be such a small enterprise at first I thought my paypal account would do basically the same thing. I won't be needing an overdraft or any borrowing either..but yes I do now see that it would perhaps be a much simpler way of doing things so now I don't know what to do!

soolin, could I ask you please how you deal with your postage costs? do you use a business bank account? Also,do you put aside money each month/quarter for tax (if so where?) or do you just keep an eye on things and know how much you are likely to pay when that time comes? All these questions without answers, I kind of feel a bit daft but I NEED to get it right if it's all gonna work. My dh says im clouding the water and making things complicated but i need to know exactly what im doing...it could be a fab opportunity for me to make that much needed bit of extra cash and still be there for my kids. thanks once again. :A

missindecisive

just thought of something else...yet another question! (sorry:o)

when I receive money into my paypal account, they deduct their fee and I get a slightly smaller amount. do I put this fee as an 'expenditure' ?

soolin

I don't have a business account but I use an account that I don't normally use for myself and pay all my postage through there. Same with stock purchases and stationery.

I keep big files and just bung all my receipts in them, one for postage, one for stationery/stock etc. then every few days or weeks I add up what is in there bag the receipts and add the total to the running 'book'.

As for putting aside money for tax I opened an online savings account and transfer money across to that every week or so. As I mentioned earlier I have actually lost my log in details so it is one way of not spending anything!

soolin

missindecisive wrote: »

just thought of something else...yet another question! (sorry:o)

when I receive money into my paypal account, they deduct their fee and I get a slightly smaller amount. do I put this fee as an 'expenditure' ?

That's how I do it, paypal and ebay charges are just another expense.

Strapped

missindecisive wrote: »

I used to work for one of the big 4

missindecisive wrote: »

do I put this fee as an 'expenditure'

No offence, but I trust you weren't an ACCOUNTANT with the Big 4? :eek:

(Ex-Big 5 myself...showing my age )

cyril82

missindecisive wrote: »

thankyou to all of you for your very helpful replies. I was kind of avoiding the idea of a business bank account (well for now anyway) mainly to keep costs down, I used to work for one of the big 4 and I am aware that there are charges associated with running a business account..as I would be such a small enterprise at first I thought my paypal account would do basically the same thing. I won't be needing an overdraft or any borrowing either..but yes I do now see that it would perhaps be a much simpler way of doing things so now I don't know what to do!

if you open up a new business bank account you should get at least 12 months free, which gives you time to grow, after that you can decide whether or not you need to keep the business account, you're not tied in, you can close it after 12 months of free banking if you want to.

when i last opened a new business account with barclays not only did i get 12 months free banking but i got vouchers that entitled me to free time with an accountant and solicitor, i think one was a 1 hour consultation with an accountat and 30 mins with a solicitor. offers like that may help you get some practical face to face advice and answers to some of your questions.

Should be worth considering.

missindecisive

Strapped- haha..you really tickled me then!:rotfl:

no I was'nt an accountant..merely a customer service clerk who eventually left . could'nt stand the pressure of sell sell sell... but thats another story.

vangirl_2

Hi, Have a look at the small business board. There is a thread dedicated to business bank accounts, some are completely free forever.

Also everything you buy for your business is classed as an expense; stock, postage, envelopes, paper, printer ink, fees etc.

You do not claim a 'wage' any profit you make (income less expenses) is your money and will be subject to usual income tax rates.

Have a look at the HMRC and Business link websites for info on small businesses and self employment.

cyril82

Alot of people have made comments about not "flapping around with wages" and "you dont take a wage all the profits is yours" and i think that may be in response to my using the term salary in my first post so let me clarify what i meant for the op.

When i said make a note of anything you take out of the account for yourself (call it profit, call it wages, call it salary or whatever) i simply meant make a note and keep it with your accounts so when your going over them at year end and you see for example £100 drawn out of the account 5 months earlier you have a note that corresponds in terms of date and amount to remind you that was personal drawings (again, call it profit, wages whatever). it just makes it easier to get the figures to come out right when your offsetting expenses against profit on your return.

also i meant to just point out (although it's been mentioned already now) to remember to deduct, and prefrably seperate into a savings account, your tax, so that you dont end up with a bill at the end of the year.

hope that clarifies what i was saying a little.