Second phone line for home small business

frak

I am currently in the process of setting up a small company. I am going limited on the advice of my accountant and he asked me to start making a list of my costs and startup figures. Ok, as i will be working at home i have decided i would be better off with a second line just for business purposes. Is there any issues with getting BT to install me a second line as a home phone line but using it for business so i can itemise and claim expenses on it. The MSE weekly money saving tips shows how to get this second line for free. Are there any implications or restrictions to doing this from a business and cost point of view.
Any help and advice appreciated.

frak

Browntoa

you could use a VOIP provider like Sipgate that provide Geographic numbers , use your broadband for the 2nd line

chickmug

frak wrote: »

Is there any issues with getting BT to install me a second line as a home phone line but using it for business so i can itemise and claim expenses on it.
frak

We did this for years. Had a second line installed as a private line and claimed the whole of the bills as business expenses - never any problem. Even though we traded from other offices but a lot of time was spent from home phone sorting out issues.

But I suggest you look at the difference between private and business lines as the latter used to be given more priority for repairs. In our case it didn't matter as we never used it for incoming calls.

flyagian

frak wrote: »

I am currently in the process of setting up a small company. I am going limited on the advice of my accountant and he asked me to start making a list of my costs and startup figures. Ok, as i will be working at home i have decided i would be better off with a second line just for business purposes. Is there any issues with getting BT to install me a second line as a home phone line but using it for business so i can itemise and claim expenses on it. The MSE weekly money saving tips shows how to get this second line for free. Are there any implications or restrictions to doing this from a business and cost point of view.
Any help and advice appreciated.

frak

it sounds like you are not need company, you need E-biz

weeclick

I was under the impression from a start up business advisor that business phone lines are more costly to put in and operate but if it was being used as sole business calls and purposes it needed to be declared as a business line?

chickmug

weeclick wrote: »

I was under the impression from a start up business advisor that business phone lines are more costly to put in and operate but if it was being used as sole business calls and purposes it needed to be declared as a business line?

They may be more costly to put in and rent that is why I had a private line in and claimed ALL the cost from my business for many years. Believe me my accountnat would NOT of let me do anything he thought was wrong.

weeclick

chickmug wrote: »

They may be more costly to put in and rent that is why I had a private line in and claimed ALL the cost from my business for many years. Believe me my accountnat would NOT of let me do anything he thought was wrong.

Yeh thats what I do too:rotfl: but we just use my own private house phone number as well

FusionVBS

frak wrote: »

I am currently in the process of setting up a small company. I am going limited on the advice of my accountant and he asked me to start making a list of my costs and startup figures. Ok, as i will be working at home i have decided i would be better off with a second line just for business purposes. Is there any issues with getting BT to install me a second line as a home phone line but using it for business so i can itemise and claim expenses on it. The MSE weekly money saving tips shows how to get this second line for free. Are there any implications or restrictions to doing this from a business and cost point of view.
Any help and advice appreciated.

frak

Any reason why you wouldn't have a business line installed at your home? There are some benefits like faster response times for faults and additional calling features.

Depending on your requirements it might also be worth considering getting another number that piggy backs on to your existing home phone line. It's cheaper than having a completely separate line and you don't need to have additional cables etc in your home. Calls to each number are differentiated by a different ring tone, so you'll know what's business and personal. It's not convenient for everyone but worth knowing. The downside is that if you are going to make lots of outgoing calls you'll need to trawl through your bill at the end of the quarter and separate those from the personal ones. For outgoing calls you might be able to get a good deal on a business mobile tariff that gives you unlimited calls to landlines. All depends on your individual circumstances. Good luck with the business

frak

thanks for all the replies and help.
I dont want to go down the voip just at the moment as my broadband connection isnt the fastest and was a bit unreliable a few weeks ago. I also dont want to clog up the main phone line for the rest of the family and want to be able to differentiate business calls. For now i just want to keep it simple really. In reality most calls will go to my mobile anyway.
I dont think i need the extra protection of a dedicated business line for faults but i need to keep costs down so if i can get the second line heap and it does what i want and i can claim expenses back off it, that will be fine. Now i know others do it i am confident is ok and will let my acountant know.
once again thanks for the help

Dan

chickmug

frak wrote: »

thanks for all the replies and help.
I dont want to go down the voip just at the moment as my broadband connection isnt the fastest and was a bit unreliable a few weeks ago. I also dont want to clog up the main phone line for the rest of the family and want to be able to differentiate business calls. For now i just want to keep it simple really. In reality most calls will go to my mobile anyway.
I dont think i need the extra protection of a dedicated business line for faults but i need to keep costs down so if i can get the second line heap and it does what i want and i can claim expenses back off it, that will be fine. Now i know others do it i am confident is ok and will let my acountant know.
once again thanks for the help

Dan

Just one last comment! I had a number of my clients use the VOIP way and they sounded like a Cyberman from Dr Who. OK for a client but not for the business to use perhaps?