Free Accounting / Book Keeping Advice?

staffsuk

Hey everyone!

Does anyone know of any bodies - Government funded or otherwise - that offer free accounting / book keeping advice for Sole Traders?

I've got a few questions to ask about my book keeping which are perhaps a little more detailed than the usual FAQ's.

I've been on to Business Link - SA Helpline - and a couple of other forums without any progress.

Thanks!

timnicebutdim_2

What sort of questions do you have? If you ask them here or pm me I'll give it a shot or try and point you in the right direction..... otherwise i'd try the forums in the acca/cima/aat websites as this is where all the accountants hang out...

freyasmum

The business gateway offer classes on book keeping and filling in tax forms, as well as general running of a businesss.

Give them a call and see if they can sort you out

staffsuk

Hi Tim - Frey

Thanks so much for the replies :-)

I will try the Business Gateway - I'll look for some books on the subject too.

I'm a sole trader - selling stuff through eBay mainly.

I am using Accounts Portal for keeping track of my accounts. One question I had was whether the postage fees I charge are classed as Gross Income or Net Income? I have had mixed opinions... I can easily set up a new account in Accounts Portal but need to define whether it is Revenue (Gross Income) or Other Income (Net Income).
Most if not all of my payments including the postage charges come through PayPal - so they take their fee. I also slightly load the postage fee to cover me for packaging materials etc... So would that mean the postage fee I collect is Gross as an expense (PayPal fees) would be deducted? Another adviser said it would be Net - I'm just so confused?!

Have other questions too - but this will help me no end!

Thanks

theesel1994

staffsuk wrote: »

I've got a few questions to ask about my book keeping which are perhaps a little more detailed than the usual FAQ's.

I've been on to Business Link - SA Helpline - and a couple of other forums without any progress.

You could try this one
http://www.book-keepers.org.uk/
they are not as snotty as some forums.

staffsuk

theesel1994 wrote: »

You could try this one
http://www.book-keepers.org.uk/
they are not as snotty as some forums.

Thanks!

Will give them a go :-)

timnicebutdim_2

oh no not the dreaded ebay/paypal question!! I have enquired about this myself before and found all the answers conflicting I've just seen your post on another website, lol!

I do however do this on a daily basis at work as we have a virtual charity shop. So far the auditors have said nothing so i think it's ok (!) - but i'd double check with other sources to make sure....

I think your accounts system is making it confusing by saying gross and net so i'll try and keep it simple.... Another way of keeping it simple is to always treat income and expenditure as totally seperate....

Ok this is how I do it....

Credit 'Sales' - The gross income which is ebay sales price + postage

I don't think it matters that much whether you decide to treat the postage collected as sales income or other income - so long as you are consistent in your approach and have records to back yourself up.

On the expenditure side there is ebay & paypal fees and postage costs... so i would...

Debit Cost of Sales - These costs are expenses directly related to making the sale (although there are various arguments on the internet that suggest otherwise). Ebay fees are slightly different as it's a monthly invoice so this just goes straight to cost of sales (debit entry) once a month.

Finally I would Debit Bank (Cashbook etc) with the net amount received. I.e. the amount transferred to bank account.

You could do all the above on say a weekly/monthly basis as one journal so long as you have a spreadsheet which lists the individual transactions.

So an example: I sell a guitar on ebay for £100. I charge £20 postage. I pay £5 ebay fees, £6 paypal fees and £18 postage fees...

1. CR SALES £120
2. DR COS £29 (5+6+18)
3. DR BANK £91

As said before I think this is fine and we've had no problems but I'd double check. Hope that helps a little and I haven't made it worse!

staffsuk

Thx Tim

Yes indeed - what a can or worms

Some people just record the basic income and expenses per month - others record individual transaction ID's. Some people maintain you shouldn't record the gross income from a sale as the fees taken by PayPal happen before the funds hit your account so to speak - so you should only record the net PayPal income. Yet Solar accounts for example suggests you set up a PayPal Processing Fees expense account and record them that way.

So many ways - so many options and it would appear no one correct way to do this :-/

I still haven't yet clarified whether Postage is Gross or Net though as it's processed through PayPal.

Yes - i've posted in a few places - sigh....!

freyasmum

staffsuk wrote: »

Hi Tim - Frey

Thanks so much for the replies :-)

I will try the Business Gateway - I'll look for some books on the subject too.

I'm a sole trader - selling stuff through eBay mainly.

I am using Accounts Portal for keeping track of my accounts. One question I had was whether the postage fees I charge are classed as Gross Income or Net Income? I have had mixed opinions... I can easily set up a new account in Accounts Portal but need to define whether it is Revenue (Gross Income) or Other Income (Net Income).
Most if not all of my payments including the postage charges come through PayPal - so they take their fee. I also slightly load the postage fee to cover me for packaging materials etc... So would that mean the postage fee I collect is Gross as an expense (PayPal fees) would be deducted? Another adviser said it would be Net - I'm just so confused?!

Have other questions too - but this will help me no end!

Thanks

Hi

Gross income is any revenue that you turnover, i.e any monies paid to you, so postage would be a part of that. From that, expenses are deducted (postage, etc) and that's what gives you your profit.

As a business expense, you wouldn't pay tax on your postage and I would expect the same of paypal fees, though I'm not 100% certain.

I hope that helps.

freyasmum

staffsuk wrote: »

Thx Tim

Yes indeed - what a can or worms

Some people just record the basic income and expenses per month - others record individual transaction ID's. Some people maintain you shouldn't record the gross income from a sale as the fees taken by PayPal happen before the funds hit your account so to speak - so you should only record the net PayPal income. Yet Solar accounts for example suggests you set up a PayPal Processing Fees expense account and record them that way.

So many ways - so many options and it would appear no one correct way to do this :-/

I still haven't yet clarified whether Postage is Gross or Net though as it's processed through PayPal.

Yes - i've posted in a few places - sigh....!

Having just re-read this post...

You should record everything that comes into/goes out of your account.

So on your income side, you'd have whatever details you wanna put. Some people itemise every single transaction, others do a daily total.

So if someone buys something for £4, you'd put £4 in your income. Don't put £3.75 or whatever it is once the fees are deducted.

Then you'd go to your expenses column and record all associated fees in there - paypal, postage, etc.

My accounts are on paper, I find it much easier to get on with.

Is that any clearer?

Savvy_Sue

The advice to be consistent and be prepared to back it up is spot on. Better to be consistently wrong than inconsistent, far easier to sort it out!