creating business accounts

naturegirl_2

I'm a sole trader (craft maker) I have no idea how to create accounts I just put everything into a large box and then at the end of the year sort it all out into piles ie invoices, receipts, bills. total them up then fill in the tax return. I need help in setting up some sort of system which I could do say monthly and when someone says we need to see the books ie when applying for a mortgage etc I will have something to show them. Any help would be great.

Kilty_2

I keep an Excel spreadsheet of income and expenses, listing everything in and out with a reference to the relevant paper record.

Pretty basic but I don't exactly have a high turnover.

richt71

You can create in excel. Create 2 sections per month for incoming and outgoings. Then within each you can put different headings for each expense. Or you can buy software.
However if it's specifically for showing proof to get a mortage or re mortage then you need certified year end accounts. An accountant will need to do this.

MortgageMamma

You could buy some sage accounting software but you would be wise to get your accounts prepared by a certified accountant as they are they accounts a mortgage lender will look at. they will not look at accounts that you have prepared yourself or you could put anything down - if you don't have two years accounts to show you would have to self certify

HTH, if you want more help on this put a note on the thread that you have on the mortgage board

MM

Epiphone

Get an accountant. A good one will save you more than he costs.

windswept

just get yourself an accounts book from makro or even wh smith, easy to fill in and everything is to hand when you need it. I swear by mine, it's funny , I use a computer for everything else but not for my book keeping, I find it relaxing doing my weekly accounting by hand.

naturegirl_2

I have an accountant friendwho fills my tax return in for me as a favour. His advice is to find a husband and get married as he cant believe I live on so little income

naturegirl_2

I've got excel but dont know how to use it. I went on the windows help and could'nt understand how to use that either so I think the idea of an accounts book from windswept is best.

Savvy_Sue

Or, if you want to give it another go, PM me your email address and I'll send you a file I used to use when I was keeping accounts for an out of school club. I'd been keeping an account book manually before that, but I found using Excel much easier because I set it up to check that all my columns added up properly. Can't explain it well, mind gone blank, but you should be able to see what I mean.

docij

If you want to learn how to use Excel, you can get a tutorial DVD from Book Sale for about £5.00. I've used it and it's really helpful. Always good to learn something new.

That said, as a sole trader myself, I would agree with everyone else who has suggested paying for an accountant.

windswept

if you are confident in what you can claim in expenses etc there is no need for an accountant, I did a free self assessment course at my local hmrc office which was really useful, and you get lots of help from them nowadays. I really dont see how an accountant could save me money, in fact when we first set up our business, we had a free session with one and he gave us pretty poor advice:rolleyes: such as going ltd. company and vat registered, for which there was absolutely no need, it just meant more fees for him! our self assessment is pretty complicated too, as we are both employed as well as self employed in partnership so will have lots of forms to fill in come april.