Advice needed please

tryer

Hi everyone, Almost a year ago myself and a friend started a business which after discussion with various people we thought we would set up as a social enterprise. We kind of 'fell into' the business with not a lot of planning. It was stressed to us that once we had decided what form of social enterprise we felt was best for us it would be difficult to change should we need to .... With one thing and another this has not got done and time has just flown by and our position is we are almost at the end of our first year and are still not registered as anything with anybody (inc inland rev) ... Result is I am now panicking like mad ... can't sleep for trying to decide what to do ... I am waiting for an appointment to see a social enterprise advisor hopefully in the next week or so. I realise that we have been totally inept but it is scary just how quickly the year has gone and there always seems to be something else to get done. Any advice would be welcome (apart from the expected and deserved ...how stupid can you be etc etc ... believe me I know )
Thanks in anticipation

smartiedriver_2

What sort of advice are you looking for, Tryer? Your question is so wide-ranging there is little point in answering unless we know what to aim for!

Amatheya81

Get in contact with HMRC straight away and explain the situation. If you have not registered for tax and NI within 3 months of start up then you will most likely be fined... the longer you leave it the larger the fine is likely to be. Also you say you've been traiding for a year, did you do tax returns in April? If not then you better get your skates on because if they're late you will incure more fines.

antrobus

tryer wrote: »

.. Almost a year ago myself and a friend started a business ...

You need to get an accountant to sort things out with HMRC. And you need to get one now.

Nuclear_Themes

antrobus wrote: »

You need to get an accountant to sort things out with HMRC. And you need to get one now.

Completely agree. I too left it a little late but having an accountant talk me through everything and get up to date was invaluable.

tryer

Thanks for the replies ... I will find an accountant on Monday and start the big sort out. It will be a huge relief to get things under control ... the main lesson I have learned is 'if you want to be sure things are done, then you have to do it yourself'.

Thanks x

Buzzman_2

Hey tryer

I agree with the advice to get an accountant asap. Then they will advise how to structure your business and what your tax liability is. It may not be as bad as you think but the main thing is to just get yourself up to date - you will feel a lot better when you do. And yes, there's always a million things to do when you run your own business - but you need to sort your processes out so that you do your bookeeping etc. regularly - it sounds boring I know, but once you get into it you may actually find it quite interesting (and I speak as someone who doesn't particularly enjoy 'numbers' ) - it really helps you to get a grip on your business and understand where you can cut costs and increase margins. Good luck!

mattwilliams

For me I suggests you undergo an ISO Training...it provides tremendous benefits through an organization.

dottygirl

Hi what is ISO training? Thank you x

Horace

dottygirl wrote: »

Hi what is ISO training? Thank you x

ISO 9000 is a certificate which shows that you have good processes in your business, it is all about paper trails and responsibilities.