Limited co accounts due- help!

babymum

Hi.... And before I start, yes I should ave got my head out of the sand about this a long time ago....

My company accounts are due in Feb. My limited co has been operational for 12 months then. Turnover less than £50k, my accounts are a mess but I can sort out the spreadsheet as I have kept receipts and bills etc.... Just went through a bit of a bad patch personally which meant I didn't sort out the accounts.

Do I need to get an accountant for a limited co? Or can I do it myself?
How much start up costs can I offset? There was various training I had to do, website set up etc... Can all these costs be offset too?

Thanks so much in advance. It's unlikely that the turnover will grow to more than £50k thus year... Profits will be about £9k...

Thanks so much :-)

Baby mum xx

pleasedelete

You can buy a package like sage but sounds like you need an accountant. How did your business only make 9k on 50k turnover? That's 40k of expenses/costs even allowing for a salary that's still 32k odd of expenses. Doesn't sound right. Are you paying yourself more than personal limit?

nickj_2

you need to sort all paperwork involved with being a ltd company , vouchers and minutes for any dividends you may draw , agm's etc
i would go and see an accountant for advice

Pennywise

Ltd Co accounts need to be in a prescribed format - far more complex than for a sole trader. If you don't get the format right, including references to Co Act section numbers, they'll be rejected.

Also, you need to file the accounts in something called xbrl format to HMRC along with the corporation tax return - they don't accept posted accounts nor pdfs.

Not to mention you needing to know about the fundamental accounting concepts and accounting standards, and accruals, prepayments, etc. Not to mention the differences between accounting and tax treatment for asset purchases, and the different rules for tax relief on different kinds of assets.

All in all, not something for the amateur. Most Ltd Co owners use accountants. Also, it's very easy to incur potentially huge fines if you're not submitting PAYE returns on time and you may end up paying more tax than you need to if you're not on top of how to get money out in a tax efficient manner.

I'd suggest you go to see an accountant asap. Your deadline is very close and many accountants won't be able to help you with such a short timescale as January is the busiest month for most accountants with the Jan 31 self assessment deadline and far too many people (like you) leaving it to the last minute to think about accounts and returns. A lot of accountants are already fully stretched and won't be able to do anything else other than work already in hand. You may need to phone around to find one that will be able to meet your deadlines, and don't expect discounts or a cheap job at this time of year either.

prowla

You do not need to have an accountant.
You can do accounts on-line, and I did not use the xbrl format last year. The online forms do some checking, but there were a couple of errors in them when I did last year's, and I had to call them to get a workaround.
It is a real pig to sort out, so do it a bit in advance in case there is an issue that takes time to resolve and makes you overrun your deadline.

bni

Some confusion information in the initial post, are you saying that your first accounting year is ending in February (your Accounting Reference Date)? The first set of annual accounts are due with Companies House 9 months after the end of the accounting year or within 21 months of incorporation for the first year (whichever is sooner).

From your post, it sounds you have just been trading for the first year and your first annual accounts are not due until the fall leaving a reasonable amount of time to find an accountant and sort out the books. Don't confuse the annual accounts with the of course annual return which must be filed much sooner (and is used to confirm directors and shareholders, etc.)

You do not need an accountant to do limited company paperwork if it is straight forward, BUT like pointed out earlier you need to have a very good grasp on accounting standards and what is expected in terms of the keeping and preparing proper paperwork. The requirements are formal, unlike for sole traders who can get away with simply suming up sales and expenses for their tax return. Using spreadsheets, instead of software using standard double-entry accounting techniques, generally make it a lot more work to prepare balance sheets, tracking VAT and let's not even mention PAYE. (You have to run payroll even if you are only paying yourself a salary as you are an employee. Interim dividends can be taken throughout the year but must be correctly documented and only from net profits allowing for corporation tax due.)

As you have more time, you will have more time to shop around to find a good accountant that can offer a good deal. Waiting until the last minute will inevitably mean you will have to pay a premium and might still face penalties. The penalties from Companies House and HMRC (for Corporation Tax, PAYE and VAT) for missing deadlines or filing incomplete or rejected filings will easily mount and outstrip the cost of hiring an accountant upfront. The better you prepare your books and records the less work for the accountant and the less cost to you.

Disclaimer: I'm not an accountant, get your own professional advice.

property.advert

Go to Companies House website and pull off and pay for the accounts for a couple of small businesses which take advantage of the provisions available to small companies.

You have to go to HMRC as well to get them to send you a log in by post ! so do this well in advance.

You can also file accounts and corp tax return together now !

Not difficult and you can stop, save and restart as often as you want before submission.

theesel1994

property.advert wrote: »

Go to Companies House website and pull off and pay for the accounts for a couple of small businesses which take advantage of the provisions available to small companies.

As this is the money saving forum I thought I'd mention a couple of websites where you don't need to pay the £1 per company Companies House are looking for.
It can be a bit of a hit and miss if the latest accounts are available.
duedil.com and companycheck.co.uk
At the moment I'd go for duedil.com.

Slinky

You haven't confused their request for details of your Annual Return with your accounts have you? Seems a bit too early to be wanting accounts if you've only been trading since February.

suki1001

I'm afraid I'm with those who think you should use an accountant. I am a bit like you, in that I'm a bit disorganised with paperwork and have a ltd company. In the past we used an expensive firm, it was a rip off. I now use a lady who is briliant. I pay her £30 a month. She nags me do x, y and z at regular intervals, I hand her a load of receipts and bank statements etc and hey presto the paperwork fairies do their magic. It is so worth while, otherwise I'd be getting fines left, right and centre. It's good because she knows what I should be claiming for like mileage etc. They will bealbe to tell you any costs you can claim against, there will be ones you haven't thought about.

If you aren't too organised and lay in bed at night worrying about the pile of paperwork mounting and receipts all over the place i'd definately recommend it, it's worth it for the weight off your shoulders. Go for a small firm and not a big posh one, the price difference is massive.

foreversummer

Definitely worth getting an accountant for limited company accounts. We have a very good accountant who charges £600 a year, payable monthly, and believe you me there is a heck of a lot of paperwork involved that I would not want to do myself. Great value for money.

Get on with running your business - let a professional take care of your accounting.