Quickbooks or equivalent?

Topaz99

I am a sole trader with very small accounts and have been using an accountant for many years, just to keep ontop of any Tax etc.

I just wanted to ask about Quickbooks and if anyone recommends?

It looks like it links to Bank, Invoices etc and wondered how easy it is to do receipts etc and the general tax side of any buisness?

Any thoughts or tips? Is it good value for money and something the HMRC approve of if I was to drop my Accountant?
Also I know there are alternatives, one of which escapes me that do almost the same thing?

Thanks for any help

Pennywise

HMRC will "approve" of anything that means your submissions are correct - it's all they care about, not how you do your book-keeping.

Quickbooks isn't a substitute for an accountant. It's a book-keeping tool, just like a spreadsheet or a pen and paper. It won't give you all the answers nor tell you how to fill in your tax return submissions. Like all software, "garbage in, garbage out". You'll still need to do research and make sure you understand the figures that you need to submit. You'll need to understand the difference between cash and accrual accounting, the difference between asset purchase entries in the book-keeping and the tax return. No software will tell you whether a different year end would be beneficial or whether you should (or can) claim 100% annual allowance on the purchase of new equipment.

You will have had a reason to use an accountant in the past. That reason may still exist. Lots of people didn't use an accountant 5, 10, 15 years ago, before software such as QB was introduced - those people had the time and inclination to teach themselves about business tax and tax returns.

I'd suggest you have a good read through the gov.uk webpages on small business accounts and tax and make sure that you understand it as the first step. QB is only a book-keeping tool after all - there's a lot of difference between the basic book-keeping of a business and the ultimate entries on the tax returns.

ladysharpey

I use freeagent and I love it - I can set up monthly payments for customers via direct debit, keep track of customers and on top of money (it links to my bank and I can 'explain' transactions).

I think quickbooks is similar just does a little less.

fangoose

QuickBooks is easy to use and is a dream to produce invoices. Not sure about the linking to bank accounts? I used a standalone version bought of eBay for £40 and that was good enough - didn't think it was worth paying a monthly fee (was for a small charity) . It certainly does not replace needing an accountant but means it should be a small job. Take up offers of free trials if you are unsure of which package suits you and don't be tempted to pay more for extras you don't need and won't use.