Going Self-employed - should I instruct an accountant?

njb286

I have made the major move from employed to self-employed.  I am a mortgage adviser so won't have many outgoings.  I will be given leads and paid via a brokerage.  I have been quoted £300 to get set up and April tax return and then £50 a month by an Accountant. Happy to pay for good advice but just wanted to check I would need it?

AskAsk

you don't really need an accountant and can do your own self assessment submissions.

are you operating through a limited company?

General_Grant

If you are a mortgage adviser I would hope you are numerate enough to deal with your own tax matters.

Thrugelmir

There's no harm in seeking advice at the outset. At least until you know what you are doing and how to maintain decent records. 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

£300 for a (straightforward) tax return doesn't seem unreasonable but what on earth is the £50/month for 

njb286

AskAsk said:

you don't really need an accountant and can do your own self assessment submissions.

are you operating through a limited company?

Not planning that at this stage, I will be a sole trader

njb286

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

£300 for a (straightforward) tax return doesn't seem unreasonable but what on earth is the £50/month for 

The £50 per month is for the following year. They said my first tax return would need to be April 2021.  I only start training in January so I may have only earnt a small amount by then.

Sandtree

njb286 said:

AskAsk said:

you don't really need an accountant and can do your own self assessment submissions.

are you operating through a limited company?

Not planning that at this stage, I will be a sole trader

Who’s paying for your professional indemnity insurance and are you confident it’d cover all bases? As a sole trader you are personally liable for any mistakes you make and your personal assets are at risk if significant claims are made against you.  The prices of insurance for these types of industries are very high which would indicate that there is adverse claims experience

Phil&Michelle

You don't need an accountant if you keep good records. There are some great business banking apps such as Tide, Monzo, or Starling which allow you to tag income and expenditure or send invoices from the app or you could look at getting some free accounting software with Pandle or their pro plan for £5 per month. At the end of the year, you can print off a P&L report to file your tax return.

CKhalvashi

If I were you, I'd keep a spreadsheet with date, invoice number, in, out, and balance.

Total the numbers at the end of the year, and enter these into your tax return. You should be able to complete it as a 3 line assessment, at least in first years.

I'm happy to take 2 minutes to put this together, make sure all the numbers work automatically for you and pop it to you if you want by PM.

Cromwell77

I pay around £1k a year to my accountant I am a small VAT registered LTD my accountant is priceless