self employed accounts

loobs40

I'm confused. If I ask the accountant to certify my accounts, I pay him for that task, basically to check I have got my figures right. Mortgage applications don't come into it at that point.

It may be that in a few years time I decide to remortgage and then I present the mortgage company with however many years certified accounts that they require.

I realise that accountants will put a caveat with everything (I was married to one for 17 long years.....) but at the moment I am just trying to cover all my options that will help maximise the choice and minimise the cost, should I decide to apply for a mortgage be it next year or in 5 years time.

The question is, is it worth my while doing self employed accounts and getting them certified now in case I should need a mortgage in a few years time ? At the end of the day I can show any mortgage company x years of bank statements to prove my 'income', of which my self employed income is probably only one third of my total income

For information my current mortgage is probably about 40% of the value of then house which I bought a couple of years ago with a hefty deposit. I have a fixed rate mortgage which expires next March so I will be looking to remortgage around then

Conrad

loobs40 wrote:

I'm confused. If I ask the accountant to certify my accounts, I pay him for that task, basically to check I have got my figures right. Mortgage applications don't come into it at that point.

It may be that in a few years time I decide to remortgage and then I present the mortgage company with however many years certified accounts that they require.

I realise that accountants will put a caveat with everything (I was married to one for 17 long years.....) but at the moment I am just trying to cover all my options that will help maximise the choice and minimise the cost, should I decide to apply for a mortgage be it next year or in 5 years time.

The question is, is it worth my while doing self employed accounts and getting them certified now in case I should need a mortgage in a few years time ? At the end of the day I can show any mortgage company x years of bank statements to prove my 'income', of which my self employed income is probably only one third of my total income

For information my current mortgage is probably about 40% of the value of then house which I bought a couple of years ago with a hefty deposit. I have a fixed rate mortgage which expires next March so I will be looking to remortgage around then

No, for mortgages under 75% LTV you will not need accounts unless you are using an old fashioned obscure building society.

Accountants as you describe will use plenty of caveats. No Accountant will 100% guarantee the accuracy of your accounts. For him to so do would involve a moumental forensic analysis of your affairs which of course would cost the earth.

I personally use an Accountant to minimise Tax. For example the interest on part of your mortage may qualify as Tax deductable.
Some people I know deal with it all themselves, but they tend to have more modest incomes.

When it comes to actually preparing my accounts, the accountants are fairly prone to errors and omissions, so you have to watch carefully. They forget to tell you all sorts of things. This is very often the case with property investments such as B2L.

dunstonh

DD, you must know that what you put in your accounts is not necessarily the same as what you claim as tax-deductible

I was being economic on the terminology just to keep the response simple. In this case, way too simple

I have an accountant currently and he has never saved me a jot in tax. However I pay him well over £1000 per year. I consider that a lot of money for not a lot

My accounts will be extremely simple. I can't emphasize that enough!!! It will be basically income in and nothing else. My tax affairs are dealt with by another professional party

Wow, that is expensive. My last year accounts cost £558 and that is with an accountancy firm that is known to be very expensive. Although I do present the infomation to the accountant in the way i know they like it, there is still a fair bit of work today and I do not give them my own calculations so they do all that themselves.

At the end of the day I can show any mortgage company x years of bank statements to prove my 'income', of which my self employed income is probably only one third of my total income

But you have only been self employed for 6 months, so that is the time that will interest them most.