Personal Tax » Happy Accountant: Accounting Blog & Online Accountant

Choosing Bookkeeping/Accounts Software
* Choosing bookkeeping or accounting software for your business or organisation is a big step. There is so much available on the market, with new vendors and products coming out all the time. So, how do you decide which is the best for you? How much you are prepared to pay? There is such range of [read more]
The Consequences of Being Inside IR35
*The financial consequences of being inside IR35 are mainly (there are other consequences) you lose the tax-avoidance facility of dividends. Essentially, if you are within IR35, you must calculate a “deemed payment” and pay NICs and PAYE (tax) on that deemed payment. The tax-deductible amounts that you can claim in travel and expenses will also [read more]
When to Register as an Employer
*As soon as you take anyone on where any of the following conditions apply, you need to register with HMRC as an employee. the employee already has another job the employee receives a pension (state or occupational) the employee will earn at or over the PAYE (tax) threshold the employee will earn at or over [read more]
SAGE VAT codes
*Sage uses the following codes for VAT: T0 – zero rate VAT T1 – standard rate VAT T2 – exempt (eg. stamps, insurance, aire fares, bank charges, financial services T4 – EC Sales T5 – lower rate VAT (eg. electricity, gas, women’s sanitary products) T9 – not involving VAT/outside scope of VAT (eg. suppliers that [read more]
Registering for VAT and Keeping VAT records
*You must register for VAT with HMRC. This can be done using a paper form or online. Once registered, you generally have to keep reocrds of: the VAT you charge on your sales (output VAT) the VAT you have paid on your purchases (input VAT) the total amount of sales excluding VAT the total amount [read more]
Using Excel for Accounts and Bookkeeping
*The great thing about MS Excel (and others say it’s greatest downfall) is that it is so adaptable and because it normally comes bundled with the PC you bought for your business, it’s cheaper than buying accounting software. For start ups and possibly for the sole trader or small limited company, it’s a very easy way of keeping track [read more]
Why have an Accountant?
*Because… Doing the accounts takes you away from your real business An accountant could do the job quicker and more accurately An accountant could save you money in the form of tax-savings as well as sometimes finding other areas for savings and efficiencies. Professionally produced year end accounts will be taken more seriously by banks and [read more]
What is the Difference between Bookkeeping and Accounting?
*The two really overlap: Bookkeeping is part of accounting. It is the recording of the day to day transactions of a business – either in “manual” books, or on computer software or spreadsheets. Therefore, bookkeeping can play an important role in the efficient running of a business: Purchase Ledger – A business needs to pay [read more]
Simple Bookkeeping
*You need three basic “books” (or ledgers): – a cashbook to record all cash/cheques/bank transfers going in and out of your business – a purchase ledger, to record details of all the purchases that you make – a sales ledger to record details of all the sales that you make (if you are a retail outlet, [read more]
Advantages of a limited company
*Obviously, the main attraction of forming a limited company is the “limited liability” of its owners, the shareholders, as it protects the personal assets of the owners. Should the company fail, the company is liable without limit for its own debts, but its shareholders’ liability is limited to the amount oustanding (if any) on their [read more]
What do you need to set up a company
*Essentially, before you begin, you need: a company name, which can be almost any name that has not previously been registered. a Director a Company Secretary (which cannot be the sole director) (or you could have two directors, one of whom could also act as Company Secretary) a shareholder (which can be either the director [read more]
Choosing Your Accountant
* Speak to your prospective accountant on the phone first and then, if you are still happy, set up an initial meeting – which should be free of charge. Ensure that they are professionally qualified and are current members of a professional body (Chartered Accountant (ICAEW/ICAS/ICAI), Chartered Management Accountant (CIMA), Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) for [read more]

Self-Assessment Tax Returns for Company Directors 24/11/2011 Self-Assessment Tax Returns for Company Directors Posted by Happy Accountant at 9:00 am 2 Responses Accountant, Limited Company, Personal Tax *If you work from home, consider charging business rent to your limited company (you’ll need to set up a rental licence agreement between yourself and your company). If you set the rent figure to be the same as the actual costs, then there will be no personal tax to pay, (although both the rental income [read more] Full Article	Sole Trader Self-Assessment Tax Returns and Things to Claim For 23/11/2011 Sole Trader Self-Assessment Tax Returns and Things to Claim For Posted by Happy Accountant at 9:00 am 2 Responses Accountant, Personal Tax, Sole Traders Things to Claim for a sole-trader self-assessment tax return Cost of all your materials Cost of things like advertising, promotion Business Assets/Capital Expenditure Office Equipment, computer, printer* Use of home (either a flat rate charge of £3 or a proportion of your household expenses, as appropriate to your circumstances) Mobile phone Stationery & office supplies [read more] Full Article
Completing your Self-Assessment Tax Return 22/11/2011 Completing your Self-Assessment Tax Return Posted by Happy Accountant at 9:00 am No Responses Accountant, In Business, Personal Tax *If you receive a letter from HMRC telling you to send in a tax return, you will, at some point need to send it in. There’s no point in putting your head in the sand (however tempting that may be) There are penalties for late returns. There are also penalties for inaccuracies and errors – so [read more] Full Article	Do you have to complete a tax return? 21/11/2011 Do you have to complete a tax return? Posted by Happy Accountant at 9:00 am No Responses Accountant, In Business, Personal Tax *So, who must fill in a self-assessment return? Well, amongst others, you’ll need to complete this annual task if: You are self-employed You are a company director You have savings & investment income above a certain level You have property income above a certain level You receive an annual trust or have settlement income You [read more] Full Article
Use of Home – Pitfalls 29/07/2010 Use of Home – Pitfalls Posted by Happy Accountant at 9:00 am No Responses Accounting, Corporation Tax, Personal Tax, Tax Some pitfalls in calculating “use of home” costs: not ensuring that the calculation results in a reasonable figure. not using a reasonable basis of apportionment not being able to substantiate claims greater than £3/week with bills/receipts. not having a licence agreement in place (directors/limited companies) Full Article	Sole Traders – Use of Home 27/07/2010 Sole Traders – Use of Home Posted by Happy Accountant at 9:00 am No Responses Personal Tax, Sole Traders, Tax *There is no single method of apportioning household bills and expenses and so on into business and personal. HMRC does not prescribe a particular method, although there are some examples listed on their website. So, you might apportion your bills on: floor area or number of rooms time spent usage or some appropriate and reasonable combination of [read more] Full Article
Use of Home 26/07/2010 Use of Home Posted by Happy Accountant at 9:00 am No Responses Corporation Tax, Limited Company, Personal Tax, Saving Money, Sole Traders, Tax * Many self-employed people/sole traders and company directors work from home some of the time and many, if not most of these people can claim a tax-deduction for some of the expenses incurred in working from home ,having a home office or “use of home“. The law says that an expense is only tax-deductible if it [read more] Full Article