FAQs

We'll require a copy of your last set of financial accounts plus a few answers to our short questionnaire. Plus a review of your books and records (temporary access to your cloud accounting software or data backup if locally managed).

We liaise with your existing accountant to obtain all the information we need to ensure a seamless transition.

Yes, we just need a few details from you and then we can take over all communications with HMRC as your authorised agent.

A part time bookkeeper may not always complete your accounts to full trial balance stage, which means when they are handed over at year end more work is required by the accontant before the financial accounts can be drafted. In some cases this leads to additional charges. As your bookkeeping will be reviewed by a qualified accoutant you can be sure that your accounts are prepared in the correct format first time around.

We carry out a series of control reconciliations monthly as part of our bookkeeping process. This eliminates the risk of delays further down the line when the accounts are being readied for accounts preparation.

We offer free unlimited support within all of our bookkeeping packages. We aim to resolve client queries the same day if possible.

If you want to start working as self-employed, you must register with HM Revenue & Customs, but first make sure you have a National Insurance Number. After the registration, you will receive your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and HMRC will set up the right tax and National Insurance contributions records. You should keep your UTR safe because you will need it when completing your Self Assessment tax return.

You may need to register for VAT if you are doing business in the UK as an individual, a partnership, a company, an association, a charity, a local authority or any other organisation or group of people acting together under a specific name. Registration for VAT is compulsory if your annual turnover exceeds £85,000 or you expect the turnover to be higher than that amount in the next 30 days. It is also possible to register for VAT voluntarily if your turnover falls below this threshold.

In some cases where your customers are generally VAT registered themselves it can often be a benefit to register for VAT even if your turnover is below £85,000. This is because the VAT on your goods/services is not considered a cost to them but you have the opportunity to reclaim VAT on your purchases.

If you wish to trade and do not use a limited company you will be personally liable for the debt of your business. If you have assets or savings they are vulnerable to a claim made against you. By trading through a limited company you are literally placing a limit on your liability. That limit is the value of the company, including any money you may have invested in, loaned to or are owing to the company. The company has a separate legal identity from its owners and directors and unless they sign a personal guarantee for its debts they are not liable for these.

There are a number of advantages in becoming a limited company, such as:

• You can give a share of the business to others, eg family
• It may be easier to attract people to invest money in your business
• Obtaining bank loans may be easier
• There are no higher rate tax bands.
• In the event of a partner leaving or somebody dying it is easier to continue the business
• It is easier to sell the business
• You have better standing in the public eye
• It can assist in the protection of a name
• People have more confidence in your business as they can check up on your company on the public records at Companies House
• You can control the amount of personal tax you pay since income tax is only due on money you withdraw from the business

The main disadvantages of becoming a limited company are the extra costs of preparing of annual accounts and some loss of financial privacy.

Receipt Bank allows you to submit your invoices and receipts to us in three ways:

• Via the Receipt Bank app by taking a photo of the document and submitting for processing
• Forward invoices as attachments via email to your unique Receipt Bank email inbox
• Log in to your Receipt Bank account on desktop and drag and drop files in from your computer

Scans of your documents are stored by Receipt Bank in perpetuity so there is no need to worry about filing and retaining hard copies unless you prefer to have a manual record.

We take care of submitting your VAT return to HMRC so you don’t have to worry about filing deadlines. We’ll also make sure you know how much to pay and when the money is due well in advance. We undertake a three-stage review process to integrity check data before it is submitted to HMRC so you can be safe in the knowledge your business is fully compliant in its VAT obligations.

From April 2019, all VAT registered businesses will be required to file VAT returns electronically using HMRC approved software. This will extend to quarterly submissions for Income or Corporation Tax as early as April 2020 for businesses of all sizes. We ensure that your business is ready for these changes well in advance of legislation changes and will make sure you are fully informed of exactly how these changes will impact your business.

It doesn’t matter if you're months behind with your paperwork – we are more than happy to pick up the slack and get your business back on track.

We offer a host of services to help tailor our packages specifically to your requirements. Following an initial consultation, we will highlight any of our bolt-ons that we think would benefit your business.

It is the responsibility of all employers to ensure that they remain compliant with payroll regulations. For example, you will need to know how to process starters and leavers, how to generate P45s, how to process student loan deductions and court orders, calculate things like the threshold recovery of Statutory Sick Pay and SMP and ensure the correct amount of tax and National Insurance contributions get paid to the Inland Revenue. To avoid penalties and inspections, you will also need to ensure that HMRC's real-time submission deadlines are adhered to. All of these things have highly complex rules and regulations. We can do all of this for you, leaving you to concentrate on other things.

By appointing us as your payroll agent, all changes to employees' tax codes, student loans etc are sent by HMRC directly to us to be implemented.

You will require the new employee's:

• Full name
• Date of birth
• Home address
• National Insurance Number
• Identification such as passport or driving licence and proof of address by seeing a utility bill or similar proof
• A copy of the employee's P45 or completed P46/P38(S)

Your employee should complete AND sign the declaration on form P46.

No, we take on new payroll clients throughout the year and have the skills, knowledge and experience to transfer your payroll at any time of the year.

A minimal amount of work is required from our clients to ensure they have an accurate payroll processed on time. We will only require you to inform us of any changes to the payroll and authorisation once you are happy with everything.

All you have to do is tell us what changes need to be made and we will recalculate the payslip(s) concerned and send you adjusted payslips and reports. You will however be required to pay the usual fee for processing the payroll so please try to ensure your figures are accurate! In the unlikely event that we make an error, your payroll will be re-run without charge.