Honestly, how difficult is it to keep your own accounts?

[FiveTimes]

http://forums.contractoruk.com/techn...ng-2008-a.html

Cheers

[NotAllThere]

It's not difficult to keep your own accounts. The hard work is getting them in the right form, with the correct account categories etc. Once that's done, the actual work is relatively easy. But if you have queries or difficulties, and you don't have an accountant, who do you ask?

[r0bly0ns]

Cheers

No probs, I would have tried to find the direct download for you but I'd had far too much alcohol by that point to do some sensible googling......

[El_Diablo]

I think I'm too lazy to do my own accounts, though I am thinking about it.

[weemster]

Useful

[pisces]

Unless you're a tape monkey and in which case probably no good at accounts, why not pay an accountant to save time, hassle and give peace of mind. It's not as though it will bankrupt you is it?

[Bluebird]

MS Accounting 2008 is worth a look. Free download and does double entry accounting and seems reasonably simple.

I would suggest you still get an accountant to look over your books and advise you though. A good accountant will show you legal ways to reduce your tax liability, advise you on how to make the most of your funds, and save you more in a year than thier fee.

MS Accounting whilst very pretty is a bit too labour intensive for your run-of-the-mill-i'm-not-really-inside-ir35 contractor - plus it doesn't support FRS.

You are better off using a workbook/spreadsheet...

[hgllgh]

i am just starting off doing this myself after issues with my accountant.
the advice so far is sound...

if you are just starting this, do your own VAT and PAYE and get an accountant to do your year end Corp Tax return and Comp House return.

The year end stuff doesn't need to be done until 10 months after your company year end so you should have time to find an accountant.

For the VAT and PAYE register online on the HMRC website in the employers section for both of these services as they will enable you to submit all forms online. the VAT has been covered earlier in this thread. The PAYE is a bit more involved as there is some PAYE yearly forms to submit but not many. The following is a summary from the government sponsored businesslink site
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk

"
PAYE deductions and National Insurance
If your business pays more than £1,500 per month to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), you must make monthly payments of PAYE and National Insurance.

If your business pays less than £1,500 per month to HMRC, you may make payments of PAYE and National Insurance every three months. Use form P31 to tell HMRC you want to pay every three months.

You will have to complete the following:

P35 employer's end of year return (submit by 19 May annually)
P60 employee's end of year summary
P14 employee's end of year summary
P11D return of expenses and benefits(submit by 6 July annually)
"
The Taxes, returns & payroll section of the businesslink site will explain all you need to do, but within the section go through the VAT, National Insurance, and PAYE and payroll sections and that should cover you for doing your VAT and PAYE yourself. Also, the free employers CD contains software to help you calculate the correct tax and NI using your tax code which you should have issued every year.

Hope that helps.
Once I've got a grip on this myself I will be posting a more comprehensive guide.

[Bluebird]

By Comp House return I presume you mean the Annual Accounts, the Annual Return [ which is company info ] is on-line [ half-price ] and a piece of pish.

[hgllgh]

Yes, exactly what I meant, and didn't know it could also be submitted online.
Is that through the Comp House website?

Don't you need to produce a P&L and a balance sheet though?
And does this not need a certain level of accounting knowledge?