Financial forecasting and tax estimations

[nilnulfalse]

Thanks for all the feedback guys, looks like freeagent + spreadsheet + war chest covers most of the planning needs.

[fidot]

I track income & expenses on a home made spreadsheet and it calculates Corp tax and vat to set aside. It’s pretty accurate and easy to manage.

Ditto. VAT is always accounted for separately as it is NEVER yourCo's money. I also put by 20% of every invoice to cover corp tax - simples.

[PurpleGorilla]

I track income & expenses on a home made spreadsheet and it calculates Corp tax and vat to set aside. It’s pretty accurate and easy to manage.

[GreenMirror]

You saying I'm not a keeper?

You are too nice.

[northernladuk]

What you save on in tax, you would lose 100 times over in the divorce settlement.

You saying I'm not a keeper?

[Spoiler]

Nope. Freeagent does all that for me. If you want to forecast just put a load of invoices in and hey presto. Pull down the CT option to see how much you owe, your VAT is all there in glorious detail. Nothing else to do.

If I wanted to do it on a spreadsheet I'd get an unprotected copy of SJD's spreadsheet and bang it all in there. I think Simon might short a bob or two at the moment so I am sure he can sell you one for £20 cash.

I must admit I don't really need to plan my CT, VAT etc anyway. Having a decent warchest kind of covers that so don't feel the need to identify how much I need to put aside. That said I don't have a partner with 50% shares so cant' take it all out efficiently.

^ This. FreeAgent covers my planning needs.

[GreenMirror]

I would if I could

What you save on in tax, you would lose 100 times over in the divorce settlement.

[simes]

I have yet to migrate to any Freeagent type portal, but I do have a FY spreadsheet that does all of that, and gives me real time assessments of what is needed by year end.

That aside, there is usually enough knocking around in the chest to make this sort of redundant.

[northernladuk]

I never advise getting married for tax reasons, but in your case maybe you should

I would if I could

[craigy1874]

Nope. Freeagent does all that for me. If you want to forecast just put a load of invoices in and hey presto. Pull down the CT option to see how much you owe, your VAT is all there in glorious detail. Nothing else to do.

If I wanted to do it on a spreadsheet I'd get an unprotected copy of SJD's spreadsheet and bang it all in there. I think Simon might short a bob or two at the moment so I am sure he can sell you one for £20 cash.

I must admit I don't really need to plan my CT, VAT etc anyway. Having a decent warchest kind of covers that so don't feel the need to identify how much I need to put aside. That said I don't have a partner with 50% shares so cant' take it all out efficiently.

I never advise getting married for tax reasons, but in your case maybe you should

[northernladuk]

Nope. Freeagent does all that for me. If you want to forecast just put a load of invoices in and hey presto. Pull down the CT option to see how much you owe, your VAT is all there in glorious detail. Nothing else to do.

If I wanted to do it on a spreadsheet I'd get an unprotected copy of SJD's spreadsheet and bang it all in there. I think Simon might short a bob or two at the moment so I am sure he can sell you one for £20 cash.

I must admit I don't really need to plan my CT, VAT etc anyway. Having a decent warchest kind of covers that so don't feel the need to identify how much I need to put aside. That said I don't have a partner with 50% shares so cant' take it all out efficiently.

[zonkkk]

I usually do it it on a 6 months basis (up to renewal date). I only do it to work out what I can take out in order to meet my warchest target at the end of the 6 months.

I have a Google Sheet that I use. I don't have a need for another tool.

In addition to that, Corporation tax, NI, dividend tax, etc. is also done in real time by my accountant's online portal over the current company year.

[nilnulfalse]

Hi all,

Long term contractor / freelancer checking in here. I've just spent my bank holiday monday modelling the finances of the next couple of years and in particular looking at how much I need put aside within my business for corp tax and how much personally for div tax. It got me thinking that I could potentially turn this into a tool for other freelancers and contractors.

Question for you all: to what extend do you do financial forecasting for your business? do you try to estimate how much to withhold for your corporation tax and dividend taxes? do you ever stress test what would happen if your rate was reduced by 20% or you chose to work 3 days per week instead of 5?

Are the regular contractor calculators enough or is there more detail you wish you could get into?

thanks for any input,
Neil