Self-accounting

[escapeUK]

I would be particularly grateful for advice from anyone that has tried this themselves. Did it work for you? If not, what mistakes were made, and what challenges did you face?

If your accountant is anything like Crunch you will have been checking the accounts in great detail anyway as they take no responsibility for any mistakes.

That's the position I found myself in when starting again, and I am with Natwest got Freeagent for free. Its super easy, and even better now it can submit all accounts with Companies house / HMRC which was effortless when I did it recently a few months ago. (You just need yet another login from inefficient gov to make this work). The bank integration is really good, all you have to do it tell it what each transaction was. Payroll just works too).

In these difficult times, I would rather the £1000 plus a year I wasted on an accountant (to then have to legally check the accounts myself anyway) is much better in my pocket than theirs.

I had one query early on, the helpline was answered quickly and were helpful. I would go for it.

[jamesbrown]

Whilst I maintain DIY is not for everyone, I think the companies house and HMRC filing requirements are really easy provided you have the numbers to hand. FreeAgent is ideal for that. Provided you're determined enough and the company is simple. I found that even for a first time user going really steady, triple checking everything, filing on line for CH and HMRC took me a couple of hours.

Yes, the secondary HMRC/CH accounts are very straightforward to obtain, you just don't want to be unaware of that and submitting accounts at the last minute (for example, a CH presenter account takes at least 24 hours to go live and it may take 2-3 days to get the credentials). Anyway, that is minor stuff.

The less minor stuff is the stuff you don't know. For example, CH will not reject accounts because you have incorrectly declared the accounting basis (as micro-entity when it should be something else). Bottom line, self accounting is a great option if you're confident and you do legitimately know what you're doing, having been trained or built significant experience watching a competent accountant do the work in prior years. I say competent because there is no particular qualification needed to declare yourself an accountant in the UK, but if you are a qualified accountant, you will know a ton more than an average contractor. At some point, you will probably need advice if you encounter new situations.

[Fred Bloggs]

While FA is extremely good, there will be a lot you don’t know unless you’ve been contracting (and paying attention) for many years. Doing your own accounts is a risk. On the other hand, having an accountant prepare them is also a risk unless you are paying close attention. You should also bear in mind that FA alone is not enough. Yes, you can make simple submissions, but you will need a CH presenter account and an HMRC account. Anything out of the ordinary with your submissions, and FA may not be able to handle the actual submission itself. As far as I know, most FA accountants do not use FA to submit end of year accounts or SATR, although both options are now available in FA (the former for simple micro-entity cases; e.g, you cannot carry forward losses).

Whilst I maintain DIY is not for everyone, I think the companies house and HMRC filing requirements are really easy provided you have the numbers to hand. FreeAgent is ideal for that. Provided you're determined enough and the company is simple. I found that even for a first time user going really steady, triple checking everything, filing on line for CH and HMRC took me a couple of hours.

[jamesbrown]

While FA is extremely good, there will be a lot you don’t know unless you’ve been contracting (and paying attention) for many years. Doing your own accounts is a risk. On the other hand, having an accountant prepare them is also a risk unless you are paying close attention. You should also bear in mind that FA alone is not enough. Yes, you can make simple submissions, but you will need a CH presenter account and an HMRC account. Anything out of the ordinary with your submissions, and FA may not be able to handle the actual submission itself. As far as I know, most FA accountants do not use FA to submit end of year accounts or SATR, although both options are now available in FA (the former for simple micro-entity cases; e.g, you cannot carry forward losses).

[JHamp82]

I'm with Gorilla Accounting and have full access to freeagent. All my accounts are linked and I approve / categorise the expenses / payments myself.

If I have a qeuestion about which category, or whether something is a legitimate expense, I just drop them an email and they normally get back within a day.

It costs me £126 (inc vat) per month, but they've been pretty good so far. They help me sort out payroll, RTI, VAT, file self assessments etc.

In the grand scheme of things, it's an expense I'm willing to pay to have that advise available.

I am with Gorilla too and I would have to agree with this comment. My queries are answered within a day, if I have any urgent question I can just pick up the phone to speak to my dedicated accountant, which is great!

[Maslins]

I thought about this ages ago but to be honest I just can't be bothered for the price of an accountant so just stuck with it. Am happy with with service and takes something off my plate so worth it in the bigger picture for me.

I get the impression a lot of clients go this way. Ie I'll get an accountant for year one, learn what they do, then copy it DIYing from then on. I can certainly think of one now ex client who did that. The vast majority come to the same end conclusion as you NLUK, ie happy to accept the cost to have someone else ensure you're on top of it.

[northernladuk]

I just wanted to thanks everyone for their input. I think I am going to play it safe and go with an accountant for a while at least.

thanks a lot!

Good stuff. Stick to them like glue. Get a calendar of events set up, VAT, confirmation statement etc so you've a log. Question everything, keep notes and so on so you've got a run book for the first year you go yourself. Ask them every question that occurs to you even if it's not directly related to your finances but under the guise it's an issue you've got and so on.

I thought about this ages ago but to be honest I just can't be bothered for the price of an accountant so just stuck with it. Am happy with with service and takes something off my plate so worth it in the bigger picture for me.

[Danny76]

I just wanted to thanks everyone for their input. I think I am going to play it safe and go with an accountant for a while at least.

thanks a lot!

[hobnob]

I'm with Gorilla Accounting and have full access to freeagent. All my accounts are linked and I approve / categorise the expenses / payments myself.

I'm with Maslins, and ditto.

[Bodger]

I think what is more important to me than saving the accounting fees, is having more visibility into the bookkeeping. Having signed up to FreeAgent as an individual, I have linked my bank account and can reconcile the transactions myself. Question for anyone using FreeAgent provided by an accounting firm: are you able to link your bank account directly, or do you send statements to the accountant for them to copy? Who identifies the transaction type, you or the accountant?

I'm with Gorilla Accounting and have full access to freeagent. All my accounts are linked and I approve / categorise the expenses / payments myself.

If I have a qeuestion about which category, or whether something is a legitimate expense, I just drop them an email and they normally get back within a day.

It costs me £126 (inc vat) per month, but they've been pretty good so far. They help me sort out payroll, RTI, VAT, file self assessments etc.

In the grand scheme of things, it's an expense I'm willing to pay to have that advise available.

[Fred Bloggs]

I have done DIY from company formation through to strike off. Providing everything is very straightforward it's definitely doable. But it isn't for everyone. You need to try a better accountant, then see how you feel about it.

[Danny76]

Thanks for the advice so far. If I have any doubts, I agree that engaging with an accountant is the way to go. I am still struggling to understand precisely what value they can provide above that built into the software? Having contracted for some time I feel I have a good handle on allowable expenses, vat, and div thresholds, etc.

I think what is more important to me than saving the accounting fees, is having more visibility into the bookkeeping. Having signed up to FreeAgent as an individual, I have linked my bank account and can reconcile the transactions myself. Question for anyone using FreeAgent provided by an accounting firm: are you able to link your bank account directly, or do you send statements to the accountant for them to copy? Who identifies the transaction type, you or the accountant?

[hobnob]

My advice is to get an accountant for a year. During that year, see whether they pick up on any mistakes you've made, remind you about anything you'd forgotten, or point out anything that you weren't aware of. If you get to the end of the year and you don't think they've added any value at all, that's the time to ask about going solo.

[northernladuk]

If you need to ask that then you need an accountant IMO. You are missing a whole host of things there, each with figures the chop and change and would you know what to do if it goes wrong or get's complex? I doubt it. Freeagent doesn't advise on what expenses are allowed, fix vat if you've claimed it on some items incorrectly, tell you what the threshold for divis is and all sorts.

We've only got a handful of people that self account on here out of thousands posters so it's not common.

[Danny76]

I am looking to leave my current accountants as there service has gone rapidly downhill.

I have signed up with FreeAgent and reconciled my bank transactions. The software seems like it can fulfill all my accounting needs, so I am wondering whether I should engage with an accountant, or do everything myself?

Does anyone have any experience doing their own accounting using software like FreeAgent? Given that FreeAgent can generate micro-entity accounts, what are the potential pitfalls of going down this route?

I would be particularly grateful for advice from anyone that has tried this themselves. Did it work for you? If not, what mistakes were made, and what challenges did you face?