Accounting Records
The following paragraphs apply both to sole traders and partnerships.
You will need to have your annual accounts prepared and submitted with your self assessment tax returns. There is no legal requirement
to file these accounts anywhere else.
You may also have to prepare and submit accounts to your bank or other external lenders.
Self Assessment
Self assessment applies to all individuals, whether in business or in partnership.
You will need to keep business records and details of your income so you can fill in an annual tax return. You may also need to register for VAT.
Record Keeping
By law you are required to keep records for your business and for any other income that you receive. This is so you can complete your self
assessment tax return and show that the figures are correct. You will need to keep at least:
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Accounting Software
You may want to keep handwritten records. This is slightly more time consuming and will require someone with the requisite skills and knowledge to
ensure that the right written information is written in the right place.
In the initial stages of your business you may not have the resources to pay for a bookkeeper or the time to learn how to use a software package.
During these early phases Penn Accounts Bookkeeping Team are best placed not only to set up systems that work for your business
but also introduce good working practices to ensure that when you do finally employ someone in house, they are always working in the most
tax effective way.
If you want to recruit a bookkeeper why not let us sit in your interviews and help you through your selection process?
Alternatively, if you feel that you do have the time to train to use an accounts package or now have the resources to employ a bookkeeper to use
an accounts package, there are a mass of accounting packages available on the market now, all saying that they are the best thing ever.
Rather than trying to work out which package works best for you and is most user friendly for you and your staff, why not let Penn Accounts
Bookkeeping Team assist you to identify the best package for you?
The Accountants at Penn Accounts have many years of experience in using these packages themselves and selecting the right software for companies
individual needs and have an ''insider's track'' on what are the best and value for money packages on the market.
Other Records
As well as accounting records, you may need to keep the following:
Stock Records
If you plan to sell goods or products, it is important to keep a record of stock in, stock out and the movement of stock through your business.
This will make it easier at the end of your financial year to establish the value of your stock for accounting and tax purposes.
Time Records
If you are in a ''people'' business, the recording of time on projects that you have started is essential. There may be professional as well
as financial reasons why you need to do this. As with stock, the keeping of accurate time records will facilitate the year
end calculation of work in progress.
Work in Progress Records
For tax and accounting purposes, you may be required to determine the amount of outstanding work in progress at the end of your financial year.
Work in progress can be simply explained as the amount of contracted work that you have undertaken but not yet received payment
for at a particular point in time.
There are several methods of determining the work in progress of your business. However they all rely upon basic records of time spent
and costs incurred up to a particular date.
Payroll Records
If you have employees, you are required by law to keep records for a certain period of time. These will relate to your staff, and include:
Copies of all sales invoices and originals of all purchase invoices.
-Receipts for all your business expenses
-Bank statements, cheque stubs and paying in books
-Copies of all your signed contracts
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This information will also prove essential to your future marketing plans!
Your research into the right accounting software should take these areas into account. Most of the better versions that are available
should cover these areas.
The correct software set up in the correct manner will save you endless hours of aggravation, when you can least afford it!
Once you have decided how to keep your records, you may want Penn Accounts to maintain your records for you as well, saving you more
time and letting you focus on what you do best....running your business and making sales.
Good records will also save you time and help you run your business more efficiently. We recommend that you take advantage of our bookkeeping
services to ensure that you comply with the legal and accounting requirements. This will also allow us to prepare your year end accounts quickly
and accurately, so you're your annual tax returns can be properly prepared and submitted.
It's as easy as that.....
Personal Details
-Records of Salaries Paid
-PAYE Records
-Sickness Records
-Other Employment Details
-Customer Details