Struggling with paperwork/accounts

[Allstars 1]

Running a one man show is hard like most of you know. There's so much to do, buying, collecting, prepping, selling, after sales and buying all over again. One thing I didn't envisage was accounts.

Im falling way behind, just quickly jotting down the sold price in a book. Sticking sales invoices and purchased and receipts in separate files but no writing. 

Paying for labour and some parts by cash and never claiming it back out of business account, I'm probably owed £7-8k past 8 months. 

Still don't know what a stockbook is and any tips how to keep on top of accounts?

[justina3 518]

i would be getting some advise asap, the revenue will love you when they pop along, if you have registered for vat recently they will for sure come out to do a first inspection. 

You should have an accountant by now maybe ask there advise on a part time book keeper if your that far behind. 

I do mine daily so there is only a small handful of invoices to deal with, bank account on a app so any monies going out i can record daily so at the end of the month i am not scratching my head why i took a few quid out here and there.

Sometimes we are all guilty of being a busy fool, ie spending all the time saving money here and there and then having to give it all away to an accountant as we didnt do the basics ourselves, been there done that got the gold badge.

 

 

 

 

[Allstars 1]

Thanks Justina, I've got an accountant and Ive got nothing to hide from taxman so I'm not too worried about that .... Yes we became vat reg last august but I'm struggling to do the book keeping to be fair and really could do with having a system set in place where you can easily put everything together ever quarter and see how much profit your in

Edited March 26, 2017 by Allstars

[SC Derby 259]

Keep a stock book as you buy (think this is a legal requirement actually), then enter the selling price for vehicles as you sell them and have it work out VAT owing.

I keep a separate spreadsheet of all expenses and give these to my accountant annually. I'd estimate I spent around 45 mins a week entering data into respective sheets, so extremely manageable. 

[andymc1973 199]

I have an accountant who has signed me to using Xero which is very simple

[justina3 518]

2 hours ago, Allstars said:

Thanks Justina, I've got an accountant and Ive got nothing to hide from taxman so I'm not too worried about that .... Yes we became vat reg last august but I'm struggling to do the book keeping to be fair and really could do with having a system set in place where you can easily put everything together ever quarter and see how much profit your in

Hi, sorry you have misunderstood my post I never intended to imply you had something to hide from the revenue, only to suggest that the revenue in my dealings with them viewed every single error I made as a plot to defraud them, so if they did turn up and things where way behind they would put two and two together and make six 

 

i would suggest every quater is to long a period to be trying to allocate every single spend and equal a base line profit maybe monthly, unless you have an on the ball book keeper or an expensive accounts package.

 

 

[betginge 73]

Accounts are a nightmare

What you need is a wife,  I have one and find my accounts are done for me on a regular basis. She is not bad looking either which is also a bonus

 

[Mikey 19]

1 hour ago, betginge said:

Accounts are a nightmare

What you need is a wife,  I have one and find my accounts are done for me on a regular basis. She is not bad looking either which is also a bonus

 

Haha I would really like to 'like' this post a lot.... but can't!!

[Allstars 1]

7 hours ago, andymc1973 said:

I have an accountant who has signed me to using Xero which is very simple

I will look into this. 

Is it costly, where can obtain this from?

8 hours ago, SC Derby said:

Keep a stock book as you buy (think this is a legal requirement actually), then enter the selling price for vehicles as you sell them and have it work out VAT owing.

I keep a separate spreadsheet of all expenses and give these to my accountant annually. I'd estimate I spent around 45 mins a week entering data into respective sheets, so extremely manageable. 

thank you for the advice

will get some stationary this week and start keeping on top of this

[andymc1973 199]

no its just basic accounting software, just allows you to keep on top of it, maybe even a free trial www.xero.com

[Max Branning 149]

Wait until the new digital tax system comes in...this could be a nightmare if you do not keep accurate records. 

[Allstars 1]

6 hours ago, Max Branning said:

Wait until the new digital tax system comes in...this could be a nightmare if you do not keep accurate records. 

Sounds scary 

are the expecting us to give them daily accounts live online or summat? 

[Max Branning 149]

Probably best to just google it...but basically as of 2018 tax returns will have to be submitted every 3 months.

[Ocsltd 133]

On 3/25/2017 at 9:48 PM, Mikey said:

Haha I would really like to 'like' this post a lot.... but can't!!

Ha, same here!!

[Fixedgear 4]

Hi all

 

I've been using the easy bookkeeping spreadsheet for about 6 months but I am contemplating Quickbooks or Sage to really get on top of things.

 

Does anyone use Quickbooks or Sage?

 

https://www.easybookkeepingspreadsheets.com/small-business-accounting-vat-templates/23-used-car-dealer-accounting-spreadsheets.html

[betginge 73]

yes we use sage, works well for us and does reduce the paperwork.

Also the reports are easy to work out like profit / loss, just a tidy system to use. 

[Trident 24]

We use sage, not sure it's the most economical in this trade, but vat returns and reports are great, have heard good reports about quick books, but never tried it, we also run a spread sheet, which calculates the everyday costs, happy to send a template if anyone wants it...

[trade vet 704]

Cautionary tale about HMRC and record keeping.....If you are a recent start up and have 'nowt',HMRC may be more lenient with poor record keeping penalties.However,I know someone who started doorstepping in later life from his mortgage free home.On his first Vat inspection,it was discovered he had missed out ONE vehicle from his stockbook.This sale of course was the best deal he had ever done and the profit was far and above over what he normally earned per sale.HMRC took the view that he must have not recorded many more sales at that level of profit.( In fact he was only doing 1 deal per week in total).They raised an assessment after probably factoring in his mortgage free house.He eventually reached a settlement with HMRC after having to remortgage his house !!!!.........any more HMRC stories..