andrewdelvard

Starting a new business venture (thats all I ever seem to be doing st the moment-starting it) and I was looking in the Yellow pages like you do, for an accountant. Then I came to the book keeping section. Which one do I need? Are they more or less the same? Whats the essential difference? Should I start with one and go onto another? I know it's a dullish topic but I'm a little confused by this.
Any help, thanks very much.

andrewdelvard

Maybe posting in the correct forum would help. Reported to mods.

Edited to say thanks mods.

[Edited by andrewdelvard - 8/16/2003 2:49:02 PM]

IanW

Not a problem

Although I was quicker than your report

Hope that your new venture goes well!

tonybooth

Andrew

Depends what you are doing i.e. numbers of accounts payable and receivable you envisage. As a basic rule you should only need a book keeper once a week or maybe even once a fortnight. Accountant should only really be needed once a year to file your annual accounts. Fees vary so shop around for a small independent.

Book keepers tend to charge £10-15 per hour on a self-employed basis.

Cheers

TONY

[Edited by tonybooth - 8/16/2003 5:02:05 PM]

uksti

An accountant is heavily regulated and professionally qualified. They can provide a complete service from writing up your financial records (even just from a box of receipts), VAT return preparation, registration and submission, Payroll preparation, Management Accounts (e.g. monthly reporting of sales, overheads etc.), Statutory Accounts (those annual things that have to be sent to Companies House), personal and corporate Tax matters and Company Secretarial (setting up companies,annual returns etc.)

If you are starting a business then talk to an accountant first. They will advise you on the best company structure and especially what records to keep. They will also help to find a book-keeper if you need one. Unless you have a mate who's an accountant then you'll have to deal with one at some point because of the complexity of the statutory requirements, especially tax.

Baz

andrewdelvard

Thanks fellas, cleared that up pretty much.

midnight racer

my girlfriend, who's a cima management accountant, said that if your a sole trader there is absolutely no need for an accountant, you just need a book-keeper who can keep your records up to date and calculate income tax etc. you would only need an accountant if you were setting up a medium to large limited company as only limited companies have to file accounts and have annual audits. a book-keeper will be able to do any vat returns, if you are vat registered, and will be quite capable of doing all the things reqired for a company upto about 20 staff. if you are a limited company then an accountant maybe needed about once a year to prepare you financial statements if required, but they will charge a lot of money, probably in the thousands!

uksti

I would caution anyone irrespective of business size to consult a qualified accountant initially (Chartered or Certified - CIMA don't operate in this area), along with their bank's business advisor.

The charges would be proportional to the time and expertise utilised. "Thousands" is a bit strong imho - you'd have a lot more than a few hours chat and advice to generate that sort of billing. You could incur this sort of charge, for example, if being helped defend yourself against a revenue audit, but if you've followed a professional's advice then that could have been avoided.