Smaller business owners, those with annual turnover below the current VAT registration threshold (£85,000 for 2017-18), will be relieved to know that the impending digitisation of tax by HMRC will not be a requirement when the process starts for business tax from April 2019.
You can register on a voluntary basis, but many smaller businesses may be advised to wait until the perceived benefits of the Making Tax Digital process are clearly demonstrated.
Many one-person businesses keep manual records and some use a spreadsheet to record business transactions. Others may have downloaded accounts software to their PC. In these cases, it would be necessary to take your records with you if you want your advisor to prepare your annual accounts or help you with a bookkeeping problem – where do I record this?
What is bookkeeping in the cloud? And how can it help?
Cloud based accounts software resides on a server that you access via your internet browser. Usually, you pay a small monthly fee for the use of this type of software, and there are significant advantages. They include:
- The software providers take care of security and backup issues.
- Your accountant can login and keep an eye on your financials, with your permission. This can vastly improve the speed with which accounts can be prepared and help provided with issues such as cash flow management, profit improvement and solvency.
- You can access your accounts wherever you can access the internet, this might be your home PC, an iPad or even your phone.
- There are lots of add-on tools that you can use, for example, the ability to scan receipts with your phone and push the information to your accounts.
Using this type of software is not for everyone, but if you are serious about growing your business having this ability to record and analyse information quickly will be of great benefit.
We can help. If you would like to see a demonstration of the software we recommend, please call for an appointment.