Moved from self-employed for the odd side gig, to UK LTD co, to VAT registered UK LTD co.
The "business services mafia" will like to frighten you into believing you have to drop hundreds of £ on their services - plus £120/yr for an accounts package, more for payroll, business banking, etc.
Because your mind is too tiny to comprehend the ways of the priests. e.g: Don't ever ask a question in a business forum, you'll get swamped with the clergy telling you the question implies you're definitely going to prison because you're going to get it all wrong.
Do not believe them.
It is perfectly possible - perhaps even 'easy' - and if you understand the basics of double-entry accounting, all entirely learnable without too much effort. And best of all, you can do it almost for free!
Don't drop hundreds per year on Xero, use https://www.quickfile.co.uk. Cost: £0 (upsell on receipt scanning, but I don't use that). Does VAT, with electronic submission. I literally don't understand why you'd spend money on Xero - the extent to which it's advertised over here is insane; you're just paying for TV advertising.
Business banking: Tide. 20p/per transaction (no monthly fees!)
The hardest parts are
- discipline of entering the transactions and not letting them build up
- in the UK, understanding capital allowances vs depreciation
- when doing payroll how to split the payments into the correct accounts (shape does the sums, you have to account for it correctly)
- Make sure you pay all your HMRC bills
- Doing the year end as a micro-entity (the CT600 corporation tax return) is actually surprisingly easy, and amounts to putting numbers in about 6 boxes.
By all means pay for all of this stuff if it isn't of interest to you. For me, as I intend my co to run long after I finish working, I didn't want to have annual fees for services that I really wouldn't be getting the use out of.
This sounds like every interaction I've had asking a question in a plumbing/electrician forum. Oh, if you're asking that question your definitely going to poison your entire house with sewer gas and/or burn the place down with that wiring.
Warnings are most certainly necessary, but they should be accompanied by the actual answer, else GTFO.
It seems like these fields are filled with people who can't stand DIY and just try and get everyone to pay for professional services.
When I try and replace a burnt fuse and ask for help, I accept that I'm not a professional and might burn my house down. Just tell me the risks and how to do it. I'm not a child, and I'm not going to sue someone when I've said upfront that nobody becomes liable just because they gave me advice.
You can file your accounts (which are trivial for a micro entity) directly with Companies house, or, when you do your CT600 corporation tax return (which is the 6 or so numbers) there's a checkbox marked "also file to companies house".
You absolutely do not need an accountant.
You also get a great deal of time (extra on your first year) between year-end and when you have to submit, so there is no panic.
Thanks for this, i was about to decide on xero but after seeing this comment i will give quickfile/shapepayroll a try. I am under 85000 so don't need to register for vat yet. This would be my first year of filing so any other tips are also welcome :-)
For a business account, Metro bank has no monthly charge if your balance stays above £6000, and only charges for some types of transactions (none of which I've used in the 6 years MyCo has been active).
Moved from self-employed for the odd side gig, to UK LTD co, to VAT registered UK LTD co.
The "business services mafia" will like to frighten you into believing you have to drop hundreds of £ on their services - plus £120/yr for an accounts package, more for payroll, business banking, etc.
Because your mind is too tiny to comprehend the ways of the priests. e.g: Don't ever ask a question in a business forum, you'll get swamped with the clergy telling you the question implies you're definitely going to prison because you're going to get it all wrong.
Do not believe them.
It is perfectly possible - perhaps even 'easy' - and if you understand the basics of double-entry accounting, all entirely learnable without too much effort. And best of all, you can do it almost for free!
Don't drop hundreds per year on Xero, use https://www.quickfile.co.uk. Cost: £0 (upsell on receipt scanning, but I don't use that). Does VAT, with electronic submission. I literally don't understand why you'd spend money on Xero - the extent to which it's advertised over here is insane; you're just paying for TV advertising.
Payroll (and all the tax calculation): Free, for up to 3 users. https://www.shapepayroll.com
Business banking: Tide. 20p/per transaction (no monthly fees!)
The hardest parts are - discipline of entering the transactions and not letting them build up - in the UK, understanding capital allowances vs depreciation - when doing payroll how to split the payments into the correct accounts (shape does the sums, you have to account for it correctly) - Make sure you pay all your HMRC bills - Doing the year end as a micro-entity (the CT600 corporation tax return) is actually surprisingly easy, and amounts to putting numbers in about 6 boxes.
By all means pay for all of this stuff if it isn't of interest to you. For me, as I intend my co to run long after I finish working, I didn't want to have annual fees for services that I really wouldn't be getting the use out of.