Philip M Collis, FFA

Incorporated Financial Accountant

Qualified and Registered Freelance Bookkeeper and Accountant offering bookkeeping services in East London, Essex and South Suffolk

The Institute of Financial Accountants is officially recognised by the government body OFQUAL (The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation) who give formal recognition to bodies and organisations that deliver qualifications and assessments. The Institute's Recognition Number is RN5331, click here to inspect the Institute's entry in the official register.
The Institute is also a Member of the International Federation of Accountants.           
Home |  Fees |  Examples |  Payroll |  Books & Software |  other services(Tax Returns, Company Accounts) | 
Contact |  Bio |  Links |  MLR 2007 |  IR35 and self employment |  Value Added Tax (VAT)
 

Books and Software

Keeping records for business, what you need to know

click here to find out what records you should be keeping (from the Business Link web site)

We all need to keep financial records for various reasons. If you fill in a tax return, VAT return or claim benefits or tax credits, there are some special rules.
Click here to load the HM Revenue and Customs guide to record keeping.

Compulsory Online VAT Return Submission
Since April 2010 most VAT-registered businesses have been required to submit their VAT Returns online and pay any VAT due electronically. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has, from 1 April 2012, extended this requirement to virtually all VAT-registered businesses, apart from a very small number who are exempt from submitting their VAT Returns online.

There are various ways to pay including by Direct Debit, internet/telephone banking, Faster Payments or debit and credit cards over the internet. You can also pay by cheque at a bank or building society using a Bank Giro paying-in slip which should be obtained from HMRC (these are pre-printed with your unique details). Since some of these methods can take a little time to set up, you should choose which method you want to use, and set it up, well in advance of the filing and payment deadline.

Manual Books

We can keep a full set of manual books if required, although it would be far more cost effective to keep records on a computer with appropriate accounting software.
Manual books may include books of Prime Entry such as Purchases Book, Sales Book, Cash Book, Wages Book, Petty Cash Book and Journal.

In addition it would be necessary to post periodic totals from these books to the ledgers, which include Sales Ledger, Purchase Ledger and Nominal Ledger.

Computerised Books

We can use your existing software or suggest appropriate accounting packages to purchase. We would be able to install and set up any new software on your system.
There are a number of good accounting packages on the market, including Sage and Quickbooks.

If you do not have a computer, then we can visit with a laptop and printer and enter your transactions into our system. We then print out your records and file them for you on site.

Now that most people have to submit their returns electronically, we can submit your return for you on your premises using our mobile broadband facility.