Books and Software

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. Note - this may change with the governments introduction of MTD ITSA in 2024 unless exempt.

Computerised Books

Bookkeeping arrangements;     (clients are advised not to attempt using accounting software unless qualified to tb)

In all cases for the following  I would need a csv or Excel (xls) format bank feed of your business account each month

1. Visiting service – recommended (free travel within 25 miles radius of Harwich, Essex, 45p/mile excess).
   (suitable for clients with no experience of bookkeeping or no wish to keep their own books)
   
   I shall visit your premises with my portable office in a briefcase (laptop/printer/office sundries e.g. stapler, hole punch, etc) , enter your paperwork into my accounts software for your company and file paperwork in indexed lever arch files to be left on your premises,
   
   Accounts are completed on site, VAT Returns can be immediately filed with HMRC once approved by you, using my mobile broadband facility.
   I would need access to a working space (table or desk) situated close to a power point.
   
   Experience has shown me that this is usually the best option unless the client is, or has access to, a qualified bookkeeper as it is far cheaper to pay for bookkeeping done correctly in the first place than to pay again at a higher rate for me to correct mistakes and omissions.
   
   Bookkeeping fees are charged at £25.00 per hour booked on site and no travelling costs (up to a reasonable distance from my office).
   My annual accountancy fee is then substantially reduced to reflect the fact that I would have a fully reconciled trial balance to work from in preparing the final accounts.
   
2. Pdf/photo documents by email/ Dropbox etc
   (suitable for clients with no facilities to accommodate a visiting service)
   
   You would scan your sales invoices/ purchase invoices/ petty cash bills etc and send me the pdf copies which I would then enter into my accounting software.
   
3. Original documents by delivery to me, or mailed to me (not advised)
   (suitable for clients with no facilities to scan or photo documents)
   
   You would either deliver your documents (sales invoices/ purchase invoices/ petty cash bills etc) to me yourself or mail them to me (not advised)
   
4. I would collect your paperwork (subject to a charge for travelling at HMRC rate, currently 45p/mile)
   We would arrange for me to collect the paperwork from you by appointment. It is essential that you make the records available on my call as a missed appointment would invalidate this arrangement.
   
5. Maintain primary records yourself (Prime Entry)
   (suitable if you are confident of entering primary transactions on monthly spreadsheets which I will provide as well as downloading a calendar monthly csv (or xls) statement from your online bank)
   
   I will provide you with a master workbook which you will copy each month to use for entering your sales invoices (or cash sheets if a retail business) and purchase/petty cash bills.
   You would also download a bank feed (statement) monthly from your online bank in csv or xls format and make notes on an extra column on that spreadsheet for transactions which are not immediately obvious (e.g if it says “bank charges” then it’s self evident).