Another newbie to DIY accounting AND accounting

[nigelj]

Fantastic idea, like the website, sinple and the software/spreadsheets seem simple too.

I have a few questions before I order though and I'm sure you can help me.


At the Companies House website my year end date is showing 6th of April. As an IT contractor working through my own Ltd company I didn't generally pay myself wages, my accountant always did it as non IR35.

I normally do my own VAT return as I'm OK with figures and numbers, I just don't always understand terminology and HMRC rules, get lost with dates and what forms need returning when.

What I want to do now that I have found out your software is do it myself (since it is called DIY accounting ),.

1. What I'm not sure about is what package to purchase: Accounting for Ltd with or without payroll?
1.a And what MONTH package should I purchase?

2. In terms of reducing my tax bill I was always told I'm better off non IR35 which means no PAYE and smaller NI contributions.
Is that the case, what is the advantage of going PAYE? Would I need the DIY accounting for Limited or the one with added Payroll? Which can can do the accounting for me and would I benefit from going payroll/PAYE?

3. Do you have the 2010-11 DIY accounting for Ltd ready as I'd like to be prepared for April onwards? I'd like to be able to record everything as I go along rather tahn leave for cathing up later in the year.

4. In your FAQ you say that an accountant should still check over/audit/sign off. Traditionally I've always signed my accounts and taken responsibility for any actions, my accountant hasn't. Will I still be able to just complete, sign and send off ?

As soon as get some answers from you I can decide whic package to go for and will place the order.
I'm just a little confused at this point.


Many thanks

[antonycc]

> 1. What I'm not sure about is what package to purchase: Accounting for Ltd with or without payroll?
> 1.a And what MONTH package should I purchase?

Rather than Companies house, look for the accounting period on letters from the HMRC. This would usually be a month end. You should get a letter from HMRC asking for a CT600 (Corporation Tax return). The month at the end of the period specified in this letter is the month you need. For more information read this: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ct/getting-started/intro.htm#5

> 2. In terms of reducing my tax bill I was always told I'm better off non IR35 which means no PAYE and smaller NI contributions.
> Is that the case, what is the advantage of going PAYE? Would I need the DIY accounting for Limited or the one with added Payroll? Which can can do the accounting for me and would I benefit from going payroll/PAYE?

To pay yourself PAYE you'd need the payroll package to calculate PAYE, Employers NI and Employees NI and submit your Employers return. Typically PAYE is less tax efficent and you could still get caught by IR35 as HMRC can attempt to tax on the revenue recieved before expenses.

> 3. Do you have the 2010-11 DIY accounting for Ltd ready as I'd like to be prepared for April onwards? I'd like to be able to record everything as I go along rather tahn leave for cathing up later in the year.

Not yet, we are working on it.

> 4. In your FAQ you say that an accountant should still check over/audit/sign off. Traditionally I've always signed my accounts and taken responsibility for any actions, my accountant hasn't. Will I still be able to just complete, sign and send off ?

You can sign it off, this is more of a disclaimer to protect us. The advice will always be to seek professional approval, you should save money having an accountant check some prepared accounts but weigh up the risks vs costs yourself.

[nigelj]

Can't find ANY CT600 forms!! I lost everything that I had because I didn't keep paper copies but scanned it and saved as pdf on my external drive which went bust!! arghh!

The only info I can find to determine what month DIY Accounting for Limited with payroll package I need to buy is from Companies House:

Accounting Reference Date: 05/04
Last Accounts Made Up To: 05/04/2008 (TOTAL EXEMPTION SMALL)
Next Accounts Due: 05/02/2010
Last Return Made Up To: 05/05/2009
Next Return Due: 02/06/2010

Does this help? I need to order this package asap but don't know which one.
Sorry Anthony - please advise

[nigelj]

Found a paper copy of the CT600 and the accounting period ends in April. I've already put the order through and downloaded. Lets go through the manual and make a start. Any ideas to get me going a bit quicker where to start? I haven't done ANY trading this year, but I still need to return/send everything to HMRC in the correct order so I will need to get everything right. Its good exercise for me for the next year when I'm hoping to do some more work !

[antonycc]

Tips.... Populate the financialaccounts>openaccounts section first (the user guide tells you about this) then enter the fixed assets and check when the balance sheet is showing to see if it's what you'd expect. If you have any depreciating assets you see this effecting the numbers at the end of the year.

When you are happy with this try a couple of profit/loss scenarios by adding made up sales and purchases so you can see the profit and tax liabilities change as you'd expect.

Thanks,

Antony.

[nigelj]

Cheers - that is great help!

What a team you are

Nigel