Ltd or Sole Trader

[mtrehy]

Hi Everyone,

I work full-time as a teacher, but in the evenings and weekends I earn a bit extra using skills aquired in a previous profession.
I want to begin to take this more seriously so I wish to set up either as a sole trader or limited company.
From my research, it is clear that setting up as a sole trader is far simpler, but there are benefits to setting up as a limited company. My main concern is the cost of running a limited company, for example, am I obliged to an accountant to do my annual accounts or can I do it myself (I have a small turnover so a couple of hundred quid for an accountant is a bit extravagant), or can I do all the necessary annual paperwork myself? If it is legally possible to do everything myself, how complicated is it compared to setting up as a sole trader.

If I set up as a sole trader, can I later set up as a ltd company? would I have to notify anyone that the sole trader was no longer in use?

Any advice offered is greatly accepted.



Regards...

Matthew