Can an accountant help my taxes?
Basically, I want to start a business, but I want to make it as easy as possible. If I put aside 20% of my profits for the past year, plus 20% for the next year towards taxes, I should have enough to cover all taxes unless the business does really well, in which case it won't be a problem. What I want to know is this: If I save all my receipts, invoices etc etc, and give them all to an accountant at the end of my tax year, will they be able to sort everything out for me and tell me when to pay and how much? Basically I just want somebody to tell me how much and when to pay, then I can get what is needed out of a seperate bank account which will hold the money I put aside. Is this the way it works? Is it a good system? Usually I would insist on trying to figure all this out myself, but on this occation I must admit defeat. Just too complicated. If I could make a one-off payment once a year that would suit me fiiiiiiine. Please help. Thanks. Also, how much does a good accountant cost and how long would it usually take for them to sort out a full years papers for me?
United Kingdom - 2 Answers
People Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
Answer 1 :
Yes, you do need to keep all yur invoices and receipts. If you just handed that lot to an accountant, s/he could sort it all out for you, but it would cost more than if you did your own book keeping. Simple accounts with all the book keeping done, banks reconciled and so on would be about £400, but accounts where the accountant has to do all the work could be double. How will you know how well the business is doing unless yu keep records and produce management accounts on a regular basis?
Answer 2 :
An accountant is likely to save you more money than he costs, at least to start with. He will also prevent you making expensive mistakes resulting in Revenue financial penalties Don't forget self-employed people also have to pay NIC both Class 2 (weekly) and Class 4 (depending on profit levels). Look at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates . You can make payments when you like, as long as it is in advance. Late payments attract a commercial rate of interest.
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