Hi Samantha

Surely there should be an opening bank balance at least which would need to be entered with the corresponding double entry being to capital account (3000 range). Otherwise how did the client buy things?

You only need to use Customers and Suppliers for people sold to or bought from on credit. Anything paid for either by cash or cheque at the time of supply can go through bank payments/receipts to the relevant nominal code thereby saving inputting time.

Cafe receipts I would think would go through the Petty Cash Bank Account unless they were paid by cheque.

Is the client or does s/he need to be VAT registered? If so are they on accrual or cash accounting or flat rate?

So reading between the lines, the client is away and the Sage system is completely fresh so you can't actually mess up anything that's already there... So, you do have a platform on which to learn but you don't have the text books to be able to walk through a client before going live with this set of books.

In theory the approach that you suggest is an acceptable loose framework but you will need those bank statements.

You mention Cafe receipts. Don't forget that those would in most cases need to go to drawings. Also there should be evidence that the taxi journeys were wholly and necessarily incurred on company business otherwise they too would be drawings.

The year relates to the entities reporting period. If the client is a limited company the company year is not likely to be in line with the tax year however, if this is a sole trader then although company books are based on when the company starts trading the entities tax period relates to the tax year. Take a look at the HMRC help sheet 222 which talks about basis periods and accounting periods.

You state that you cannot afford the books at the moment. Just to confirm, you do have MLR and PII in place don't you? Sorry, I know that it's stating the obvious but you could get yourself in a lot of trouble legally and financially if you haven't.

Hope that this answer helps but from the sound of matter you need more of a lifeline. Do you know any experienced bookkeepers locally who might be able to give a little more hands on help to get you started?

good luck,

Shaun.

Sorry, it might look very stupid, but I do not have MLR and PII - what does it stands for? Is this a kind of insurance? How expensive is this? Do I have to have this?
I am REALLY NEW in this subject and I just thought it could be a great opportunity for me to take this job. And I do want to do everything properly. I am in North London, the work I need to do is in West London.

Shamus, thank you for your edvice. Although it was not nice to hear I shouldn't take yhis job I had to agree with you. I just told the client that I will not take this. You are right - I should start everything properly.
I've decided that I will look for some job where I will be supervised, so I would get some experience first
I have no idea how to find this kind of job if everybody asks for 2 years of experience, but I hope finally I will find something

Hi Samantha,

The advice really wasn't meant in a nasty way but I could see that you were getting in too deep too soon.

as your lucky enough to be situated in London you should find it easier to find entry level temp positions in Sales Ledger, Purchase ledger and credit control.

Whilst you may not find these roles fulfilling from an all round accounts perspective (credit control can be with some companies) you will be surprised at how much you pick up on the job especially if you swap employers every 3-6 months.

As you move from position to position you will find that you are able to gain more demanding roles with more responsibility.

If you join the AAT as a student you could use that at interview to say that you are studying towards AAT which will impress potential employers (Note that as a temp you will not get any financial support from employers for your studies).

Regardless of whether you sign up with the AAT now, once you have income coming in think seriously about doing the full AAT qualification then go self employed when you have the experience from temping combined with MAAT (You will be able to get your portfolio of experience signed off from your temp work).

We're talking a time frame here of two to four years dependent upon how much time per week you can allocate to your studies but at the end of it you will be where you want to be with the skills and confidence to build your own business.

For the temp positions look at the Reed or TotalJobs websites which always have good selections.

I know that I came on a bit strong in the last message but you could have ended up in a lot of trouble had you continued down that route.

As you go through your job search and studies remember that we're always here to help where we can.

Glad to have been a help Samantha,

All the very best and kind regards,

Shaun.