I have recently taken over the books for a company. The year I am currently working on is Nov 08 - Oct 09.
There is a balance sheet entry from the old accountant, under Current assests called CIS Debtor £19631.00. Can anyone help me with this I am not sure how to counteract this figure!
Also, the Trade Debtors figure is £10120. but I cannot see that any outstanding invoices have been credited to the account early on in the year.
CIS is 'construction Industry Scheme' and the cis debtor would sound like it is tax deducted at source by the contractor, however it's a very large amount. It could be that the company has a lot of guys working for it but normally in such a case they would be able to be paid gross without any tax deducted. this is definitely a company and not a sole trader? I wonder if it is an accumulation of cis over the years that has just been left on the BS?
Again if your client doesn't recognise the trade debtors figure may be you should write to the old accountant fora breakdown of both the trade debtors and the cis debtor.
You mention that you did not know if contacting the old accountant was the done thing. With all new clients I write to the old accountants for clearance and ask for a breakdown of the various totals, debtors creds, fixed assets and bank/vat recs etc etc etc. People are generally happy to supply the info which give you a good starting point.
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Forgive the typo's I generally do not proof read. Just lazy I guess!
Adi2402 - do you act purely as a bookkeeper or as an accountant too?
Thats interesting that you write for clearance - what do you put in your letter if you dont mind me asking?
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Life's a piece of sh*t, When you look at it. Life's a laugh and death's a joke it's true. You'll see it's all a show. Keep 'em laughing as you go. Just remember that the last laugh is on you. And... Always look on the bright side of life.
If acting as the accountant you must always write to the previous accountant to see if there are any reasons why you should not take up the appointment. At the same time ask the accountant for all handover information you need , including last accounts, tax returns, breakdowns of debtors creditors, bank rec, capital allowance comp etc
I act as an accountant so hopefully any answers i give are not out of line or innapropriate when applied to the role of a bookkeeper. If what i say is well wide of the mark there are some good people on here that will keep me right.
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Forgive the typo's I generally do not proof read. Just lazy I guess!
Thank you - i wasn't suggesting you were out of line at all, i just want to make sure i'm not missing something important as a bookkeeper!
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Life's a piece of sh*t, When you look at it. Life's a laugh and death's a joke it's true. You'll see it's all a show. Keep 'em laughing as you go. Just remember that the last laugh is on you. And... Always look on the bright side of life.
