Hi All, Can anyone please help and give me some advice. My son is a sole trader and I have been typing his invoice and doing paperwork for the past 3 years. He is now in the process of going VAT registered and I have not got a clue how to do books etc. or what information I need. Can someone please point me in the right direction. I have spoken to the accountant and he says he can do it for us but I would like to have a go myself.
You'll need to keep some sort of records in either a manual format or some sort of accounting software that will allow you to prepare a monthly or quarterly VAT return.
Both methods are fairly easy to learn. What i would suggest is a brieff chat with the accountant to establish what system would meet your needs etc. The accountant can then arrange a couple of training sessions to get you on your way and I would probably suggest the first few VAT returns to be checked by the accountant as well.
From the sounds of it you'll probably be fine using an excel based cash book or a cheap accountantcy software package such as sage instant, basic quickbooks or something similiar. I think the prices of such packages is around the £120 - £150 mark.
As i say, your accountant will be happy to help and gove guidance or if you know anyone with bookkeeping experience they will be about to provide training sufficient for your needs I would imagine.
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Forgive the typo's I generally do not proof read. Just lazy I guess!
