Starting out as a book keeper - The Book-keepers Forum (UK)

geek84 · Senior Member

Starting out as a book keeper

Stardoe · Guru

Hi there,

Well done on completing your Level 2

Only you really know if you feel confident about doing the books for a sole trader and starting out on your own. At Level 2 you should be qualified enough. Do you have any previous experience? Are you registered with a bookkeeping body? Don't forget if you are setting up on your own you need to be registered for MLR.

Pauline

geek84 · Senior Member

Hi

Many thanks for your response. I do not have any previous experience and not thinking of starting up my business at the mo.

However, a friend of mine , a taxi driver, has asked if I could do the books for him. I don't really know how to go about it. Can someone please give any advice of what info to ask him in order to complete the book keeping?

Also, do I record the accounts and transactions on an accounts package such as SAGE, or some other stationery, specially preprinted for accounts?

Like Is aid above, I don't really know how to go about this or what things to ask my friend (the taxi driver). Do you think I am taking on a 'big' job as my first job?

Thanks in advance for any response.

Rhianrach · Expert

I would sit down with them and ask what there outgoings are to get a rough idea of expenses, I would imagine this would be tax insurance fuel license fee etc, see if they are 50/50 with someone, owner or rent. You will probably have to look into the vehicle as an asset and the depreciation, are they a member of a taxi company and are they therefore a shareholder, basically gain an insight into the business and build from there. You will be able to build up the books when the expense receipts start coming through and income.
I would certainly make sure they understand that you aren't an accountant and that they will still need one.
It should be quite simple once you get going.

geek84 · Senior Member

Hi

Thanks for you reply.

Excuse for my ignorance, but if I do the books for him which will hopefully enable him to send a vatturn etc, why would there be a need for an accountant?

Thank You.

Rhianrach · Expert

geek84 wrote:

Hi

Thanks for you reply.

Excuse for my ignorance, but if I do the books for him which will hopefully enable him to send a vatturn etc, why would there be a need for an accountant?

Thank You.

Well if you feel confident then you would be able to do it. It's not something I would personally undertake as I know no where near enough to prepare any final accounts and give good advice for tax purposes.

Stardoe · Guru

Hi there,

I would definitely suggest he needs an accountant, unless you feel confident enough to prepare final accounts. Will you be employed by him to do the books, or will you be doing it for free to get some experience? If you aren't employed but being paid, you may still have to register for MLR with HMRC.

As Steve said, you just need to build up a picture of the business. I wouldn't worry too much about an accounts package for now, even the basic Sage Instant Accounts is quite pricey. You could just keep track of income and expenses on spreadsheets for now.

Pauline

gbm · Guru

Hi Geek84,

Just as a PS to everything already put, I wouldn't have expected your friend to be VAT registered. Generally speaking, turnover for taxi drivers tends to be well below the VAT registration threshold, £71k.

DeanoFTM · Veteran Member

Rhianrach wrote:

geek84 wrote:

Hi

Thanks for you reply.

Excuse for my ignorance, but if I do the books for him which will hopefully enable him to send a vatturn etc, why would there be a need for an accountant?

Thank You.

Well if you feel confident then you would be able to do it. It's not something I would personally undertake as I know no where near enough to prepare any final accounts and give good advice for tax purposes.

When I went to the HMRC 'Newly Self Employed' workshop last week, they were advising the newstarts just to keep a list of income and expenses, then inputting those totals to the Self Assessment. There was no mention of having to keep a double-entry system or produce final accounts. I know that these tools are useful for business interpretation purposes, but if the client only wants the minimum records kept for taxation purposes, would there be a need for an accountant or would bookkeeping upto TB suffice.

Thanks

BudgetB · Guru

qbm - I think that Geek84 probably meant Tax return rather than VAT.

Geek84 - Personally, when a taxi driver asks for his books done he rarely means bookkeeping, what he wants is someone to do his self assessment tax return. Unless they own and run several cars there is little value to a taxi driver to have regular bookkeeping. I think this is the point RianRach is making in that your friend will still need an accountant as presumably you are not at the point of being able to complete a tax return fully.

geek84 · Senior Member

Hi Folks

Many thanks indeed for all your advice.

From this, I take it that I could kjeep a spreadsheet(s) as a record of all income and expenditure, and ask him to see an accountant to help him minimise tax payable etc?

Thank You.

BudgetB · Guru

Yes you could. I'm sure that the accountant would be pleased to receive the spreadsheet instead of having to do it themselves!

PaulC · Veteran Member

Yes, you could do it on a spreadsheet to keep it simple. For a taxi driver I'd have thought it would be relatively straightforward. Good luck!

redsan36 · Newbie

HI,
I AM NEW ONE
HERE.

THANKS