I am just starting out as a self employed bookkeeper and would be grateful if anyone could answer a few questions for me. I have looked on the net but there is so much conflicting information it gets very confusing!
- I will not be VAT registered so do I just leave VAT off my invoices altogether?
- My business advisor talked about business expenses I could claim, but surely I will only be able to claim these if I make enough money to pay income tax?
- If I charge an hourly rate, how do I give a client an estimate of their cost? I have no idea how long it will take me to do anything until I start doing it.
- What are the basic services I should offer as a newly self emploed bookkeeper?
I am AAT qualified and very competent as a bookkeeper but I am nervous about going it alone and want to get things straight in my head before I start speaking to prospective clients.
I am just starting out as a self employed bookkeeper and would be grateful if anyone could answer a few questions for me. I have looked on the net but there is so much conflicting information it gets very confusing!
Stick with this site and you'll be fine. We cover all manner of diverse aspects of bookkeeping and accountancy and the people giving the advice are in many cases bookkeepeers and accountants in practice.
If you come accross conflicting informatin on the web, post it here and we'll tell you what the right answer is.... When there is one as sometimes in this business you can have half a dozen different opinions which are all correct.
- I will not be VAT registered so do I just leave VAT off my invoices altogether?
Yes
- My business advisor talked about business expenses I could claim, but surely I will only be able to claim these if I make enough money to pay income tax?
Businesses also make losses. Provided that the overall expectation is of profit then early losses are to be expected.
Normally you would start off your business by injecting your own funds which may cover any shortfall. The business will owe you that money until repaid.
- If I charge an hourly rate, how do I give a client an estimate of their cost? I have no idea how long it will take me to do anything until I start doing it.
Its the experience trap. take a look at the number and compexity of the transactions to be processed and make an estimate of how many of these that you could process in an hour.
I find that most clients are different and you really need to see the work before you give a hard and fast quote.
Remember that there will always be a learning curve with every new client so what takes two hours processing now may only take an hour six months down the line... The client will probably be expecting to pay for an hour right from the start and sometimes you just need to swallow the learning curve within your rate.
- What are the basic services I should offer as a newly self emploed bookkeeper?
everyone's experience is different so what comes easily to one may be alien to another. Generally as a minimum I would say all bookkeeping services to trial balance, VAT, Payroll, credit control (if your good with people).
If you are unable to offer accounts, filing and tax services you may have dificulty attracting clients who I find tend to want a full service arrangement.
I am AAT qualified and very competent as a bookkeeper but I am nervous about going it alone and want to get things straight in my head before I start speaking to prospective clients.
If we waited until we knew everything then you would never actually start. The important thing is knwoing all of the basics and then the detail comes with continued study, general in a reactive manner and experience gained on the job.
Being able to answer peoples questions that occur on the site will help to improve your confidence levels and also show you area's of weakness in your skills and knowledge base.
Thanks in advance for any help and advice.
No probs
HTH and welcome to the forum,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
