As described in title Im new to bookeeping. My partner has started a business from scratch and although slow business is picking up. She is sole Director and I have a fulltime job. I did a little bit sometime ago for a social club and all i remember is double entry bookeeping (dont laugh). I found it pretty easy but then thee was not much in the way of income/outgoings etc.
Part of partners banking arrangements include access to Sage 50 (they do offer free 1 day training on this - though this seems short).
Currently sorting out online PAYE with HMRC which has taken a ridiculous amount of time due to poor website. Not chose an accountant yet.
My main problem at the moment is reading material/advice. We have never run a business before and have no idea how and what to record.
Partner has spent around £6000 of our savings on setting up ie upfront office rent, liability insurance, licences, police checks on 3 members of staff. Im assuming we can take that back at some point should we have enough money coming in.
Could anyone advise on an online advice site where i can do some relevant reading.
The best site for advice like this has to be HMRC's own website (www.hmrc.gov.uk) or business Gateway (www.bgateway.com) there will be an English/Welsh equivalent but I'm not sure what it is. Most advice is UK wide though.
There is no substitute for getting the services of an accountant or bookkeeper who will help you with all your accounting queries.
If you have specific questions you could try asking them here.
If the access to Sage is free, how long for and how much will it be from then onwards?
Have a look under the Software section of this forum as there are more questions on this site starting "How do you do xxxx in Sage" than for any other computer program. Purely from a cost point of view, I would be happier if an accountant were to give me suitable free software, than to put me to expense or recommend a program that is more suitable for a qualified bookkeeper.
Bookkeeping skills would be very handy to have running a business, not least in keeping down accountancy fees. If you have any spare time you could see how far you can get self-studying. I'm not suggesting you obtain a training provider; just how far you could get with the textbooks. I think I'm right in saying that because the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers condust mainly remotely computer testing, that this would likely be a way of keeping study costs to a minimum.
Hope that is of some assistance, but I'm sure others will chip in with different points of view.
