Thank you Shamus,good advice,I didn't want to get to a days work and then have to start all over again! He has got me doing 2012-2013 at the moment-nothing has been recorded so very time consuming-will work better for 2013-2014 as I can start from scratch. So,I will really need his personal bank statement then to reconcile what he has put on his own account..?
The spreadsheets I am using are management accounts to trail balance,should I then just treat his personal bank account the same and add figures the same way as I would his business account?
Would it be possible to email you a sheet I am using for you to run your eyes over? it would be a great help
On the other hand,his wife runs a small catering business and everything goes through the company account so that is straight(ish) forward-I am going to suggest a petty cash float for these as cash is a pain!
-- Edited by jaybag on Wednesday 2nd of October 2013 12:42:24 PM
I was an accounts director for the past 11 years,no formal qualifications,but have looked after the books for a limited company that turned over £3 million a year,and then all info passed over to the company accountants at year end.
I recently lost my new job in a area that I relocated too and have decided to become a self employed bookkeeper-I am studying the ICB to gain a qualification to go hand in hand with my experience to go full on.I am starting from Level 1 as I want to go back to basics ( I used Sage so manual bookkeeping is new for me)
A couple of small businesses where I live have already asked me to get their books in order,i.e spreadsheets with credit and debits,purchases,expenses,etc,etc.Not a problem as I am used to adding the info from sage into a trail balance spreadsheet.
Problem I have,is that I have received a shed load of receipts from a one man band,and hardly any of them have gone through the company ,it looks like the cash for jobs carried out goes into a business account,he takes a drawing of say,£400-£500 a week and then everything else is on his personal account,fuel,subsidence,materials,etc,etc...
I am thinking that I should add this to a sheet,and then his accountant will have to work his magic with regards to his tax (he is fully aware that I am not an accountant and I haven't claimed to be) I know that accountants aren't too happy with having to go over receipts,so if I can separate them into months this will save their time(and the one man bands money)
Would it best if I have a chat with the accountant and see what he wants from me to make his life easier? I don't want to go through all the receipts and then the accountant has to do the same.
I would set up three bank accounts for the client.
One for the actual bank account.
One for a Credit card used by the busines (you make no mention of that but rest assured one will turn up eventually).
One as a cash account and treat cash as though it was a bank account.
Just my approach which works for me with cash clients where the business account never see's all of the input and output no matter how much I keep trying to beat the right way of doing things into them.
Good luck with the new business,
Kind regards,
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.
Petty cash is basically the way that I work it treating it as a bank account... I've just given up trying to get tiny clients to keep to an imprest system so don't actualy tell them its a petty cash system and just sort it all out for them.
The worst ones though are those who do jobs and don't give the client an invoice plus buy things and don't think that we need to see a genuine receipt.
I had one of those and I will always remember his face when I told him that he was not competent enough at running his own business in order for me to do his books.
Oh, you will come accross that as well where clients believe that because they are paying you they think that they are the one's who dictate whether you work for them or not. Almost as though they have purchased something off a shelf.
On that matter, as you are taking clients just need to confirm that you realise that you must be registered for money laundering either through your professional body or via HMRC.
If not it carries a jail term (5-14 years dependant upon which bit of MLR you fall foul of) plus an unlimited fine.
Sure that you are aware of that already but it would be remiss of me not to mention it as we have had one or two new bookkeepers on here who had not realised about Money Laundering regulations.
kind regards,
Shaun.
__________________
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.
I am aware of the regulations,hence I am just helping them keep track of income & expenses,like a wife (or husband) would keep track of receipts for their partner ready for year end tasks for their accountants to look at-I do know my limits at the moment.They are friends who have asked me as they know my background.
I am looking to be able to gain enough ICB qualifications to enable me to practice within 3 months so will then register my business and move forward with it-is ok to do that?
Just as an addition to Shaun's post, as a student member of ICB you are not allowed to do any work for clients until you have passed at least Stage 2 and are an Associate Member, as it is only at this stage that you can apply for a Practice Licence. I think you now also have to pass the Stage 2 manual and computerised. May be worth ringing the ICB just to check.
