Hi everyone! I'm going to be posting asking for advice on payroll in a minute, and wanted to introduce myself first.
I'm Claire from Hull, and am newly qualified and throwing myself into the bookkeeping game.
I have this week heard that I have passed my degree with The OU of business studies, specialising in accountancy, and completed B190, B291, B292 & B392 in my studies, so I also have the professional certificate in accountancy. I have sent off my application to the IAB, to cover MLR.
In my professional life, I am employed within a company as the 'office'- its actually a fairly complicated group of companies owned by one family, and I handle payroll, bookkeeping, VAT, end of year up to TB and any thing else office based. I've been there a year, it's been a baptism of fire for my first accounts job, but with help from the accountants ive managed to keep swimming - just! I have just set up their system on Xero from being Excel based, and it is a lovely piece of kit to use, and use HMRC RTI for payroll.
My partner is a self employed head-in-the-sand gas fitter, so I do his books and send his SA return.
I have now got my first self-employed client, and registered myself as a sole trader as well. My customer is a small Ltd co, VAT registered, and really struggle with their books. They currently use Sage 50 2015 (I think), and 12pay for payroll. So I'm trying to get to grips with new rules and new software, and I'm looking forward to learning more!
I often browse the forum, so thought it was time to raise my head up and say hello.
looking forwards to chatting when opportunity allows.
Hope that you find all of the answers that you are looking for here,
kindest 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.
Hi Claire
Welcome to the madhouse! Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Make sure you have the MLR before doing any paid for work for the client and Im sure you have it sorted dont forget your PII cover.
Well done on the exam passes and first client. Sage advice - backup backup backup! Do so BEFORE you try anything new in the system, because it is then so easy to do a restore if you bobbs it up (technical term). There is a demo data and practice data section in such Sage types - they usually come up when you first log in unless someone has switched off that option (which I do cos it gets annoying), so if you cant locate it, give us a shout and we can point you in the right direction. The year version will be crucial then and for other technical responses (get that via the 'About' option on the top bar when you get in it).
I have used 12pay in the past. Was certainly a great bit of kit when Tom was in charge. I dont know if it has changed much now its owned by someone else and Ive not used it for a long time, but advice on that is - do the first payroll with a good couple of days to spare before RTI date and when the helpline is open. (Get copies of the staff contracts too so you understand how that all works for them as a company). 12Pay do have some good helpfiles, but finding them is not always easy when you are mid payroll and panicking, but if you do need to speak to a human they are not open weekends (or they werent when I last used it!).
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Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
I have taken back-ups with Sage, however much use that will be- there were definitely problems with how it was used previously, with the nom codes being used interchangeably, wages allocated to a different account every time, etc. However, I have the joy of starting from a new financial year, so a brilliant time for me to get stuck in. I'm not particularly comfortable with Sage, more I see it as a necessary evil- I definitely prefer Xero so far!
12pay, I'm not sure on at all. It seems very difficult to move through information that has already been submitted, and to correct mistakes- ill post the issues in the correct forum as I know it's frustrating to have them in the wrong place! Thanks for the advice about payroll, Ill keep it in mind. The company itself is very small and flexible about these things, which I see as a plus- they've literally been trudging along, doing bits here and there and trying not to fall foul of regulations before now, so they're quite happy for me to do as I like. The problem is that I'm not experienced enough to know what I like yet!
Welcome to the forum, and good luck with your venture. I actually have 3 clients in Hull, purely from recommendations. I have a mate who lives there, and he recommended the first one to me, who then recommended the other two. I love the city, and did consider living there at one point. I'm based in Ripon but the vast majority of my work is in Doncaster, where I used to live. We aim to be return back to that area in the late summer, if all goes to plan.
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John
Any advice given is for general guidance and professional advice should be sought applicable to your circumstances.
I currently live in the new-ish Kingswood area of Hull, and there is masses of opportunity there, lots of small businesses opening. But my first client is actually in Beverley, and I'll be trying to work between the two eventually. The clients accountant has already offered me work (before even meeting!) and said they're forever short of bookkeepers, but I'm trying to walk before I start trying to run- even though it's a tempting thought!
Hull is very much on the up at the moment, and I think we will see a lot more people seeing it as a viable option for living in the future, rather than just the last stop on the train Line! Although saying that, we will be relocating to Beverley in the next year- the secondary school options are very lacking, and we had to move my daughter out to a Beverley school within a year due to lack of decent expectations and growth in the school.
Doncaster is still economically depressed, but there's been a heck of a lot of development in the last 3 or 4 years which is starting to come through now.
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John
Any advice given is for general guidance and professional advice should be sought applicable to your circumstances.
I have just set up their system on Xero from being Excel based, and it is a lovely piece of kit to use, and use HMRC RTI for payroll.
