Hi everyone - just a quick post to introduce myself as seems to be the way on this forum I'm a London-based part-qualified accountant and I've recently gone self employed. This forum actually helped me to make that decision after feeling somewhat in a rut in my salaried 9-5, so thank you all for posting such insightful discussions. I have 5 years of commercial experience in SME environments and I'm really fortunate to have had some brilliant exposure in that time. As a result I am now able to go beyond trial balance to producing P&L's, carrying out variance analysis and of course balance sheet reconciliation. I also have experience with VAT returns in the UK, France, Spain and The Netherlands. I need to work on my understanding of CT600's before I would feel comfortable submitting a corporation tax return on behalf of a client without guidance - so any tips on where to learn more would be greatly appreciated!
Becoming self employed for me was a lifestyle choice - I wanted to be my own boss and to shape my own game plan in life. To an extent it was also a financial decision - at present I make a healthy amount that matches my salaried position, but moving forward I hope to earn more by charging fixed rates to the right clients.
I'm currently very invested in this self-employed malarkey and to be honest I get a buzz from chasing new clients and watching it all develop into a little business.
So that's me in a nutshell. I could write more but honestly that seems a bit too self indulgent!
You mention that you are a PQ. Who with? If ACCA then you are restricted to offer services only up to trial balance (so no accounts, no CT600's and no self assessments). Even NQ's cannot offer those services until they have three years post qualification practice certificate supervision. Just wanted to mention that as don't want you getting in trouble with your supervisory body (they charge you £1200 to tear up your qualification and throw you out).
Just going to trial balance you still need to have MLR cover from HMRC. That comes under anti terrorism legislation so carries serious consequences if you trade without it (two years jail time, unlimited fine and again you would lose your qualification).
As a PQ you can make no mention of your qualification in marketing your services.
Also it's a good idea to have PII in place before you start as any mistake can quickly escalate to eye watering levels of financial consequences.
Welcome to the forum,
kindest regards,
Shaun.
p.s. the above answer assumes ACCA PQ. Other bodies rules vary. You will definitely need MLR in place though.
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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.
Morning Shaun
Get the impression he isnt an ACCA member. Be interested to hear what his prof body say specifically about this, plus existing employer.
Hi Daniel
Can you pop you name on so it appears under the line as well as your 'motivational' message - saves folk looking it up.
Welcome to the forum.
Re CT600 - its about learning the tax regulations, rather than how to fill in the form, as then the rest follows. So does your course cover tax/have you yet? I would finish that first. Then maybe look at the CTA course.
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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
Ok so I did post a lengthy reply but it seems to have gone AWOL!
Shaun, appreciate the advice - thankfully I am covered on the PII and MLR front. I did some hefty research before going self employed. I'm CIMA PQ and thankfully CIMA are a lot less restrictive than ACCA. You can't present yourself as a full member, but you can use the letters gained at the end of completed levels - Cert BA, Dip MA and Adv Dip MA.
Interestingly I might convert to AAT for the sake of being able to say fully qualified but still weighing this up - for any CIMA students considering the same out there, I'll save you some research - you need to complete your Certificate and Operational Level and then F2 of Management level, as well as having relevant experience. I was surprised by how hard it was to get this info but think it largely stems from a bit of rivalry between CIMA and other bodies. Having sat mocks for all level 4 AAT exams I'd argue that the required criteria to cross over is a little bit too steep - the AAT exams are a lot easier but that might be because the exams are a lot more logical and don't seem to make an effort to trip you up. I'm a bit of a sceptic when it comes to these bodies.
Joanne thanks for that advice. I have thought about CTA but it seems like a lengthy route and I was under the impression that there are lots of bookkeepers completing CT600s for small businesses without that qualification. Do you think ATT Foundations in Business Tax is sufficient or do you really think CT600s are that specialised? I have a pretty strong knowledge of business tax in SME environments but at present I find it takes too much time researching the 'niche' sections for it to be worthwhile. Or should I just leave it to the tax experts?
I'm a London-based part-qualified accountant and I've recently gone self employed. This forum actually helped me to make that decision after feeling somewhat in a rut in my salaried 9-5, so thank you all for posting such insightful discussions. I have 5 years of commercial experience in SME environments and I'm really fortunate to have had some brilliant exposure in that time. As a result I am now able to go beyond trial balance to producing P&L's, carrying out variance analysis and of course balance sheet reconciliation. I also have experience with VAT returns in the UK, France, Spain and The Netherlands. I need to work on my understanding of CT600's before I would feel comfortable submitting a corporation tax return on behalf of a client without guidance - so any tips on where to learn more would be greatly appreciated!
