Cheshire wrote:

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Hi All

Handy hint re MTD - maybe a start to a useful thread...

 

Before you do anything at all - download a copy of existing clients VAT certificates as you wont have access via your ASA.

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 Hi Joanne

Thanks...I wouldn't have thought about that 

I have got an account set-up but that's as much as I've done so far 

Only 18 views in over 4 hours.

Hardy worth bothering.

The the hell has happened to this site?

Dead and almost buried.

I emailed Steve about the lack of search issues.

I also emailed Shaun about the fact someone couldnt sign in due to issues with the Captacha thingy after the sent me contact about that job I posted through the referral system as that was the only way they could get in!!!!!!

Perhaps the 18 of us (ha, right, more like 10) should form a whats app group 

Your contribution is very much valued Janet. 

Thanks John.  If you ever need advice about wedding dresses I'll be in first with the answers 

Artois wrote:

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 Otherwise we will just have to continue to chat amongst ourselves to keep ourselves occupied.  

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 It least it will keep us out of mischief - maybe 

 

 

Only 18 views in over 4 hours.

Hardy worth bothering.

The the hell has happened to this site?

I don't know what other people's excuses are for not looking in, but for me it's because at the moment I have much more to worry about than reading forums.

When I did look in and read this comment earlier, I couldn't decide whether to say anything, but having thought about it, why not?

Basically, I'm stressed due to dire financial difficulties. I've been gradually losing work (clients going elsewhere in some cases, shutting down in others) and haven't been able to get any new so far. As of yesterday I'm now down to just two clients. The one bright side is the client that emailed me yesterday to say they no longer needed my services (having their year end accountant take over now that she employs a bookkeeper) is the Xero one - so no more Xero for me. Yippee. I think. :/

What this ultimately means, though, is that I am way short of earning what I need to pay the rent etc.

I've had to apply for the dreaded Universal Credit, and this week discovered that it really is as awful as people say - and it's a real kick in the teeth if you're self employed.

At my current level of work, my bottom line is about £400 short of what I need each month. I was hoping I'd get enough to get me up to the level I need until I have more work coming in. Indeed, punching my figure into a UC calculator linked on the UC website, it suggested around £330 IIRC, so a bit short, but with a bit of belt tightening would have helped bigly.

But apparently no.

For those they consider gainfully self employed (GSE), they work out a figure you should be earning each month. They call this the minimum income floor - or MIF. I think it should stand for mythical income figure. The figure they worked out for me is... £330 per month more than my current income. That all makes sense so far - if you assume that means I'd be entitled to £330 per month, thus bringing my actual income up much closer to what it needs to be.

Except that's not how it works. For the GSE, the MIF is what they deem you to be earning each month, even if you're actually earning less. The amount you are entitled to is based on the MIF - not what you actually have coming in.

Punching the MIF figure into their UC calculator as though it was my income, and it suggests I'll get about £80 per month.

So unless I get some new work, I am in dire straits.

I've reached the point where I've now written a CV and have started looking at job sites and applying for full time jobs - something I've never wanted to do.

And to think it wasn't that long ago that I was turning away work - not because I couldn't fit it in, because I just didn't want to do any more than I was already. :(

And I thought I was struggling.  I'm really sorry to hear about your dilemma Vince, and trust that something is just around the corner for you.

I totally agree with you about Universal Credit, it's a total disaster if you're self employed, as you are deemed to be working 35 hours @ NMW. 

Would it pay to take something on part time to boost your income to what you need, whilst at the same time slowly building your business back up?  I went through a very tight spot a couple of years ago, losing 3 or 4 customers including my biggest earner at the time.  Slowly I've pulled back, but I did Pizza Delivery 3 nights a week to get by.  Just given that up a month ago, but it was hard letting go of that extra income.

Wishing you the absolute best.

VinceH wrote:

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Only 18 views in over 4 hours.

Hardy worth bothering.

The the hell has happened to this site?

I don't know what other people's excuses are for not looking in, but for me it's because at the moment I have much more to worry about than reading forums.

When I did look in and read this comment earlier, I couldn't decide whether to say anything, but having thought about it, why not?

 

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 Hi Vince

Im so sorry to hear you are going through such an awkward and stressful time.

I know it can be very scary to lose even one largish client as it can foten take quite a while to replace them.

Having to deal with the  none logic of the Universal Credit system clearly isnt helping.   The system never seems to help folk who have put in for donkies years and just need that bit of help for a short while to get straight.

Despite falling figures on this site dare I suggest that you pop a post on here saying you are looking for work and asking people to PM you (add a piccie to your profile view!).  Bump the post every now and again.  Potential clients do occasionally find folk this way and sometimes it only takes one to get you back to where you need to be.

Also and I dont know if youve considered this  - look for small limited companies who need a one man finance team to work from their offices.  I have a few of those who started off that way, although once you are in situ and proved yourself you can often work from home (as long as technology can deal with that - thats where you have the advantage on me in sorting such stuff out!).

Ask everyone and anyone you know for recommends.    (Sorry if I teaching you to suck eggs!)

I sometimes get calls on here from other folk with requests for remote working. If I get any I will certainly be happy to put work your way. I so wished I had known about your situation a few weeks ago, so please do keep us updated (offline or on here).

Good luck, hopefully you will be back to turning folk away again soon.

 

 

 

Hi folks, thanks for the messages of support.

Shaun: I'm based in Bristol - and because I'm a user of LibreOffice, I don't really have much beyond 'basic' Excel skills.

John: As a last resort I might very well look at some basic part time work - but I'll leave it to a last resort. (This reminds me of a point I was going to make, though: I'd actually be better off doing a full time job stacking shelves at Asda or something for minimum wage than I am now.)

Joanne: I thought advertising of that nature was vetoed (or is just the fly by nights who pop up, do that, then vanish?) I have to go out now, but I'll think about writing something sensible along those lines later - good suggestion, ta.

Worth noting: All of my work over the years has come from word of mouth - I've never advertised properly except in a token way. (Even my website mentions that I work in this field in the services section, but goes on to say something like "I'm busy, can't take on owt new at the mo" - I need to find the computer that has the log-ins on and update that at long last). So I've absolutely no real experience marketing in this field.

As of a couple of days ago I've tentatively put an advert on a local free ads site, and I'll look for more such sites and do the same.

Local small limited companies; I've already thought of that. I'm going to draw up a flier/letter to drop through doors as I spot any while out and about. (Beyond spotting their signs, going back to the lack of any previous marketing in this field, I've no idea how else to find such firms!)

As for remote working, that's something I intensely dislike - so like the part time job idea, that would be very last resort. (He says, even though the other night he sent his CV last night to a company advertising on a job site a full time position doing just that!)

As a final note, I was updating my cash flow projections this morning, and when I checked my personal bank account I spotted that I'd had my first payment from UC a couple of days ago.

As expected once I knew about the "myth", it wasn't the £330 I was originally hoping for that I got.

But it also wasn't the £80 I subsequently thought it might be based on what the UC calculator said.

It was £4.81 :(

Vince, something to consider on your last resort p/t job.  Assuming you can drive, Amazon Parcel Deliveries. You download an app from the store and log in as and when you choose on a self employed basis.  Maybe handy if you dont want to commit to regular hours.

I've not done it myself but got told about it.  

 

Hi Vince

Sorry to hear about you losing some of your clients, always sad to hear that in any industry.

Not sure if this would be of any interest to you but last summer I applied for some sub-contract bookkeeping work through a company who specialised in doing the accounts for Public Houses, one because I was a bit quiet work wise and also because they stipulated you had to use QuickBooks (you get free 3 months trial so no outlay) which I had never used before so thought it would be good experience, they sent me through an assessment to see if I was suitable which I started and was unable to complete and send back due to some unexpected work coming in as well as a few personal matters so never went back to it.

If I remember rightly you got paid set fees for certain aspects of the bookkeeping and accounts and could ask for how ever much work you could complete in the time scales they gave, it certainly will not make you rich but might help you out through a lean patch.

If you are interested just drop me an email (the one on my profile now I have started to look at it again) and I will send you all the information, if not no problems and I hope things pick up again for you soon.

Cheers

Doug