New to the forum and just wanted to introduce myself.
I found the forum by accident and was delighted to find a few posts that had exactly the information and discussion I had been looking for.
I am still in the relatively early stages of planning what I hope will become a bookkeeping business. I have some past working experience handling the in-country accounts and finances for an international project run by a multinational. The project was for a government ministry and based in a third country. I am now looking at my options for certification and leaning towards the AAT bookkeeping qualification.
The *interesting times* we live in are providing fairly strong encouragement to delay starting a business. Given that, I am going to focus on taking my time to train up and learn as much as I can both formally and from everyone here at the forum.
Best,
Em
-- Edited by MAK on Friday 8th of May 2020 07:11:42 AM
MAK wrote:The *interesting times* we live in are providing fairly strong encouragement to delay starting a business. Given that, I am going to focus on taking my time to train up and learn as much as I can both formally and from everyone here at the forum.
Hi Em,
sounds as though you have a fairly sensible and realistic mindset for this.
What happens next will be a contraction of real businesses at the same time as a proliferation of people starting meaningless low skill businesses with no customers as there are no jobs so lesson one for nothing. When you get to the stage of knowing enough to start the business, get paid up front.
Lesson two. Do not have any more than 15% of your income from any one source.
Lesson three. No friends or family. No matter how much you do for them to keep them on the right side of the law and the tax office they will always think that they are doing you a favour. Eventually you will want to hold them under water until the bubbles stop.
Lesson four. Do not be afraid to dump clients if they do not provide you with the paperwork you request. If you let them slip next time they will slip twice as long... And so on until they think that providing documentary evidence is optional.
Lesson five. Make client sign an engagement letter and get them to sign that they have receiveda copy of it. The emphasis of an engagement letter is pointing out to them that their books and records are their responsibility and you are helping them. All too often clients believe that when they have a bookkeeper or accountant they absolve themselves of all responsibility.
Lesson six.Write down every conversation. Put as much as you can in emails rather than conversation. If something is said then confirm it in an email.
Lesson seven. If you do hold a relative under water until the bubbles stop ensure that such happens at a time when you have a ticket for a networking event.
Lesson eight.... Never, ever, ever underestimate the stupidity of business owners. General advice is not to trust them with anything sharper than a crayon or they may hurt themselves. Invariably they will do something stupid then ask your advice. (see the current batch of VAT questions).
Lesson nine... On the run up to Christmas when going through receipts Scalextric do not make printers.
Lesson ten... Dog walking is not a business.
So endeth session one
Enjoy your time here,
All the best,
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.
Thank you for the lessons. I had the opportunity to apply variations on Lessons 6 and 8 during my brief dalliance with corporate. As regards Lesson 7, I imagine theatre and concert tickets may do in a pinch?
I have to say, it has actually been both wonderfully cathartic and slightly horrifying going through some of the posts here on the forum. It seems that my secret heretical musings about what might be coming over the next year, the business model behind cloud software, my collection of links to learn more about Excel than is fashionable and other dark thoughts are not mine alone. I had been expecting to have my thoughts rectified...
Where this leaves me as someone entering the field and needing to find a way to establish a practice of my own I dont know, but one disaster at a time.
Thank you again,
Em
-- Edited by MAK on Saturday 9th of May 2020 08:15:59 AM
Have fun with your AAT course, assuming you have decided to start it.
Talking of the theatre, we were supposed to see Les Mis on 22nd, had the tickets for about 9mths. Shame, weird world now isn't it, but not like I've not seen it before.
__________________
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
