MenuHere are some favourite asked questions from our clients and prospective clients. Click on the topic, then the question to see the answer. We are adding new FAQs all of the time, so please check here for your question before asking us.
To start the signup process, we just need your name, business name, and address. Once we have these details, we’ll upload an Engagement Letter for you to check and e-sign. There are other details we’ll need at some point, and you can provide some of those now if you prefer by submitting a signup form. If you need us to register a new company for you, we also have a new company form which can be used as a signup form instead.
FAQsOur prices are detailed here, including monthly prices for everything except tax returns which are stated annually. These prices (plus VAT) are the amount you’ll need to pay for the length of time that equals the time period of the services provided. So if we prepare a set of annual accounts for you, you’ll need to pay the monthly fee 12 times. If you’ve paid 18 times by the time we do your annual accounts, then you leave, we’ll owe you 6 monthly accounts fees.
FAQsOnce you provide us with your details, at least your name, business name, and address, here’s what happens next:
An engagement letter is an informal contract of service. It explains the service that we will provide, and what our respective responsibilities are. As well as an engagement letter for each type of service we provide, we also have standard terms of business which apply to all clients. All of these documents are online here.
If anything changes on any of these documents, we’ll let you know and the full history will be available online.
FAQsAs soon as possible so that you don’t delay receiving professional tailored advice from fully qualified and experienced chartered accountants. Some businesses lose out financially or don’t comply with the law because they didn’t take advice soon enough (e.g. whether to register for VAT, PAYE etc.).
If you are moving from another accountant, you don’t have to wait until they have dealt with a certain period, you can switch at any time. We’ll take over part way through a period and continue from where your previous accountant stopped.
FAQsWhoever first contacts you, will be your main contact for the foreseeable future. Everything will go through your main contact. So you don’t need to deal with a different person every time you need anything. Your main contact is hands-on and will be familiar with all of the work we do for you.
FAQsOur bills show our bank details for you to make a direct payment to us or set up a standing order.
Each bill will also have a link to Pay Now. By default this will take you to a GoCardless service which will offer a few options for you. 1. To make a one off payment. 2. To set up a manual monthly payment that requires your approval. 3. To set up an automatic monthly payment that will take the invoice amount on the due date without your approval.
If you prefer to pay using a credit card, let us know and we’ll change the bill so that the Pay Now link takes you to a Stripe Service.
FAQsFor accounts, you’ll need to be on at least the Annual package. The Annual package includes a business and a personal tax return, and advice for about 1 hour per year. Our Annual packages including accounts cost £22pm for sole traders, £33pm for partnerships, or £44pm for limited companies.
Accounts are also included in our packages: Annual+, Quarterly, and Monthly. As well as accounts and tax returns, these packages have more services included in the cost, such as regular reviews of your online accounting, VAT returns, and bookkeeping. All of our packaged accounts prices are detailed here.
FAQsOur fixed fee tax returns cost from £55pa to £240pa plus VAT. The cost of tax returns vary depending on how many and what types of income you have. If you just have employment income and benefits, your ‘Employee’ tax return costs £55pa plus VAT. If you own one or two businesses, investment properties, or shares, your ‘Owner’ tax return costs £110pa plus VAT. Investing in more than a couple of each of the above will increase the cost to £165pa plus VAT for our ‘Investor’ tax return. However, if you have any capital gains or foreign income, we charge an ‘Investor+’ price of £220pa plus VAT for your tax return. Our accounts packages include one Owner tax return. You can see all of our prices here.
FAQsFor VAT returns, you’ll need to be on at least our Quarterly package. Our Quarterly package includes VAT returns and quarterly management accounts, a business and a personal tax return, and unlimited advice. Our Quarterly packages including VAT returns cost £44pm for sole traders, £55pm for partnerships, or £66pm for limited companies.
VAT returns are also included in our Monthly package which has bookkeeping and monthly management accounts included in the cost. All of our packaged accounts prices are detailed here.
FAQsFor us to do your bookkeeping every month (or less frequently), you need to be on our Monthly package (see pricing). This includes us dealing with up to 50 transactions per month. If you need us to process more than 50 transactions per month, you can pay for Extra Bookkeeping allowances. Every extra allowance of 50 transactions per month, costs an extra £33 per month plus VAT. So if we deal with between 51 and 100 transactions per month, we will add £33 to the monthly fee. If we process 101 to 150 transactions per month, we will add a total of £66 to the monthly fee.
Any additional bookkeeping work not covered by our fixed monthly fees, or by our extra bookkeeping fee, will be charged at £33 per hour plus VAT.
FAQsOur prices are detailed here, including monthly prices for everything except tax returns which are stated annually. These prices (plus VAT) are the amount you’ll need to pay for the length of time that equals the time period of the services provided. So if we prepare a set of annual accounts for you, you’ll need to pay the monthly fee 12 times. If you’ve paid 18 times by the time we do your annual accounts, then you leave, we’ll owe you 6 monthly accounts fees.
FAQsIn a way, yes, but only if necessary so that you pay for the services received. To keep things simple, we ask clients to start paying the low fixed monthly fees soon after they sign up with us. There are no ‘catch-up’ fees at the start. So the monthly payments could start be part way through the accounting year or even after the accounting year when the accounts are already due. So by the time we prepare the first set of annual accounts, less than 12 monthly payments have been paid. The accounts part of the monthly payments need to continue until we’ve received 12 for each set of annual accounts we have prepared.
We also need to receive the number of payments for other services that cover the period we have provided those other services. So for example, if we’ve prepared 5 quarterly VAT returns for you, the VAT return part of the monthly payment needs to be paid 15 times (5 x 3 months) to cover that work done.
When (if!) you decide to stop using CloudBook’s services there may be a final fee to pay to cover the work we’ve done that hasn’t been invoiced yet. Whether or not there will be a final fee will depend on when during the year you leave, and how far in ‘arrears’ we are billing you for each service. For an indication, your bill will mention that the service relates to a number of months ago. For more details, see FAQ: Why is my monthly bill for a number of months ago?
FAQsIf we started billing you after the start of an accounting period, your bill will mention that the fee for that service is for a number of months ago. This is to help us determine whether or not a final amount is payable if/when you decide to leave us.
For example, let’s say we start billing you in month 6 of the first accounting year that we prepare accounts for. Your monthly bill will state for the accounts fee that it is “for the month of trading 5 months ago” i.e. the bill sent in month 6 relates to the accounts fee for month 1. Then let’s say we prepare your annual accounts for you in month 12 (before the year end for an easy example). At that point we have only billed you for 7 monthly accounts fees (months 6 to 12). So if you were to leave at that point, we will need to bill you a further 5 months of accounts fees, to take the total number of monthly payments up to 12. For more details see the FAQ: Is there a tie-in period?
FAQsNot normally but you can request one. We provide a Summary & Review report with your accounts. This explains in detail what is included in the accounts and the accompanying documents. Where necessary, we will add any additional comments, analysis, notes, questions, and tips. If you are on the Annual+ package or higher, and use online accounting we also provide a review every 3 months. On the Annual+ package you’ll need to reply to the email reminding you that the quarterly review is due.
If you have any questions about anything, you can email us, call us, or video call us. You can book an appointment using the link in our email signature.
FAQsWe use electronic signatures for accounts and the accompanying documents. When you receive draft accounts, you’ll need to email us with any questions or to let us know that you’re happy with all of the documents and that you’re ready to e-sign them. Then we will upload the documents that require an e-signature to a service called PandaDoc. You will receive an email from PandaDoc for each document that you need to e-sign. For company accounts, that’s usually 4 documents but it could be more. You’ll then receive a confirmation email for each document e-signed by everyone, with a link to download the completed document.
FAQsFor accounts, you’ll need to be on at least the Annual package. The Annual package includes a business and a personal tax return, and advice for about 1 hour per year. Our Annual packages including accounts cost £22pm for sole traders, £33pm for partnerships, or £44pm for limited companies.
Accounts are also included in our packages: Annual+, Quarterly, and Monthly. As well as accounts and tax returns, these packages have more services included in the cost, such as regular reviews of your online accounting, VAT returns, and bookkeeping. All of our packaged accounts prices are detailed here.
FAQsBefore your year end, we will email you with tax saving tips, and a list of things you may need to measure at the year end e.g. a stock valuation.
After the year end and every 4 weeks until we receive your records/’go-ahead’, we will email with a list of what we need to do your accounts.
We usually need (if applicable):
If you’re in business, it’s important to know your year end date. It’s the date your accounts and tax reports need to go up to every year. So you may need to do some admin such as value your stock. Also, you could take action before the year end to save or delay tax.
If you are a sole trader you probably have a year end date of 31st March or 5th April (treated as the same date by HMRC). If you have a different year end date it will say on the last set of accounts prepared. Different year end dates will need to be changed to the 31st March or 5th April in the next year or two. This will avoid complications when Making Tax Digital (MTD) for income tax starts in 2024.
If you have limited company you can find your year end date online here. Just search for your company and it will say in the Accounts section. The company’s year end date is automatically set to the end of the month the company was registered, plus 12 months. However, this date can be changed by extending or shortening an accounting period. A company can extend its accounting period up to 18 months, once every 5 years. It can shorten its accounting period as often as necessary.
FAQsSole traders and partnerships will just receive one set of accounts and a tax computation. If we do the tax at the same time, you will also receive a tax return and tax calculation.
Companies will receive the following:
You will also receive a Summary & Review and/or a Queries document. These will explain the accounts etc and provide further commentary and any questions we have.
FAQsYou may need to allow us 1 month to prepare your accounts and tax returns. So provide us with your records or the ‘go-ahead’ at least 1 month before the deadline.
Company accounts are usually due 9 months after the year end date. So if your year end date is 30th June 2022, your accounts need to be submitted to Companies House by 31st March 2023. First year company accounts are due 21 months from the date of incorporation. So if the company was incorporated on 12th June 2022, the first set of accounts will be due by 12th March 2024.
Corporation tax payments are due 9 months and 1 day after the end of a corporation tax period. Corporation tax periods are usually the same as the accounting period. However, they are limited to 12 months, so if you have a long accounting period (first year or extended period), you will have two corporation tax periods.
Corporation tax returns are due 12 months after the corporation tax period (see above).
Sole trader accounts for periods ending in a tax year (which ends on 5th April), need to be included on a personal tax return for that tax year which is due by the following 31st January. For example, a sole trader with a year end date of 31st December 2021, will need to include those accounts on their tax return for the year ended 5th April 2022, which needs to be submitted to HMRC by 31st January 2023.
FAQsYes. You can’t claim back any VAT paid out unless you have a valid VAT invoice or receipt to prove that VAT was charged. The only exception would be for coin operated machines (e.g. parking, phone, road tolls) which can be claimed if you have evidence that the supplier is VAT registered.
FAQsNot normally but you can request one. We provide a Summary & Review report with your accounts. This explains in detail what is included in the accounts and the accompanying documents. Where necessary, we will add any additional comments, analysis, notes, questions, and tips. If you are on the Annual+ package or higher, and use online accounting we also provide a review every 3 months. On the Annual+ package you’ll need to reply to the email reminding you that the quarterly review is due.
If you have any questions about anything, you can email us, call us, or video call us. You can book an appointment using the link in our email signature.
FAQsIf you have a direct debit in place with HMRC for your VAT return, HMRC will automatically take the VAT return amount shortly after the due date or the date the return is submitted if that’s later. To set up a direct debit, you need to add the VAT service to your HMRC account, then follow the option to set up a direct debit.
The next easiest way to pay VAT to HMRC is through your online banking. Use sort code: 08-32-00, account number: 11963155, account name: HMRC VAT. You’ll need to use your 9-digit VAT number as the payment reference so that HMRC allocate the payment against your account.
There are other ways to pay which are explained here.
FAQsFor VAT returns, you’ll need to be on at least our Quarterly package. Our Quarterly package includes VAT returns and quarterly management accounts, a business and a personal tax return, and unlimited advice. Our Quarterly packages including VAT returns cost £44pm for sole traders, £55pm for partnerships, or £66pm for limited companies.
VAT returns are also included in our Monthly package which has bookkeeping and monthly management accounts included in the cost. All of our packaged accounts prices are detailed here.
FAQsWe may need 10 days notice to prepare a VAT return for you. So please provide your records or ‘go-ahead’ at least 10 days before the deadline.
Quarterly and monthly VAT returns are due 1 month and 7 days after the end of the period. So a VAT return for the quarterly or monthly period ending on 30th June 2022 needs to be submitted by the 7th August 2022. Payments are also due by the same date, however, if you have a direct debit in place it will be taken a few days later.
Annual VAT returns are due 2 months after the end of the VAT year. Payments are due throughout the year but any balancing payment is also due 2 months after the VAT year.
FAQsThe easiest way to pay your personal tax is by using online banking to make a payment to HMRC. Use sort code: 08-32-10, account number: 12001039, account name: HMRC Cumbernauld. You’ll need to add a payment reference so that HMRC allocate the payment against your account. Your payment reference should be your 10-digit personal tax reference (UTR), followed by the letter K e.g. 0123456789K.
For other ways to pay your personal tax to HMRC see here.
FAQsOur fixed fee tax returns cost from £55pa to £240pa plus VAT. The cost of tax returns vary depending on how many and what types of income you have. If you just have employment income and benefits, your ‘Employee’ tax return costs £55pa plus VAT. If you own one or two businesses, investment properties, or shares, your ‘Owner’ tax return costs £110pa plus VAT. Investing in more than a couple of each of the above will increase the cost to £165pa plus VAT for our ‘Investor’ tax return. However, if you have any capital gains or foreign income, we charge an ‘Investor+’ price of £220pa plus VAT for your tax return. Our accounts packages include one Owner tax return. You can see all of our prices here.
FAQsThe balance of personal tax owed to HMRC for the year ended 5th April (e.g. 2022) is due by the following 31st January (e.g. 2023). The balance payable will be your tax liability, minus any payments on account already paid. However, you may also need to pay two 50% payments on account towards the next tax year. If so, these are due by by 31st January (e.g. 2023) and 31st July (e.g. 2023).
FAQsIf your self assessment tax liability for a tax year is over £1,000, and less than 80% of your tax is collected at source (e.g. PAYE), you will be required to pay two payments on account towards the following tax year. Each payment on account is calculated at 50% of your tax liability. The first payment is due by 31st January – the same date the tax return and balancing payment are due. The second payment on account is due by 31st July.
If you think your tax liability will be less in the following tax year, you can apply to reduce your payments on account. However, interest and potentially penalties could be payable if you reduce the payments on account too much.
FAQsNot normally but you can request one. We provide a Summary & Review report with your accounts. This explains in detail what is included in the accounts and the accompanying documents. Where necessary, we will add any additional comments, analysis, notes, questions, and tips. If you are on the Annual+ package or higher, and use online accounting we also provide a review every 3 months. On the Annual+ package you’ll need to reply to the email reminding you that the quarterly review is due.
If you have any questions about anything, you can email us, call us, or video call us. You can book an appointment using the link in our email signature.
FAQsReconciling is agreeing the balances in your bookkeeping records (e.g. the bank account balance), to other records (e.g. the bank statement). Confusingly, to ‘reconcile’ on Xero’s accounting software, means to categorise a bank transaction or to match it to an invoice/bill/transfer. You still need to check that Xero agrees (reconciles) with bank statements.
If you provide the bank/creditcard statements every month, we will check that your bank/creditcard balances reconcile with the bank statements every month.
However, our bookkeeping fees don’t include reconciling any other records, such as customer or supplier accounts. These can become quite messy if there are many transactions, or if not all of the documents are provided, or if the bank transactions don’t match the invoices/bills. So if you need help with this it will cost extra.
FAQsThe essential part of bookkeeping is to categorise all of the bank transactions, either directly to the appropriate account (e.g. travel costs), or against a sales invoice or purchase bill.
If you provide all of the purchase bills, we can either add those bills to your accounting software, then match the bank payments to the bills. Or we can simply use the bills to help us determine how to categorise the bank payments.
We don’t usually get involved with sales invoicing. However, if you need us to enter/upload these onto your accounting software, we can. Either way, we will try to match bank income to sales invoices. If you don’t use/provide sales invoices, bank income will be categorised directly to the appropriate account e.g. sales.
The more transactions we deal with, the more it could cost you. Our Monthly package includes up to 50 transactions per month. For every extra allowance of 50 transactions per month, it costs an extra £30 per month plus VAT.
FAQsFor us to do your bookkeeping every month (or less frequently), you need to be on our Monthly package (see pricing). This includes us dealing with up to 50 transactions per month. If you need us to process more than 50 transactions per month, you can pay for Extra Bookkeeping allowances. Every extra allowance of 50 transactions per month, costs an extra £33 per month plus VAT. So if we deal with between 51 and 100 transactions per month, we will add £33 to the monthly fee. If we process 101 to 150 transactions per month, we will add a total of £66 to the monthly fee.
Any additional bookkeeping work not covered by our fixed monthly fees, or by our extra bookkeeping fee, will be charged at £33 per hour plus VAT.
FAQsWe’ll email you at the start of every month to remind you to provide your bookkeeping records. You’ll need to let us know when we have everything you think we’ll need. Usually it’s just the following:
You can either email or upload everything to software (e.g. Xero Files, Iris, or a shared Google Drive folder).
FAQsWe do bookkeeping monthly, within 10 days after you let us know that we have everything we need to do your bookkeeping. If you don’t provide the information or the ‘go-ahead’ every month, we’ll do more than one month at a time but you may need to allow more than 10 days for us to complete it.
FAQsWe will upload all of the payroll reports to Iris Openspace or we’ll let you know when they are available on your accounting software.
If we use our own payroll software and we have set up employee email addresses on it, payslips will be emailed to employees. If so, the employees will have access to their own payslips and other forms e.g. P60. Otherwise, you will need to distribute payslips etc to your employees.
If we use other software, such as Xero Payroll, the payslips will be emailed to employees. You will need to distribute any other forms.
FAQsEvery time your payroll is due to be done soon, we will email you a reminder of what we might need.
You will need to let us know straight away if changes are required (compared to the previous payroll). This will avoid us going ahead and processing incorrect pay details. Then, once you know the details of those changes, let us know what those changes are. This could include changes to pay, people starting, and people leaving.
For any leavers, let us know the last day of employment and the final amount to pay (e.g. holiday pay).
For any starters, please provide all of the following: HMRC starter checklist (latest version); P45 (if applicable); start date; pay details; usual weekly hours; email address.
FAQsTo start doing your payroll, we will need the following information:
When we do your payroll here is what happens:
The employment allowance means that many employers don’t need to pay the first £5,000 (2023/24) of employers National Insurance Contributions (NIC) due. Note that employees NIC is still fully payable to HMRC. You claim the employment allowance by submitting an EPS payroll report to HMRC which indicates that you are claiming the allowance. You can see how much you have already claimed this tax year by viewing the payroll report that shows how much is payable to HMRC every month. This report is called a P32 or EPR and the allowance or employment allowance column shows how much has been claimed.
If the only employee that is paid more than the secondary NIC threshold (£9,100pa) is a sole director, it can’t be claimed. If the employer (or group of connected employers) pays more than £100,000 of employers NIC in a tax year, it can’t be claimed. Only one employer in a connected groups of employers can claim the employment allowance. Some businesses may not be able to claim it if they have received other grants from the UK/EU. See here for more details.
HMRC is sending letters to most employers about Employment Allowance. Receiving a letter does not indicate whether you can or can’t claim it. For our payroll clients, we have already claimed Employment Allowance for you if you are eligible.
We need to do your payroll as and when you pay your employees. Most of our clients pay their employees monthly towards the end of the month. We do monthly payrolls on or around the 23rd of every month. The December payroll will always be done before Christmas Eve.
We can do weekly payroll Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays.
Please bear in mind, that we sometimes need 10 days notice to make changes to the payroll. So if you pay weekly, or you pay monthly and don’t let us know between the 20th and 23rd of the month, you may need to wait 10 days for that change.
FAQsPAYE and NIC deductions are based on a percentage of pay, so if your pay changes, these deductions are likely to change in the same direction. A change in pay might also put you into a different tax band so the rate of PAYE/NIC may have changed.
The PAYE deductions are based on your PAYE Tax Code. The standard tax code is 1257L which gives you an annual tax-free allowance of £12,570. In other words PAYE is not deducted from the first £1,047.50 of pay per month. Generally, if your PAYE code increases, you get more of a tax-free allowance so the PAYE deductions decrease, and vice versa. The PAYE tax code is determined from the employee’s joining details, such as the starter checklist and P45, then can only be changed by HMRC.
Directors usually pay NIC on an annual basis. So they pay no NIC while their year to date pay is below the NIC thresholds. When their year to date pay goes over the thresholds they pay the full rate of NIC on the excess. So directors on a small salary, typically around £10k per annum, will notice that they pay no NIC in April to December, then start paying NIC in January to March. There are two starting thresholds for NIC – £9,100 for Employers NIC and £12,570 for Employees NIC (2023/24).
On a desktop:
On a mobile:
We will set up your account on Iris Openspace. You will receive an email from Iris Openspace asking you to activate your account by setting up a password.
If you forget your password, go to www.irisopenspace.co.uk and click on Forgot your password.
FAQsOn a desktop:
On a mobile:
We receive a notification listing all of the files you upload to Iris Openspace.
FAQsOn a desktop:
On a mobile:
If we have not requested approval, you will not see an option to approve. Instead, email us if you approve the documents or if you have any questions.
FAQsOn a desktop:
On a mobile:
Alternatively, search your emails for the notification from Iris Openspace. Then follow the FAQ for opening files on Iris Openspace.
FAQsPandaDoc is an electronic signature service that we use. You don’t need an account. Simply click on the link in every email you receive from PandaDoc and check the document. Then, to indicate your approval, follow the instructions and buttons to e-sign, date, and finish each document. For company accounts there will be at least 4 emails/documents. You can then download the e-signed document, or if someone else still needs to e-sign it, PandaDoc will email you with a link to it once everyone has signed it.
FAQsThere are a few things below to consider when deciding how much dividends to pay. Generally speaking, you should pay yourself as much dividends as possible at the lower rates of tax. However, you may want to pay yourself a small salary first, because this will save corporation tax.
A dividend is the payment of company profits to its shareholders. So a company can only pay a dividend if it has enough profit to cover that dividend. A company may have unused profits (or even losses) from previous years, so you need to look at total profit reserves (or retained earnings) rather than just the profit of the current year. Profit reserves are the net profits after tax of a company since it started, minus the total dividends paid since it started. You can find the amount available on an up to date balance sheet report. It will be the Total Equity minus Shares, or called the Profit & Loss Account, or Retained Earnings.
Dividends have to be paid at the same rate per share to all shareholders of the same class. If the company has a simple share structure, we can say that dividends need to be paid out in the same proportion as how the company is owned. So if two shareholders each own 50% of the company, a total dividend will need to be shared 50% each. The company will need to have enough profit reserves to cover the total dividend.
Dividend don’t affect corporation tax, only personal income tax. Every person can receive £2,000 of dividends per tax year, tax-free. This is in addition to your tax-free personal allowance of £12,570 per tax year. So if you have no other income, you could receive £14,570 of dividends tax-free. Otherwise, dividends that fall above these allowances, and below your total income of £50,270 will be taxed at 8.75%. Dividends that fall into your total income over £50,270 taxed at at least 33.75%. These rates and allowances are correct at the time of writing (2022-23).
FAQsWith difficulty! Try first thing in the morning (from 8am). Sometimes they don’t take calls on Fridays. Here are the contact details for the main taxes:
Income tax (including employees)
Self assessment (personal tax returns)
FAQsSo that we can see some of your HMRC account, you need to authorise us as your tax agent. You need to do this for each tax service. If we have sufficient details we can ask HMRC to send you an authorisation code. HMRC will post the code to the address HMRC have for that service. Let us know what that code is.
Alternatively, you can authorise us on your HMRC online account by following the instructions below. The procedure may vary depending on your account and any recent HMRC updates.
1 Log into your HMRC account
2. Click on Manage account
3. Click on Add, view or change tax agents
4. Select the service you’d like to change
5. Select Add an agent or Manage agents
6. Remove any old agents and add us using code: CloudBookAcc-GJ11GU1XV5JG. Click on Continue
7. Click on Add Agent
We email you a link to the instructions on how to pay HMRC every time a payment is due. Look for emails from [email protected] with ‘Submitted’ in the subject. The email should also tell you how much we expect you to pay but check the amount is still up to date. It will also either give you the payment reference or explain where to find it.
Here are links to the instructions on how to pay HMRC for each of the main taxes:
FAQsFirst, you need to create an HMRC account, if you don’t already have one.
https://www.access.service.gov.uk/registration/email
Then you need to follow the instructions below. The procedure may vary depending on your account and any recent HMRC updates.
1. Log into your HMRC account
2. Click on Manage account
3. Click on Get online access to a tax
4. Select the tax service you want to add.
5. Follow the HMRC instructions to add each tax service you need
FAQsThe employment allowance means that many employers don’t need to pay the first £5,000 (2023/24) of employers National Insurance Contributions (NIC) due. Note that employees NIC is still fully payable to HMRC. You claim the employment allowance by submitting an EPS payroll report to HMRC which indicates that you are claiming the allowance. You can see how much you have already claimed this tax year by viewing the payroll report that shows how much is payable to HMRC every month. This report is called a P32 or EPR and the allowance or employment allowance column shows how much has been claimed.
If the only employee that is paid more than the secondary NIC threshold (£9,100pa) is a sole director, it can’t be claimed. If the employer (or group of connected employers) pays more than £100,000 of employers NIC in a tax year, it can’t be claimed. Only one employer in a connected groups of employers can claim the employment allowance. Some businesses may not be able to claim it if they have received other grants from the UK/EU. See here for more details.
HMRC is sending letters to most employers about Employment Allowance. Receiving a letter does not indicate whether you can or can’t claim it. For our payroll clients, we have already claimed Employment Allowance for you if you are eligible.
PAYE and NIC deductions are based on a percentage of pay, so if your pay changes, these deductions are likely to change in the same direction. A change in pay might also put you into a different tax band so the rate of PAYE/NIC may have changed.
The PAYE deductions are based on your PAYE Tax Code. The standard tax code is 1257L which gives you an annual tax-free allowance of £12,570. In other words PAYE is not deducted from the first £1,047.50 of pay per month. Generally, if your PAYE code increases, you get more of a tax-free allowance so the PAYE deductions decrease, and vice versa. The PAYE tax code is determined from the employee’s joining details, such as the starter checklist and P45, then can only be changed by HMRC.
Directors usually pay NIC on an annual basis. So they pay no NIC while their year to date pay is below the NIC thresholds. When their year to date pay goes over the thresholds they pay the full rate of NIC on the excess. So directors on a small salary, typically around £10k per annum, will notice that they pay no NIC in April to December, then start paying NIC in January to March. There are two starting thresholds for NIC – £9,100 for Employers NIC and £12,570 for Employees NIC (2023/24).
If you add sales invoices and purchase invoices (bills) to your accounting software, they are all shown as unpaid. When you receive/pay that invoice, the income/expense transaction will be imported into your bank account. When you categorise/reconcile/explain that transaction, you will need to match it to the invoice already created. This will change the invoice from unpaid to paid.
Do not categorise the bank transaction as a sale/cost, otherwise you will duplicate the sale/cost that was created when you added the invoice. If you have, see below.
The way to match a bank transaction to an invoice is different for each accounting software. Here are some links to help you…
Xero – Match to an existing transaction
QuickBooks – Match with an existing transaction
Pandle – How to process an invoice payment through banking
Freeagent – How to mark an invoice as paid
Freeagent – How to pay a single bill
To fix sales/costs that have been duplicated because the bank transaction has not been matched to the invoice, you have two options.
To keep our fees low, we don’t have receptionists and everyone is hands-on busy with work. So to manage our time efficiently we have an appointment system for calls. To book a telephone call or a video call with us, use the link provided in the signature of the email from the person you would like to call. This will take you to their Google Appointments page. Then select a time slot that is convenient for you. There are usually two time slots in the morning and two in the early afternoon. If it looks like the time slots are much earlier or later than this, please check in the Google Calendar settings that you are set to the UK time zone.
At the time of the appointment, we will go to the Google Meet appointment provided in the booking email confirmation or on your calendar, unless you provide your telephone number or another method of contacting you e.g. Zoom.
FAQsWe predominantly use emails to contact clients, and prefer emails from clients, for several advantages listed below. So it is important to check that you are receiving all of our emails, that you read them, and if necessary respond to them as soon as you can. Of course, if you prefer to talk, that’s fine. There will be a link in the signature of our emails to make an appointment.
Not normally but you can request one. We provide a Summary & Review report with your accounts. This explains in detail what is included in the accounts and the accompanying documents. Where necessary, we will add any additional comments, analysis, notes, questions, and tips. If you are on the Annual+ package or higher, and use online accounting we also provide a review every 3 months. On the Annual+ package you’ll need to reply to the email reminding you that the quarterly review is due.
If you have any questions about anything, you can email us, call us, or video call us. You can book an appointment using the link in our email signature.
FAQsManagement accounts are financial information prepared for the managers of a business i.e. its directors/owners. There is no requirement to prepare management accounts but they are useful to see how the business is performing and how healthy its finances are. Management accounts should contain at least a profit & loss account (income and expenditure) and a balance sheet. However, they can also include other useful reports such as: cashflow, lists of customer and supplier balances, sales per customer, key performance indicators. The reports can also be tailored to make them more useful – they don’t have to comply with any regulations. Management accounts are also usually prepared frequently (e.g. monthly) and soon after a period end so that the managers can make timely decisions based on the information.
In contrast, annual accounts are a requirement for all companies, they must adhere to strict formats and accounting regulations, and are usually prepared several months after the year end. As such they are less useful for managers.
FAQs