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Posted By: Willo_ Self Employment - 5th Aug 2013 3:31pm
I have today just registered as self employed, if there anyone on here that is self employed, that could offer me any advice please.

Also any free spreadsheets I could get online.

Am new to all this and have not got a clue, I have been advised to keep all my receipts etc etc, but what kind of things should I keep receipts of.

I would appreciate any advice any one could give me.

Thanks.
Posted By: rossie Re: Self Employment - 5th Aug 2013 3:43pm
What sort of self employment ?
All receipts for purchases of goods mobile phone house phone protective clothing household bills pens stationery office equipment ink cartridges.Tunnel fees fuel car repair bills. In short everything you buy no matter how you buy it market ebay etc new or second hand.If you buy something at a car boot sale make a note of site date and ofcourse the amount.
Depends on the sort of work that you are doing what type of spread sheet that you need,
Posted By: eggandchips Re: Self Employment - 5th Aug 2013 3:44pm
keep reciepts for everything willo in and out

are you registered as a sole trader or a limited company, because there are different tax requirements

again, what sort of spreadsheet? quite easy to knock one up on excel
Posted By: Willo_ Re: Self Employment - 5th Aug 2013 3:57pm
I will be doing driving work, yes registered as a sole trader, I have been told I need to give a invoice to any one I do work for.
Posted By: jefff3 Re: Self Employment - 5th Aug 2013 3:59pm
Go register with danny o neill accountant.he in port sunlight great for sole trader
Posted By: rossie Re: Self Employment - 5th Aug 2013 4:18pm
Your most important record will be your mileage log.Record both business and private mileage.If you are working late on a regular basis you cannot claim meals but if once or twice a month you can claim meals for the late nights.If you work away have a look at the RHA web site whilst you do not fit into that field it gives information about nights away allowances that don't need receipts.
Yes you need to issue an invoice for all jobs with full name and address on.Cheapest is a bog standard duplicate book,
You can find more information on HMRC web site.
Posted By: granny Re: Self Employment - 5th Aug 2013 4:19pm
Good Luck and keep your eye firmly on what they pay you, if it's for a company. e.g Scottish Power or British Gas etc.
They seem to be able to reduce their payment to you at a flick of a switch and you can spend much on petrol.
Posted By: Mark Re: Self Employment - 5th Aug 2013 4:48pm
The best advice i could give is that you can ring the tax office and they will tell you what you can and can not claim for being self-employed. They wont tell you how to do your books but you can ask if you can claim for x y z.

Not everything you think you can claim for, can you claim for.

Its all about following the paperwork if you were ever to get investigated. But a good Accountant would keep you right.
Posted By: starakita Re: Self Employment - 5th Aug 2013 6:05pm
Originally Posted by jefff3
Go register with danny o neill accountant.he in port sunlight great for sole trader
We used to use Danny o Neill when my ex was a taxi driver he did all our accounts most of the taxi drivers used him.
Posted By: Sallybear Re: Self Employment - 5th Aug 2013 7:09pm
There's a really useful website called www.vertex42.com they have spreadsheets for invoices, purchase orders, all sorts of things, all amendable and all free.
Posted By: Willo_ Re: Self Employment - 5th Aug 2013 7:26pm
Originally Posted by Sallybear
There's a really useful website called www.vertex42.com they have spreadsheets for invoices, purchase orders, all sorts of things, all amendable and all free.
Thank you.

And thank you for all comments
Posted By: fish5133 Re: Self Employment - 5th Aug 2013 7:38pm
I presume you know what you are letting yourself in for registering as self employed. Can get quite complicated with NI stamps and tax. I made the mistake of registering for Self Employment rather than self assessment-- i quickly cancelled it when i found out the amount of paperwork. There is no clear definition of self employment so some of the work i do i just declare as casual earnings on self assessment and pay normal tax.
Posted By: Willo_ Re: Self Employment - 5th Aug 2013 8:25pm
Originally Posted by fish5133
I presume you know what you are letting yourself in for registering as self employed. Can get quite complicated with NI stamps and tax. I made the mistake of registering for Self Employment rather than self assessment-- i quickly cancelled it when i found out the amount of paperwork. There is no clear definition of self employment so some of the work i do i just declare as casual earnings on self assessment and pay normal tax.
Not got a clue at all. smack
Posted By: eggandchips Re: Self Employment - 5th Aug 2013 8:46pm
willo, give wirralbiz a call. see if you can get on one of their courses. used to get £500 start up grant too.
they will go through everything with you, including tax and accounts .
Posted By: Willo_ Re: Self Employment - 5th Aug 2013 8:58pm
Originally Posted by eggandchips
willo, give wirralbiz a call. see if you can get on one of their courses. used to get £500 start up grant too.
they will go through everything with you, including tax and accounts .
Thank you
Posted By: Sarah_ZR Re: Self Employment - 5th Aug 2013 9:49pm
I wish i got a grant with wirral buzz when i first whent self employed frown
Posted By: s7uajones Re: Self Employment - 6th Aug 2013 6:59am
Originally Posted by Willo_
Originally Posted by fish5133
I presume you know what you are letting yourself in for registering as self employed. Can get quite complicated with NI stamps and tax. I made the mistake of registering for Self Employment rather than self assessment-- i quickly cancelled it when i found out the amount of paperwork. There is no clear definition of self employment so some of the work i do i just declare as casual earnings on self assessment and pay normal tax.
Not got a clue at all. smack
Posted By: Willo_ Re: Self Employment - 6th Aug 2013 7:47am
Originally Posted by s7uajones
Originally Posted by Willo_
Originally Posted by fish5133
I presume you know what you are letting yourself in for registering as self employed. Can get quite complicated with NI stamps and tax. I made the mistake of registering for Self Employment rather than self assessment-- i quickly cancelled it when i found out the amount of paperwork. There is no clear definition of self employment so some of the work i do i just declare as casual earnings on self assessment and pay normal tax.
Not got a clue at all. smack
have you not got a comment to make, or do you just quote someone elses to get your post count up.
Posted By: kamikazi Re: Self Employment - 7th Aug 2013 4:21pm
Business Link has gone, not sure if there is any help for new startups. Like most people say on here, the main issues are compliance for new businesses around Tax and NI contributions.

You can claim for lots of things especially if its inline with deliveries etc. remember to keep all your reciepts, keep them updated on a simple spreadsheet.

Make a list of what you think will be your major overheads, Fuel, insurance, workwear, servicing costs, tolls, road tax and check with the HMRC site for what you can claim for as self employed.

You can claim over 40p a mile for use of vehicle through your business and cant see why this would be any different for self employment.

If you need a cash flow forecast and somewhere to log your expenses I can sort you out with something in Excel.

I would speak to an accountant and get some advice on what legal status you should adopt.

I pay someone a £100 per annum plus the VAT to do my Self Assesment Form.

K

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