Choosing The Right Accountant For Your Business

Determining an accountant for your business is a significant and complex choice. You aren’t just hiring a number cruncher; you’re hiring an essential business partner as well. So, as with any business partner, you must make sure that they understand your business.

Online small business accountants 

Online  accountants for self employed play a vital role in the modern day business world, as they offer many vital services such as completing your tax returns, bookkeeping, cash flow projections, payroll, and even online accounting. If you run a small business, making the right choice is particularly important because at the outset your accountant is likely to be your only professional adviser.

Well, don’t worry – this article is all about imparting the key steps towards finding the perfect accountants. You may think it’s as simple as looking one up in the phone book, but the brutal truth is that just about anyone can call themselves an accountant without any real qualifications. Finding a bona fide, experienced accountant takes much more effort.

 

 

The following steps are designed to cut through the dross and find you the perfect accountant:

– Ask for referrals to accountants from other business owners.

– The Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, AAT, and The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants – these are seals of approval that you should insist on finding. If your accountant can’t produce any of these on demand, then look elsewhere

– Meet your accountants in person for one-to-ones – do this several times before you make a decision. Ideally, you should be able to communicate freely and easily with each other.

– Outline your current and predicted needs of your business so your accountant can meet them and synchronise their efforts.

When it comes to cost – be cautious. The first consultation, where you begin ascertaining whether or not they’re right for you, should be free. Most accountants offer this service, but it’s always good to check, just in case. Also, always decide upon a fee limit early on with your accountant – if they only seem interested in making money for themselves, they aren’t right for you. Also, make sure they are capable networkers, able to provide you with contacts and arrange meetings with integral supporters such as suppliers, bankers, and customers

In addition to your accountant’s financial knowledge, you can also have personalised cash flow projections, have your bookkeeping and payroll managed efficiently and provided important advice. Fuelled with your data, there’s no limit to what your accountant can do – it’s just up to you to find one with the right skills to match your business.

Setting up a day-by-day accounting system, however, should be a priority, whether it’s merely compiling an organised ledger system or a more sophisticated computer programme. Your accountant should be ready to assist and advise in setting this up.

Never underestimate the power of the accountant in your business. Their knowledge of finance and business will no doubt exceed those of the first-time businessperson, so don’t underestimate the power they have. Treat them with respect, but also let them know where their responsibility ends, after all, you’re the boss.

Accountants are a regular benefit to your business – they’re experienced, capable and potentially crucial in the running of your business. Without a proper accountant, your chances of financial survival in an increasingly competitive market drop significantly.

What does a 1100l tax code mean?

A 1100L tax code means that your tax-free personal allowance is £11000. Simply put, that means £11000 of your earnings will be paid untaxed throughout the year, in equal increments over 12 months. The “L” refers to your status as a regular employee who is eligible for that tax-free personal allowance. Any income above £11000 will be taxed at the standard rates, and, if you make over £100000, your tax-free personal allowance may be smaller than £11000. Any income over this tax-free personal allowance, but below £33000, will be taxed at the basic rate of 20%.

What affects my tax code?

Many factors affect your tax code, including the aforementioned tax-free personal allowance. First, your tax-free personal allowance will be calculated; next, any untaxed income or job benefits with monetary value are added up, and that amount is deducted from your previously determined personal allowance. The last digit of this number is removed–hence, £11000 becomes 1100. The ending letter (L, for example) refers to any situation which may affect your personal allowance, such as the Marriage Allowance, or being taxed at Scottish rates.

Benefits in kind

“Benefits in kind” is the term for those job benefits with monetary value which are not included in your salary, such as childcare or a company car. As mentioned earlier, while these benefits are not included in your salary, their value will be deducted from your personal allowance.

Expenses

Claiming tax relief for expenses is one way to ensure you are paying only as much as you truly owe in taxes. “Expenses” in this context refers to items or travel purchased solely for work use, such as business travel. It is important to note that you cannot claim tax relief for expenses your employer has reimbursed you for, or for items purchased despite your employer providing an adequate alternative. To claim this tax relief, use your Self Assessment tax return if that is already your usual practice, or use form P87 if you do not file a tax return for any claim below £2500. If you wish to claim an amount over £2500, you must use the Self Assessment tax return.

What is the the tax code for 2017-2018?

The 2017-2018 tax code is 1150L, meaning your tax-free personal allowance has been raised! Additionally, the “basic rate limit,” or the amount of your income taxed at the basic rate of 20%, has been raised to £33500 from £33000

What if I have two jobs?

If you have two jobs, one job will be classed as your “main employment,” and you will receive your tax-free personal allowance in full. For your second job, all of your income will be taxed at the standard rate of 20% up to £33,500. This job will be considered your “secondary” job. If your income at your “main” job is less than your tax-free personal allowance, then you may request your personal allowance be distributed between both your incomes, or you might request a refund at the end of the year (when you file your tax return, if you do so).

How to choose the best CPA online – 5 Things To Consider

It is always a challenging task to choose a CPA for your business from the

deluge of accountants available online. There are around 76,000 qualified accountants in UK and this will add to the dilemma of choosing the right one. London has some of the most renowned accountancy agencies but you need to be aware of certain steps in order to hire the right CPA for your company.

1. Experience

If you want to ensure that you are getting the correct tax advice, do not forget to check the experience of the accountant. It is important that the CPA has worked with similar sized companies and had job responsibilities that were at par with the job role offered. Accountants will also be only valuable to the company if they have worked in similar industries and can provide expert advice on the tax system. CPA’s have to also keep abreast with the latest tax laws running in the country and have to report periodically to accountancy associations about their development.

2. Trust

You will not always depend on employees but this is not an option where it comes to choosing an accountant for your firm. You need to trust your CPA inside out to be able to confidently grow your business. Accountancy embezzlement is not totally unheard of and needs to be paid attention to. You should perform a thorough background check via Google or yellow pages etc. Be extremely wary and alert when you are interviewing the person. You need to establish beyond doubt whether he is going to be with your company for the long term.

3. Qualification

Anyone can call themselves an expert in the UK tax system but you will not hire them unless they possess technical qualifications in accountancy. Usually everyone starts with the AAT qualification and then gains experience. While they climb the career ladder, accountants can get higher qualifications to expand their job roles in bigger companies. Once the CPA has a basic qualification, they can register into a training contract with an ICAS authorised employer to become a chartered accountant. It is highly prestigious for a chartered accountant to follow this route.

4. CPA reviews

When trying to find an accountant online, you can always check the reviews that they have acquired from various firms/individuals they have worked for. There are many dedicated websites that review the accountants and you can find valuable information in these reviews. There is of course an option to choose an agency instead of an individual and there are again review websites for them. Glassdoor.co.uk, yell.com, ukaccountancyfirms.co.uk/reviews etc. are websites that will help you to choose a high calibre CPA. The reviews will contain a lot of polarised content so be alert in making your decision.

5. References

Always request the CPA whom you have shortlisted to provide the necessary references of people. You can then conduct a thorough investigation into the previous employers of the CPA. Prevention is always better than cure so it is important to interview the references provided and check for consistency in their information. References can be a good judge of one’s character because you can always tell a person by the company he/she keeps. Also, in the event of a mishap, you can always contact the references for more details.

It will definitely be to your benefit to keep in mind the above factors while you search online on search engines like Google, Bing etc. for the right CPA for your business.