{"id":5964,"date":"2015-01-08T15:32:19","date_gmt":"2015-01-08T15:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bigredcloud.com\/?p=5964"},"modified":"2022-03-24T15:52:43","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T15:52:43","slug":"5-steps-sorting-self-employed-accounts-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bigredcloud.com\/en\/5-steps-sorting-self-employed-accounts-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"5 steps to sorting your self employed accounts (UK)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

 <\/p>\n

Those of you that run a business as a sole trader or as part of a partnership probably don\u2019t have too much spare time to rub together. Making sure that your self employed accounts are up to date might use up what is left. At Big Red Cloud we try to help out those with self employed accounts to prepare as much as possible. So here are 5 steps to getting your self-assessment obligations done and dusted.<\/p>\n

1. Register for self-assessment<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re running a sole trader or a partnership you will need to register with HMRC before you can send them your tax return. As the tax year ends in April the deadline for registering is generally early October and can be found on the HMRC website.<\/a><\/p>\n

Registering for self-assessment means that HMRC will be able to accept your records rather than holding you to standards designed for incorporated organisations.<\/p>\n

2. Separate bank accounts<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is one of the most basic but equally, important business tips anyone can give you. We\u2019ve mentioned it a few times before but it\u2019s worth repeating again here. If you\u2019re self-employed and you don\u2019t have a dedicated bank account for your business, it needs to be top of your to do list.<\/p>\n

Balancing your personal affairs and business deals through one account is reckless enough, never mind trying to prepare your self employed accounts by sifting through transactions that aren\u2019t related to them.<\/p>\n

It all becomes even more complicated if your business is liable to pay VAT. If this is the case the best thing to do is to have a bank account dedicated to VAT where you can set aside the funds that you will owe to HMRC.<\/p>\n

Either way, make sure you have a dedicated business bank account. It will make keeping on top of your self employed accounts easier as well as putting your business itself in a healthier state of affairs.<\/p>\n

3. Keep Your Records<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret, the more organised you are, the easier your self employed accounts are going to be. You are required to keep records of: sales and income, business expenses, VAT records (if required) PAYE records (if you employ people) and personal income.<\/p>\n

Keep the records from each transaction such as receipts, invoices, bank statements so that you have them when it comes time to sit down and prepare your self-employed accounts. Set some time aside every week or month to keep your books up to date. The last thing you want to happen is to have your accounts interfere with your customer service around deadline time.<\/p>\n

4. Partnerships<\/strong><\/p>\n

Are you part of a partnership rather than a sole trader? If you are you will still be required to submit your own self-assessment tax return. A nominated partner in each partnership is responsible for the business\u2019 records and tax returns in addition to their self employed accounts.<\/p>\n

5. Pay your obligations<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once you are happy that your records are in order, go ahead and submit them. All that\u2019s left then is to pay the tax obligations that arise from your self employed accounts. Generally, three obligations will arise;<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Self-assessment tax bill<\/li>\n
  2. Class 2 National Insurance bill<\/li>\n
  3. Vat bill<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    You will make Class 2 National Insurance payments to qualify for benefits such as the state pension. If you\u2019re business is required to pay vat<\/a> you\u2019ll have to make sure you do so by the deadline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Once you\u2019re finished, you can get back to spending that time on your business or your personal life.<\/p>\n

    –<\/p>\n

    Big Red Cloud<\/p>\n

    For business owners that want to reduce the time spent managing their accounts, Big Red Cloud provides online accounting software that is simple to setup and easy to use so you can spend more time running your business.<\/p>\n

    We\u2019ve been making accounting easier for over 20 years, so why not take a Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Those of you that run a business as a sole trader or as part of a partnership probably don\u2019t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":5965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,65],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-accounting","8":"category-small-business"},"yoast_head":"\n5 steps to sorting your self employed accounts (UK) - Big Red Cloud<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Self employed accounts software that will save you time and take the hassle out of your self assessment tax returns.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bigredcloud.com\/en\/5-steps-sorting-self-employed-accounts-uk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 steps to sorting your self employed accounts (UK)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Self employed accounts software that will save you time and take the hassle out of your self assessment tax returns.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bigredcloud.com\/en\/5-steps-sorting-self-employed-accounts-uk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Big Red Cloud\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SimpleOnlineAccounts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-08T15:32:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-24T15:52:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bigredcloud.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/self-employed-accounts.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Big Red Cloud\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BigRedCloud\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BigRedCloud\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Big Red Cloud\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 steps to sorting your self employed accounts (UK) - 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