Myfordman
AKA 9Fingers
Does anyone here run a limited company, do their own accounts and File them to HMRC and Companies House themselves without using an accountant ?
Filing ltd company accounts
- Thread starter Myfordman
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billw
The Tattooed One
Sort of yes, because I am an accountant lol
AJB Temple
Finely figured
Yes. However, I am also a (retired) ex Chartered Accountant and Lawyer. It is very easy. PM me with what you want to know. I no longer carry professional indemnity insurance and will not give advice but I may give pointers.
profchris
Established Member
I do with Companies House for my gliding club. The web filing system is simple, and all they want is a very basic set of accounts.
I used to have a consulting co, and did all the accounts myself. But they were simple, income/expenditure, no difficult allowances or apportioning of expenses involved. I'd say you might want an accountant if your deductions from income are complex, otherwise DIY tax filing seemed easy to me. But I did fall below the threshold for filing detailed accounts, so can't say how much harder that would be.
I used to have a consulting co, and did all the accounts myself. But they were simple, income/expenditure, no difficult allowances or apportioning of expenses involved. I'd say you might want an accountant if your deductions from income are complex, otherwise DIY tax filing seemed easy to me. But I did fall below the threshold for filing detailed accounts, so can't say how much harder that would be.
Nelly111s
Established Member
I use Quickbooks and even though I use an accountant, I could file direct from the software. Double is, the cost of the software is £20+ per month.
Myfordman
AKA 9Fingers
Ok thanks for your replies. I'll give a bit more information here in public as it may help guide you/me as to who I'd be best talking to privately.
I have a small company, gradually growing, that buys flats, does minor maintenance on them when needed and rents out to private tenants. We are just about to buy our third flat. Typical income is £8k per flat less any void periods between tenants. Outgoings are maintenance materials and labour plus leaseholder service charges and minor overheads. Three directors, all family, none drawing any money out of the business. No wages, no Vat.
Currently we are with a largish firm of accountants who set the company up and did the first years accounts. we got a large, non itemised bill for the set up and accounts. Ouch! They are doing our second trading year accounts now (at an unknown cost) but after that I intend to try and go DIY. I do my own bookkeeping and keep good records of all the transactions and feed the accountant with everything electronically in a very tidy format - there really is not a lot for them to do but even a local one man band accountant estimates £1000 for next year and that is just too much on an income of say £20-24k
I've got accounts patterns of the co set up year, the following year with the acquisition of flat no 1 and will have the next set showing the handling of property number 2 as well as how they treat the purchase of a computer and a set of surveyors ladders in terms of capital and revenues items and writing down.
I intend to follow the pattern the existing accountants have adopted for the accounts format but I need to file the accounts with companies house, and the corporation tax return ct600 with HMRC.
The are required in a format known as iXBRL which is where I hit a problem. Googling gives lots of hits for firms that will do it for me and the HMRC pages suggest that they have an on line tool for doing it but also has dire warnings for getting it wrong. What I have yet to find is a tutorial describing how to do it.
So of you kind folk who have replied, who is au fait with iXBRL which I think has only been required in the last few years.
Thanks for reading this far!
I have a small company, gradually growing, that buys flats, does minor maintenance on them when needed and rents out to private tenants. We are just about to buy our third flat. Typical income is £8k per flat less any void periods between tenants. Outgoings are maintenance materials and labour plus leaseholder service charges and minor overheads. Three directors, all family, none drawing any money out of the business. No wages, no Vat.
Currently we are with a largish firm of accountants who set the company up and did the first years accounts. we got a large, non itemised bill for the set up and accounts. Ouch! They are doing our second trading year accounts now (at an unknown cost) but after that I intend to try and go DIY. I do my own bookkeeping and keep good records of all the transactions and feed the accountant with everything electronically in a very tidy format - there really is not a lot for them to do but even a local one man band accountant estimates £1000 for next year and that is just too much on an income of say £20-24k
I've got accounts patterns of the co set up year, the following year with the acquisition of flat no 1 and will have the next set showing the handling of property number 2 as well as how they treat the purchase of a computer and a set of surveyors ladders in terms of capital and revenues items and writing down.
I intend to follow the pattern the existing accountants have adopted for the accounts format but I need to file the accounts with companies house, and the corporation tax return ct600 with HMRC.
The are required in a format known as iXBRL which is where I hit a problem. Googling gives lots of hits for firms that will do it for me and the HMRC pages suggest that they have an on line tool for doing it but also has dire warnings for getting it wrong. What I have yet to find is a tutorial describing how to do it.
So of you kind folk who have replied, who is au fait with iXBRL which I think has only been required in the last few years.
Thanks for reading this far!
billw
The Tattooed One
You can enter the details straight into the website, rather than uploading them. That's how I do it because I do the accounts for a couple of small companies that I just run on Excel rather than using software that has upload capability. Yes it takes longer, but it also comes with no cost AND allows me to sense check everything as I do it.
Myfordman
AKA 9Fingers
Ok thanks Bill. If I understand correctly you are entering the figures in plain text in real time on the HMRC website not sending them an excel file?
AJB Temple
Finely figured
iXBRL is an expensive pain as you have to use a provider.
You can enter all basic information directly to the HMRC website and do CH filing simultaneously. Very easy. It saves it as you go along. Your accountants will have the HMRC and CH access codes that will have been provided to them and you should ask for these.
It costs less than £20 to set a company up. On-line, takes minutes.
However, professionals should be making sure you get decent tax advice tailored to your ownership circumstances. Most profit on buy to let eventually comes from Capital Gains usually. You may accumulate tax losses in the early years.
You can enter all basic information directly to the HMRC website and do CH filing simultaneously. Very easy. It saves it as you go along. Your accountants will have the HMRC and CH access codes that will have been provided to them and you should ask for these.
It costs less than £20 to set a company up. On-line, takes minutes.
However, professionals should be making sure you get decent tax advice tailored to your ownership circumstances. Most profit on buy to let eventually comes from Capital Gains usually. You may accumulate tax losses in the early years.
Myfordman
AKA 9Fingers
Thanks Andy,
I did wonder whether access codes belonged to the accountant or the company in question.
I have the codes for companies house as I filed my own confirmation statement last month.
I also have the company UTR number but not sure if I need a password too.
I have a govt gateway code for personal tax so maybe I need one for the company too?
As regards initial tax advice, that was one of the main reasons for going to the big firm accountants in the first place but now I think I can stand on my own two feet and just as for tax advice when I feel I need it.
My intention is not to make much of a profit at all at this stage. If the current losses look like they are turning into a profit, I'll look for a "do-er upper" to sink funds into. The object is to make capital gains down the line on behalf of my son who is formally the person of significant control in the company.
I did wonder whether access codes belonged to the accountant or the company in question.
I have the codes for companies house as I filed my own confirmation statement last month.
I also have the company UTR number but not sure if I need a password too.
I have a govt gateway code for personal tax so maybe I need one for the company too?
As regards initial tax advice, that was one of the main reasons for going to the big firm accountants in the first place but now I think I can stand on my own two feet and just as for tax advice when I feel I need it.
My intention is not to make much of a profit at all at this stage. If the current losses look like they are turning into a profit, I'll look for a "do-er upper" to sink funds into. The object is to make capital gains down the line on behalf of my son who is formally the person of significant control in the company.
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profchris
Established Member
Sounds like you're a "micro-entity", so you can file simplified accounts.
https://www.gov.uk/annual-accounts/microentities-small-and-dormant-companies
https://www.gov.uk/annual-accounts/microentities-small-and-dormant-companies
powertools
Established Member
In truth it sounds as though you have set up a ltd company inorder to maximize the tax advantage on what is in effect a personal investment. If that is the case you are walking a very fine line and I think you are better off having a professional submit your accounts inorder to ensure you do not cross it to the wrong side.
Myfordman
AKA 9Fingers
You certainly know how to make a chap feel small Chris lol
