BOOKKEEPING
Why does a business need bookkeeping?
Every business has a legal obligation to keep records of their transactions. There is no set format that must be adhered to but, at the very least, records of all sales, expenses and purchases should be kept.
Unfortunately, if a business fails to keep adequate records they can be fined up to £3,000 by HMRC, along with an additional tax bill if the inadequate records resulted in an incorrect tax return being filed.
Aside from the obligations, keeping good records is an essential part of running a successful business. When good records are kept, the business owner knows at any given time, how much is owed from customers, how much is owed to suppliers, how profitable the business is and how much cash is available. This means better decisions can be made and improvements in cash flow and profitability can be made if necessary.
Why outsource your bookkeeping?
Outsourcing your bookkeeping to professionals such as safcom services not only removes one of the biggest headaches involved with managing a companies financial affairs, but also offers a multitude of benefits such as:
- The most appropriate bookkeeping system used. We will review your business type, circumstances and requirements and then select the best bookkeeping software package to suit.
- Peace of mind. We have many years bookkeeping experience to ensure fast and accurate data entry, resulting in a correct and complete set of accounts and tax return at the end of the financial period.
- Tax savings. As we complete your bookkeeping, we will constantly be looking for any potential efficiencies which may result in less tax being owed to HMRC. Spotting these inefficiencies and making changes early on can results in significant savings for you.
How does the process work?
Once you have decided to appoint us to complete your bookkeeping, we will ask you to send us your records at a suitable frequency. For example, if we complete monthly management accounts for you, then we will ask for your records monthly. If we take care of your quarterly VAT returns, then we would ask for your records quarterly. If you are not VAT registered, we may only need to ask for records annually.
Once your records have been received, we will input the transactions into bookkeeping cloud software which you can access at any time. We will then use the finalised bookkeeping to complete your VAT returns (if applicable), accounts and tax returns.
How much does all this cost?
We charge a fixed fee of 45p for every transaction processed. This fee is charged monthly. So if you have 100 business transactions per month, for example, we would charge £45 per month.
If your business requires more complex bookkeeping services such as currency conversions then we may charge an hourly rate instead. However all fees are agreed up front, before any work is started.