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- Are you ready for the UK’s biggest tax shake-up for a generation?Making Tax Digital (MTD), the UK government’s initiative to “end the tax return” and get small businesses reporting more regularly to HMRC through accounting software, is gaining momentum. This massive shift in the tax system will undoubtedly have an impact on your business, but as the legislation is still to be finalised you might be unsure how to prepare. To help you come up with a plan, here are four simple steps you can take based on what we know so far about MTD to ensure your business is ready. 1. Check if you’re exempt A small minority of businesses will be exempt from digital record-keeping requirements and you should find out if this includes you. The exemptions (which are the same as those that already apply to electronic VAT returns) include: membership of a religious society or order with beliefs that are incompatible with the use of electronic communications being subject to an insolvency procedure disability, age, remoteness of location or any other reason that the MTD commissioners accept as valid grounds not to use an electronic return system If you are refused an exemption you will have a right of appeal, however details of how to appeal are yet to be finalised. If you’re eligible for exemption, HMRC has confirmed that you can still choose to take part in MTD if you prefer to work digitally. 2. Work out if you need to comply by April 2019 If your business’s annual VATable sales are above the registration threshold (currently £85,000 turnover) by April 2019, and your business is registered for VAT, by the start of the next tax year you’ll be required to: keep digital records for VAT purposes provide VAT return information through MTD-compatible software If your business’s annual turnover falls below the VAT threshold following the MTD for VAT start date, HMRC has confirmed that you’ll continue to report VAT figures digitally for as long as your business is VAT registered. Be aware that if your accounting year is different to the tax year, you might find it a lot easier to switch to MTD compliant software as soon as you can. 3. Find an accounting software solution that’s right for your business If you don’t yet know what accounting software you’ll use to comply with MTD, it’s time to start looking. According, to HMRC, “functional compatible” software should be able to: keep records in a digital form according to the regulations preserve digital records in a digital form for the required amount of time (this is currently up to six years). create a VAT return from stored records and share this information with HMRC provide HMRC with VAT data on a voluntary basis receive information from HMRC If you’re unsure about the compatibility of a software package that you have in mind then you can always ask the software provider for clarification. 4. Ask your accountant Most accountants in the UK are working closely with accounting software providers like FreeAgent so they can provide a better service to their clients. The accountancy profession has been busy preparing for MTD for the last couple of years and your accountant should be able to give you advice on what you need to do to prepare. If you don’t have an accountant yet, take a look on the FreeAgent directory of UK accountants to find your perfect match. Save yourself bookkeeping time and hassle with FreeAgent’s online accounting software, voted the UK's number one accounting software for small businesses. Specifically designed for freelancers, contractors and small businesses, FreeAgent helps you nail the daily admin, relax about tax and see the big picture when it comes to your business finances. You can claim an exclusive 10% discount! Go to www.freeagent.com/partners/the-dots to claim your exclusive The Dots discount (and try FreeAgent completely free for 30 days - no credit card required).
- Managing your expenses day-to-dayThis content was originally published at: https://www.freeagent.com/guides/expenses/introduction/ Keeping on top of expenses can be a big hassle when you’re just trying to get on with your work, especially if it’s grown into a big pile of unprocessed paperwork! So in this guide, we'll walk you through the basics of recording, claiming, managing, and storing your business expenses. What are expenses? “Expenses” are business costs that you pay for yourself, which the business may later reimburse you for. Examples would be if you used a personal credit card to buy a train ticket to go and visit your client, or if you bought a stamp at the post office and paid with your own cash. The long name for expenses is “out-of-pocket expenses”. Record your expenses daily The best time to record an expense is as soon as you spend the money - whenever possible, take two minutes out of your day to record expenses on the go. For example, if you’re waiting on the train platform, use those two minutes of downtime to snap a photo of your train ticket on your mobile and upload it with your expense entry to an online accounting system like FreeAgent. Review your expenses weekly At FreeAgent, we believe that spending just one hour a week on your business’s bookkeeping gives you a real head start towards keeping your finances in good order. Try using our weekly checklist method to stay on top of any expenses that you haven’t already recorded, and to stay on top of how much is going in and out of your business. Consider storing your receipts online You may be surprised to know that you don’t have to keep that big folder of receipts - HMRC say that they are happy for business owners to store expense receipts electronically, so long as the electronic copy includes both the front and back of any receipts that have information on the back, such as terms and conditions. For digital storage options, consider using a service like Depositit. You can also upload your receipts to an online accounting system like FreeAgent and attach them to your accounting entries. This doesn’t just save you space, it also makes it easier to trace back the receipt to the entry in your accounts if you, your accountant, or HMRC has a query on that transaction. Keep expenses separate from other costs When you’re recording expenses, it’s really important to keep these separate from costs that were paid for through your business’s bank account. For example, if you pay for a train ticket on your business debit card rather than your personal credit card, remember that this cost would need to be recorded as paid by the business rather than by you. It’s not an out-of-pocket expense, because the business paid for it directly. This may sound like extra hassle that you don’t need, but it is important because if your records are ever inspected by HMRC, the first thing they will look for is whether what your accounts say is in the bank matches what actually is in the bank. If you’ve put costs in the wrong place, these figures won’t match. It’s also important because sometimes you have to report these figures differently for tax, for example if you are the director of a limited company and you need to make sure the company doesn’t pay you back more than you’ve spent on its costs. Make sure your categories are consistent It’s harder to make informed business decisions if you don’t post your costs consistently into the same category in your accounts. For example, if you put your car park ticket charge into “travel” one month and “motor expenses” the next, it’s much harder to see whether your car parking costs are mounting up higher than you want them to be and if it’s time to switch to travelling by train, bus or bike. Try printing out a cheat sheet for any expenses that you might not remember where they go, and keep it handy when you’re processing expenses. Taking the time to set up a good system and then just dedicating just a few minutes a day can go a long way to making your expenses much easier to manage. More expenses tips: Working from home expenses Food and drink expenses Travel expenses and mileage Entertaining expenses Clothing expenses Scanned receipts and HMRC Whether it's a regular business payment or you're just grabbing a coffee on the go, FreeAgent’s online software lets you track all the expenses you incur while running your business. It’s a breeze to record receipts - just snap them on your phone and send straight to FreeAgent! Specifically designed for small businesses, contractors and their accountants, FreeAgent makes it easy to manage day-to-day bookkeeping, relax about tax and see the bigger picture. FreeAgent are offering an exclusive 10% discount to The Dot’s community members! Go to www.freeagent.com/partners/thedots to claim your discount (and try FreeAgent completely free for 30 days - no credit card required).3
- “You just need to be brave and start” — wise words for the new freelancerThis content was originally published at: https://medium.com/@freeagentapp/you-just-need-to-be-brave-and-start-wise-words-for-the-new-freelancer-f00b0fa791b8 The UK freelance community is big and it’s getting bigger — recent government statistics show that 4.79 million people (15.1% of all the people in work) are now self-employed and this figure is likely to further grow this year. If you’ve been in the freelancing game for a while it can be easy to forget that becoming your own boss can be pretty daunting. At FreeAgent we know that the freelancing community are a supportive, helpful and collaborative bunch, so for Small Business Advice Week (5–11 September) we surveyed freelancers and small business owners to ask ‘What do you wish you’d known when you started freelancing?’. Here are some of the results… Getting started “You don’t have to know everything before getting started. You just need to be brave and start.” Onder, digital marketer “It took about 12 months before I got my head round being my own boss. One friend who took the plunge into his own business described it as “rewiring your brain to work for yourself”. When it finally happened it was a wonderful sense of relief and freedom, before that “rewiring” it was a constant worry!” Ian, software testing services “Bank on not being paid for at least 90 days so have a cash buffer to start with if you can.” Mark, B2B marketer “Keep overheads as low as possible to start with. Every penny you have in overheads is coming out from your gross income before you get paid.” Matt, IT and digital marketing consultant2
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