When you are starting-up your own business you need to think about these things.Our first meeting with a new business-owner often covers the following areas:
- Which trading vehicle to use? Generally this boils down to being self-employed or incorporating the business into a limited company.
- Company name? is the name you want to use available? Does it contain sensitive words that you may not be allowed to use?
- VAT registration. How does Making Tax Digital (MTD) impact businesses and especially the rules for recording all transactions digitally.
- Corporation tax – how it is calculated and when it needs to be paid by.
- Income tax – self-assessment and the 31 January deadline. Clients are also warned about the delights of Payments on Account. In essence beware of the £1,000 tax level but there is an exception!
- Cloud Accounts Apps: our favourite is Xero but others to consider are FreeAgent, KashFlow and Intuit QuickBooks.
- IR35– be aware of this ever-changing regulation.
- The timing differences between suffering a tax charge and paying the tax: just because there is £1 left in the business account it doesn’t mean you can take it!
- We like to think of ourselves as the friendly approachable accountant. We always encourage clients to contact us about anything that is troubling them, there is no such thing as a stupid question.
If you would like to find out more about setting up your own business, about being an entrepreneur, then wherever you are: whether in Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Harrogate, Wetherby or elsewhere in the country or even overseas and thinking of setting-up in the UK, please get in touch. And hopefully we have given you some things to think about when you are starting your own business.
