Date 20 June 2012

Place Harleyford Golf Club, Marlow, SL7 2SP

Time 10am to 4pm

Cost £99 plus vat including refreshments and lunch

Have you ever wondered what is involved in running your own accountancy practice?

Would you like a sneak preview?

Award winning Chartered Accountant, Elaine Clark will tell you how it is, warts and all at this one day seminar.

Join us in this stunning location on the banks of the Thames for this vital seminar.  Aimed at anyone thinking about setting up their own accountancy practice, it gives a taste of essential topics such as:

Marketing and Practice Operations

• What you need to do to get your Practice started
• What about Marketing and Social Media
• How to get yourself organised
• Must dos and Must Knows!
• What the first few months will look like

Technical

• Tax and accounting essentials for the sole practitioner
• Limited Company tax basics
• Other Taxes must knows
• Tax Issues and opportunities

More about Elaine …

Mentioned in the Accountancy Age top 50 Financial Power List 2012 as “Founder of cheapaccounting.co.uk, Clark has achieved phenomenal success with her business model of cost-effective client service through franchises. “

Since launching CheapAccounting.co.uk Elaine has spearheaded the revolution in on line accountancy practices and has become a respected leader in that market. She has developed her business model into a successful accountancy franchise operation and has helped launch the Practices of nearly 20 sole practitioner accountants. In 2011, she was named as Woman in Finance by the Network of Aspiring Women and currently holds the title of Progressive Practice from Accounting Web and CCH.

Elaine will be supported during the seminar by Nigel Herring, who is the Training and Mentoring Director at CheapAccounting.co.uk. Nigel qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse in Leeds and has over 20 years experience in accountancy.

For the last 10 years he has run his own accountancy practice specialising in advising small and start up businesses on a range of accounting, taxation and general business issues.

Join us at this seminar ….

Click on the PayPal button to pay £99 plus Vat to confirm your place at this seminar. Numbers are limited so please book early!

We will send you joining instructions following confirmation of your payment.

Maintaining your own financial records – AKA doing your books – can seem daunting when you’re new to it. However, it’s an essential part of running your business and ignoring the accounts will lead to big problems later.

Start From Day One

As soon as you set up your business, start recording your all costs and sales you make. In fact, you may incur costs before you start up. These can still be deducted from your profits, which will reduce your tax liability.

Start recording everything from day one, keep up to date and make sure you know the dates your accounts, tax, VAT, PAYE, etc are due. Late payments and returns can incur heavy fines and penalties.

Get a system

Set up an accounting system from the start. This doesn’t have to be a sophisticated software package. In fact, you could start with a manual system, but it’s wiser to at least use a computer spread sheet or easy accounting system.

If you intend to use an accountant, agree the system with them before you start your business. You will be surprised how much this can save on fees if you use one with which your accountant is familiar or recommends. You may even find that some of them offer a free, ready-made spread sheet.

Go on a free HMRC workshop

Yes, HMRC does give some thing away for free – and the workshops are very good.

There should be a free workshop in your area on:

• employer online filing and running a payroll
• becoming self-employed and self assessment for self-employed people
• Construction Industry Scheme
• setting up a limited company
• introduction to VAT
• introduction to international trade

HMRC also provides a free payroll tool kit that has everything you need to meet all you employer-filing responsibilities.

Budget for tax

Although you may have made a profit (income minus costs), not all of this money is yours.

Obviously, you’ll have to pay some to the taxman. Make sure you budget for this as you go, so you won’t get any great shocks at the end of the year. Open a deposit or business savings account and put money aside for your tax. Saving 25-30 per cent of all income you receive is likely to mean you’ll easily be able to pay your tax bill.

Claim for all business expenses

The general rule is, you can claim for any cost incurred ‘wholly and exclusively for business’.

Remember to keep all receipts for your business purchases – even the smallest costs, such as stamps, stationery, bus and train tickets etc.

Record all your business trips and claim for these – even trip to the local post office in your car to send a business letter or parcel. In fact, you can claim for cycling to the post office. The allowed rate for cycling is 20p per mile – so get on your bike instead of using your car.

If you use your home as an office, you can claim for a proportion of your domestic bills – including lighting, heating, Internet and telephone charges, even a percentage of your rent or proportion of your mortgage interest.

Whilst there is no exhaustive list available of what you can claim, common sense should prevail when applying the ‘wholly and exclusively’ rule. If in doubt, speak to an accountant.

Maintaining your own financial records – AKA doing your books – can seem daunting when you’re new to it. However, it’s an essential part of running your business and ignoring the accounts will lead to big problems later.

Start From Day One

As soon as you set up your business, start recording your all costs and sales you make. In fact, you may incur costs before you start up. These can still be deducted from your profits, which will reduce your tax liability.

Start recording everything from day one, keep up to date and make sure you know the dates your accounts, tax, VAT, PAYE, etc are due. Late payments and returns can incur heavy fines and penalties.

Get a system

Set up an accounting system from the start. This doesn’t have to be a sophisticated software package. In fact, you could start with a manual system, but it’s wiser to at least use a computer spread sheet or easy accounting system.

If you intend to use an accountant, agree the system with them before you start your business. You will be surprised how much this can save on fees if you use one with which your accountant is familiar or recommends. You may even find that some of them offer a free, ready-made spread sheet.

Go on a free HMRC workshop

Yes, HMRC does give some thing away for free – and the workshops are very good.

There should be a free workshop in your area on:

• employer online filing and running a payroll
• becoming self-employed and self assessment for self-employed people
• Construction Industry Scheme
• setting up a limited company
• introduction to VAT
• introduction to international trade

HMRC also provides a free payroll tool kit that has everything you need to meet all you employer-filing responsibilities.

Budget for tax

Although you may have made a profit (income minus costs), not all of this money is yours.

Obviously, you’ll have to pay some to the taxman. Make sure you budget for this as you go, so you won’t get any great shocks at the end of the year. Open a deposit or business savings account and put money aside for your tax. Saving 25-30 per cent of all income you receive is likely to mean you’ll easily be able to pay your tax bill.

Claim for all business expenses

The general rule is, you can claim for any cost incurred ‘wholly and exclusively for business’.

Remember to keep all receipts for your business purchases – even the smallest costs, such as stamps, stationery, bus and train tickets etc.

Record all your business trips and claim for these – even trip to the local post office in your car to send a business letter or parcel. In fact, you can claim for cycling to the post office. The allowed rate for cycling is 20p per mile – so get on your bike instead of using your car.

If you use your home as an office, you can claim for a proportion of your domestic bills – including lighting, heating, Internet and telephone charges, even a percentage of your rent or proportion of your mortgage interest.

Whilst there is no exhaustive list available of what you can claim, common sense should prevail when applying the ‘wholly and exclusively’ rule. If in doubt, speak to an accountant.