Anyone do their own company accounts?

[Jasandjules]

Just wondering how difficult and time consuming this is... Had my accountant do it last year but it seems quite expensive to me....

[CAPP0]

I looked at mine once a few years ago and whilst it purported to be written in the english language, it clearly wasn't as I didn't understand a single word!

[MOBB]

If you don't have the knowledge to do it yourself, it is generally much more sensible to get an accountant to do it.

Tax compliance, HMRC investigation issues etc etc are just the start of the benefits.

[Doofus]

Some people will do their own accounts because they can. Nobody does them because they want to.

- I trained as an accountant many years ago, but I never was very good at it.

[Eric Mc]

And it's all changing for accounts beginning on or after 1 January 2016.

The old standard (FRSSE) has been replaced by either -

FRS102
FRS102 1A
or
FRS105

And if you don't know what all that means, you probably need to speak to an accountant.

[Shaoxter]

Yes, my wife is an accountant which helps but I can do everything myself. Of course it depends on what kind of company you have, mine is very simple.

[MOBB]

Eric Mc said:

And it's all changing for accounts beginning on or after 1 January 2016.

The old standard (FRSSE) has been replaced by either -

FRS102
FRS102 1A
or
FRS105

And if you don't know what all that means, you probably need to speak to an accountant.

I'm currently sat here converting 70 entities in a group to FRS102, utterly enthralling work!

[TC8]

I use an accountant- shop around is my advice. There are quite a few small outfits around who are both reliable and good value. Depends a bit on the level of complexity, I suppose.

[chonok]

I woulldn't do them myself as it would probably not be worth the time spent vs what i could earn, but my wife does them.

Shes not an accountant (had no knowledge previously) We are also a LTD company and she still doesn't think its that difficult.

Says she uses the HMRC software which is quite easy to use.

[Deisel Weisel]

chonok said:

Says she uses the HMRC software which is quite easy to use.

Is this comparable with Quickbooks, and all the other alternatives?

[Guvernator]

It costs me £100 a month which includes VAT returns, yearly accounts and the SA returns for both me and the missus plus I can email or call them whenever I like to ask them about accounting\legal stuff I don't understand. It comes out of my company bank account so doesn't impact my pocket directly and it's an expense which can be written off against corp tax so it's really only £80.

For that amount a month it really isn't worth the time or hassle for me to do it all myself.

[chonok]

Deisel Weisel said:

Is this comparable with Quickbooks, and all the other alternatives?

No idea sorry

[Eric Mc]

chonok said:

I woulldn't do them myself as it would probably not be worth the time spent vs what i could earn, but my wife does them.

Shes not an accountant (had no knowledge previously) We are also a LTD company and she still doesn't think its that difficult.

Says she uses the HMRC software which is quite easy to use.

I didn't know that HMRC provided free software to allow you to complete company accounts that are compliant with the 2006 Companies Act and the required reporting standards (FRSSE etc).

Or are you talking about completing Corporation Tax computations and submitting the Corporation tax return CT600?

That is NOT preparing company accounts.

[chonok]

Eric Mc said:

I didn't know that HMRC provided free software to allow you to complete company accounts that are compliant with the 2006 Companies Act and the required reporting standards (FRSSE etc).

Or are you talking about completing Corporation Tax computations and submitting the Corporation tax return CT600?

That is NOT preparing company accounts.

No idea sorry.

All i know is that we do not use an accountant and she does everything (including accounts)

She has mentioned their software (which I had assumed that did eveything) but obviously not.

[CaptainSlow]

To be honest, I find pulling a set of accounts together pretty easy.

[Eric Mc]

I bet they aren't compliant.

The problem is, even though there is extensive legislation and multiple standards governing what is supposed to be shown in limited company accounts and accountants are expected to apply all of these where appropriate - the government agencies that are tasked with ensuring that accounts meet these regulations (Companies House and HMRC) are woeful at applying their own rules.

Over the years I have seen many sets of accounts put together by non-qualified people and every single set was lacking - sometimes quite seriously lacking.

But, they were still accepted by Companies House and HMRC.

On one occasion I wrote to Companies House asking why a particular set of accounts had not been rejected out of hand and they admitted that they didn't have the resources to police their own rules.

I hope you have fun next year back adjusting the last two years accounts to comply with the new FRS102/102 1A and FRS 105 - as will be required for ALL company accounts next year.

[red_slr]

I would never even attempt to do my own.

We do our own VAT, PAYE and payroll but that's about as far as it goes.

Mrs SLR puts everything on Sage, but at the end of the year he just gets 3 or 4 boxes of paperwork and a USB stick and we leave him to sort it.

[Smiler.]

I compile data into the programme my accountant uses. I do my own and VAT quarterly but he does everything else including the annual Tax return.

Not a Ltd company though.

[Brads67]

A good accountant is worth every penny.

A bad one makes you wonder whether you could do the job yourself.

[Jasandjules]

Brads67 said:

A good accountant is worth every penny.

A bad one makes you wonder whether you could do the job yourself.

Well I am being charged 1k. This seems like a lot to me for what ought to be fairly simple accounts.