Alan Reynolds & Company, Chartered Accountants

Walnut Hose

34 Rose Street

Wokingham

Berkshire RG40 1XU

(01189) 787561

alanreynoldsco@aol.com

Registered in England 01729769

How to Maintain Business Records

1. Limited Companies

Once you have purchased/ ordered your company from us and we have transferred to you the subscriber share(s), the next step is to appoint new director(s). We will advise Companies House of these changes and complete the documentation on your behalf.

The Inland Revenue will in due course send the Registered Office a New Company Enquiry Questionnaire that we will complete on your behalf. The Inland Revenue Office will be the one most local to the Registered Office of the company and they will send us the appropriate forms.

We will also ask the Inland Revenue to set up a PAYE scheme for the company. We will assist in the preparation of the Company's payroll and calculating the necessary Tax and National Insurance due, informing you of when it is due and sending the payment off to H M Collector of Taxes on your behalf. We will also assist you in VAT registration (if required) and apply for the VAT flat rate scheme, if appropriate to your business. We will assist you in VAT online filing, if requested to do so.

PAYE ASSISTANCE

If you need assistance with regard to your PAYE scheme or dealings with the Inland Revenue please do not hesitate to contact us. We will prepare your monthly/weekly payroll records and file your PAYE year end returns electronically.

BANK ACCOUNTS

When opening a company bank account (which you will need) the bank will require a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation and will ask for a copy of the company's Memorandum and Articles of Association. We will provide you with copies of these documents. The Bank will also need you to supply personal identification details, such as a passport or driving licence, and utility bills.

BOOK KEEPING REQUIREMENTS

Whilst there is a statutory requirement for a company to maintain proper accounting records, there are no statutory regulations stating what precisely is meant by proper accounting records! However, from 2011, HMRC intend to visit 50,000 small and medium enterprises per annum to inspect their records. We will assist you in setting up your accounting records on a manual or a computer system to ensure that they are adequate for your business control and HMRC requirements. All sales invoices and expense vouchers/ receipts should be retained and filed in a chronological manner. Alternatively using a spreadsheet package such as "Excel" would be very efficient. As a client of ours, we will advise you on how to keep your records for you which will need to adhere to the stringent standards required by the Inland Revenue.

All receipts for company invoices should be properly documented and deposited in the company bank account. The only money or cheques that should be paid from the company's funds should be:

1 Salaries paid to staff and /or director(s) as discussed above, including PAYE tax and NI on these salaries if appropriate.
2 Any expenses and capital equipment costs by the company itself in its business operations.
3 The reimbursement to a director of any company expenses that he has previously settled on behalf of the company.
4 The payment of net dividends to the shareholder(s).

Clearly the most flexible of the above is the dividend distribution. This should be set at a level each month/quarter/year which is sufficient to cover the director/ owners personal cash requirements (over and above what is not covered by his/her salary). It is important to remember, however, that dividends are a distribution of net profits to shareholders, and so the company must have the net profits after tax to at least equal the net dividend. We will supply you with an excel based dividend calculator to assist you in calculating the dividends that can be paid.

The Inland Revenue (HMRC) are very strict on funds taken from a company by its owner/director. If the funds are not covered by the four categories given above there could be costly and complicated tax implications, so, please avoid this situation at all costs. With an "on-hands" approach to your New Company we will be able to avoid this situation and address any problems immediately.

We have a range of Help Sheets to assist you in maximising your deductible expenses and minimising your taxes.

2. Self Employed, Partnerships & LLP's

Excluding the comments sprecifically relating to company formation, much of the above advice also applies to self employed businesses, partnerships and LLP's.