With all the media stories about some of the world’s biggest firms dodging tax in the UK, there is no doubt that some smaller businesses will be tempted to play the same game.
My advice to anyone thinking of using tax avoidance measures is: please don’t!
And here’s why.
Getting caught doing something as silly as this is going to cause you so many problems – as an accountant I can tell you this will bring so much trouble and stress that the regret will kick in very quickly but the inevitable investigation will take a long time to conclude.
I run a family firm of accountants in Hull which goes back several generations and at no time would we advocate that a client should undertake such a course of action. If you have an accountant who is telling you to avoid paying tax, then it’s time to look for another cheap accountant!
Find a cheap accountant or find a bookkeeper
For me, I would encourage all small and medium sized businesses to either engage the services of an accountant – such as Yorkshire Accountancy – or find themselves a bookkeeper.
Obviously, you can run the accounts yourself and have an accountant draw up your books for filing at the financial year-end, but having a bookkeeper working with you through the year will make the final job a lot easier.
Indeed, managing your own books needn’t be time consuming or challenging but as your businesses grows it’s one of the first things that gets put to one side ‘to do later’.
Bookkeeping for small business
This is the time that the services of a cheap bookkeeper or an efficient bookkeeping service will be invaluable since they can do the tricky stuff while you focus on the paperwork and growing your business.
Don’t worry – keeping the books has traditionally been seen as the most boring aspect of running a business that you won’t be alone.
However, there are legal obligations with stiff financial penalties for not filing accounts on time – and for not keeping proper records.
You can avoid this situation by engaging the services of a good bookkeeper and you don’t have to see them!
The internet means that your bookkeeper could be at the other end of the country and yet still keep your books up-to-date.
Here at Yorkshire Accountancy we have people searching for cheap accountancy services and for our effective bookkeeping services from around the UK.
That’s why I can speak from experience and say that the location of your cheap accountant or bookkeeper is not important – the quality of their service is what you should be focussed on.
