Only the best “will do”
At Rosemary Bookkeeping, lots of people ask us that question and pre recession our answer might have been different. A few years ago, as long as you were compliant with HMRC and Companies House rules and regulations then very basic bookkeeping would have been fine, but the world has changed. The Government doesn’t have any money and are looking to fines to ensure that business pay what they owe and on time.
You may not be aware but the Government are coming down hard on businesses that have “inadequate bookkeeping” and they are prepared to raise fines of up to £3000 where they feel the paperwork isn’t sufficient. If you pay staff, you must file online with HMRC before you pay your employees and if you are in the building trade and using sub-contractors, it’s vital that your CIS returns are correct. And don’t forget that you must file VAT online – long gone are the paper returns. Without a doubt, the Government are tightening up on reporting to them and at Rosemary Bookkeeping; we are definitely seeing more HMRC inspections too.
So assuming that you are happy that the bookkeeping that is done for your business puts ticks in all the Government boxes, why won’t “good enough” bookkeeping do? At Rosemary Bookkeeping we think it’s important that businesses understand what’s really going on. When cash is tight, it’s absolutely vital that you know who owes you money and who you owe money to. If you don’t know the basics such as which of your products is the most profitable, how much you are spending in specific areas and if your costs are too high, then how are you going to survive the recession?
We look after our clients, intelligently processing their bookkeeping so that they understand how their business ticks. So what should you expect from your bookkeeper? Well you need someone who is on your side and is thinking about what they process. You should expect your bookkeeper to understand when you can and when you can’t claim VAT on purchases or when you should or shouldn’t charge VAT. They should provide you with regular reports on who owes you money so that you can take action and reports that show who you owe money to. When cash is tight, we think you should be confident that the money going in and out of your bank account makes sense and is as it should be.
Next time, I’ll be going into more detail about the reports you should expect from your bookkeeper and how often you should get reports. At Rosemary Bookkeeping, we want you to have the very best information so that you can make the best decisions for your business.
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