Are any of you lads VAT registered?, whats the pros and cons of it ?, my uncle is the manager at portakabin liverpool, and wants me to do a load of work for him but only when im VAT registered. Ive been thinking about registering for a while now
Been thinking about going vat for a while as well. But everyone keeps saying your just a glorified tax collector lol Whats the benefits, if any? And obviously the major drawbacks?
My accountant said not worth it unless you're gonna be doing around 60 - 70k a year other wise its a major headache. They take no prisoners when it comes to VAT you have to pay it over quarterly and you have to make sure you save it as it ain't no good asking for a few more days, they ain't havin that. And then theres the time when they audit you that'll take a day of your time and possibly more as you'll need to make sure you've got your records upto date and any blagging you're gonna do make sure you get your story straight before he starts picking holes in your accounts. They just sit there going through your books and then pluck summit out at random then you have to show them the quote, the invoice, the money going into your account and the vat being seperated and paid over. Granted thats worst case scenario. Talk to an Accountant if you have one if not get one.
Thats what i was thinking as the down side to it all, but at the moment im fine without an accountant but was going to get one if i got registered, let them sort it all out if they could do, but just a bit worried about the cost of it all to be honest.
VAT recording isn't that difficult if you use a proper bookkeeping program - most now even submit your quarterly return online (we've been doing this for 3 years now). As for audits, that does not happen to everyone or every year and if your records are in order you don't have a problem at all. Don't forget, if you are VAT registered you can deduct all VAT paid - from petrol/diesel to printing ink etc - which you now can't. As for payment of the VAT to HMRC, if you set up a direct debit on their website you get 10 days extra to pay.
Wood you like is right its become easier with the birth of the computer age and programs such as SAGE thats about what most companies use, online payments also makes it easier I forgot about that. As for being audited the company I use to work for for 8 years got audited every year for 6 years which really use to whind up the bosses eventually they asked why cause they did everything correct no dodgy dealing all above board and the VAT inspector said well your company name starts with A so you are at the top of the list and first everytime, they wrote a letter of complaint and haven't been audited since.
LoL (we might not see them then for another few years ) As for Sage - I would stay well away from that particular software program, rather expensive and cumbersome to get used to. In my experience (qualified bookkeeper) Sage is absolutel no value for money! We now work with Kashflow (online bookkeeping AND Uk based), comes with a 60 days free trial, is simple to use and has this online link to HMRC - plus plenty of other features that come in quite handy. You can even create projects to keep track of your profit/loss per order/job
As for sage i was going to stay well clear cause of the price its an absolute disgrace to be honest, but i did sign up for the free 60 day trial kashflow the other day, you cant really do that much on the trial compared to what it has on the features section ie VAT entry etc. Also it has quote and invoice printing with your own branding etc is it worth it or should i go for go for just getting a load from a printers? Then write them in, also what about VAT invoicing? Is kashflow capable of that?
I went vat registered when I bought a brand new van 3 years ago, knocked around £3000.00 of the price. If you supply you will surely have to register sooner or later
I use the invoices from Kashflow (with our logo as branding) constantly, either printing it out and posting it or emailing the invoice to the client. Same with the purchase orders - email to supplier when needed with all details. (I can email you a test invoice if you like, so you can see for yourself) VAT is included in the invoices, purchases etc, a bit of a doodle as far as I'm concerned (and we get various supplies from the EU, which is tackled correctly in Kashflow too).
That looks good Wood You Like thanks for posting that up, I purchased a cheap one from PCworld a few months ago only £40 I agree sage is very expensive and would only really be any good for big companies.
A bit late, but just to throw another option in the mix: Debitoor (debitoor.com) is invoicing and accounting software designed specifically for freelancers and small business owners. It's easy to use and offers a variety of subscriptions with features to meet the needs of any business (including generating VAT reports to help with filling out those online forms). I admit I'm a bit biased since I work for them but it's worth checking out if anyone is looking for online software to manage business finances .
