Accountant recommendation - VAT Thread poster: Ali YANDIK
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Ali YANDIK 
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:16
Member (2016)
English to Turkish
+ ...
We are looking for an accountant in the UK for our VAT returns.
Can you please recommend an accountant who can understand the needs of a translation business with clients all over the world?
Thank you
| | | | Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:16
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
Ali YANDIK wrote:
We are looking for an accountant in the UK for our VAT returns.
Can you please recommend an accountant who can understand the needs of a translation business with clients all over the world?
Thank you
I've been very happy with Gregg @ https://www.colemanwebb.com/ for many years now. I'm registered as a sole trader here in the UK. I don't have a VAT number as I haven't needed to register yet, but might have to soon as I am creeping ever closer to the annual VAT exemption threshold.
| | | | Chris Spurgin
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:16
Member (2016)
Russian to English
+ ...
| Consider your accounting software | Nov 11 |
Many accountants use one accounting software or another. Consider software preferences when making your choice.
You may find that a local provider is just as good as an online one, so do shop around.
| | | | Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:16
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| VAT reporting is something you can easily do yourself | Nov 11 |
I use an accountant to do my taxes and so on, but I do the quarterly VAT returns myself.
These days all serious accounting software will be compliant with Making Tax Digital (MTD), so provided that you have entered your transactions into whatever software you use - which will be unavoidable for a VAT-registered business - making a VAT return should not take more than five minutes, and typically involves just a few button presses.
I'm not saying you shouldn't use an acco... See more I use an accountant to do my taxes and so on, but I do the quarterly VAT returns myself.
These days all serious accounting software will be compliant with Making Tax Digital (MTD), so provided that you have entered your transactions into whatever software you use - which will be unavoidable for a VAT-registered business - making a VAT return should not take more than five minutes, and typically involves just a few button presses.
I'm not saying you shouldn't use an accountant in general (quite the contrary), but it is not worth it for VAT alone. Of course, if you want an accountant to do your bookkeeping, that's a different issue.
Regards,
Dan ▲ Collapse
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Ali YANDIK
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:16
Member (2016)
English to Turkish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | still looking for an accountant | Nov 11 |
Thank you all Michael, Chris and Dan.
The accounting company was taken over by another one and they turned out to be incompetent. We would rather do everything ourselves but we had to use a chartered accountant for our business visa.
I believe they have only dealt with customers doing business in the UK only even though they claim to be managed by a chartered accountant. I pointed out a few of their mistakes, which they did not accept in the beginning and it turned out ... See more Thank you all Michael, Chris and Dan.
The accounting company was taken over by another one and they turned out to be incompetent. We would rather do everything ourselves but we had to use a chartered accountant for our business visa.
I believe they have only dealt with customers doing business in the UK only even though they claim to be managed by a chartered accountant. I pointed out a few of their mistakes, which they did not accept in the beginning and it turned out they are not as competent as they should be.
We are not a big-company but working with 3 currencies, doing business with US, European companies and being registered for VAT on a cash basis and bookkeeping on an accural basis makes it (look like) we need to work with a big accounting company. Having a small business, we want to work with only one accountant instead of dealing with multiple departments
Sorry any recommendations are welcome. Thank you. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:16
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
I have found My accountant online good for tax returns, general inquiries, and so on.
https://myaccountantonline.co.uk/
However, I'm basically a one-man business.
Shoot her an email; she is very responsive.
Might help to tell her I sent you.
Regards,
Dan
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:16
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Dan Lucas wrote:
Shoot her an email
Just email her. Don't shoot.
| | | | Joe France
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:16
German to English
+ ...
| Do you need an accountant? | Nov 11 |
I had an accountant for the first 6 or 7 years of freelancing. However, when their fees increased to an intolerable point – essentially doubling during that period – I decided to let them go. For the time it takes to sit and put together self-assessment and VAT declarations in the UK, I just couldn't justify the expense as a one-man outfit. You've used "we" in your posts so assume you're not a solo outfit, but I still think it's worth exploring your DIY options.
Whether you use ... See more I had an accountant for the first 6 or 7 years of freelancing. However, when their fees increased to an intolerable point – essentially doubling during that period – I decided to let them go. For the time it takes to sit and put together self-assessment and VAT declarations in the UK, I just couldn't justify the expense as a one-man outfit. You've used "we" in your posts so assume you're not a solo outfit, but I still think it's worth exploring your DIY options.
Whether you use an accountant for your business is obviously your call. However, I would imagine that many translators in the UK with English as a working language will work with clients in the EU and US, so that is perhaps not so unusual. As I found, once you learn the processes involved in accounting and submitting tax returns, all it requires is some concentration and diligence. It might take some time out of your week – but I would imagine that the potential savings of cutting out an accountant might be worth it. Or you might prefer the peace of mind (and greater legal certainty?) that comes with engaging a financial professional. Up to you.
My recommendation would be Anna (https://anna.money/). It's a fairly modular system that lets you do a range of things. I started to use Anna to meet the MTD requirements. I think, at the top end, you can set up business accounts with them. However, I just use Anna to submit my annual self-assessment and quarterly VAT returns at around £3.50 a pop. It provides all the templates you need and links with HMRC. I've never had any issues. Taking an hour each quarter to fill in VAT returns, a couple of hours each month to update my finance sheet and a day a year to finalise my annual accounts seems more reasonable to me than the hefty sum my previous accountant (and two other "small-business specialists") quoted me. ▲ Collapse
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