Does A Sole Trader Need An Accountant?
Posted on 3rd May 2022 at 12:17
As a nation, we like to hear about successful entrepreneurs and many of us were brought up knowing about Richard Branson and Alan Sugar's ventures. For many, the dream of giving up the 9-5 and being your own boss is something that becomes a reality either through circumstance, such as redundancy, or through sheer determination. The latest business population statistics give a great insight into how working has evolved and changed. There are currently 3.2 million sole traders in the UK, which make up 56% of the private business sector. We work with many Essex and Suffolk sole proprietors and wanted to share the benefits that employing an accountant, like Office Minder will bring to your enterprise.
In terms of organisational structure the sole trader is a simple one. Also known as self employed, the individual does everything related to their business and reaps the business profits. However, the sole trader is also liable for any losses and carries the weight and responsibility entirely, which is known as unlimited liability. You may also hear the term freelance worker and these types of business would be registered at HMRC in the same way as any other self employed person. It can be tiring wearing many business hats and dealing with your clients, so we want to clarify what an accountant or a bookkeeper will bring to the table, if you are debating whether to work with one.
It is fair to say that you can find out almost anything online and it is possible for you to do your own accounts. You will need to be familiar with vocabulary related to finance and accountancy or be prepared to learn it. There is no room for error in our field, so if you are not a whiz with numbers, that would be a reason in itself to hire a professional accountant who deals with sole traders and self employed folk. Right from the start, Office Minder work for our clients to ensure that they are set up in accordance with the business rules set out by HMRC and have a system in place to record the financial position of the company. There is then the complex world of tax, which we work hard to continuously keep up to date with, so that our clients do not have too. Unfortunately, one mistake in your tax filing can incur large penalties.
Talking of tax, one of the things that you get a tax deduction for is the expense of your accountant. So let's look at what else, accountants like us do for sole traders,
complete self assessment tax returns
make national insurance contributions
VAT calculations, payments and records
Bookkeeping
These are core tasks, we offer more services like support with budgeting or inventory depending on what our clients need. We welcome new clients and like to understand your needs and the business so please book a meeting, if you are ready to talk about how our services can help to make running your business easier. Please check out our testimonials to see what some of our existing clients are saying about Office Minder's services.
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