You do not need to use a chartered accountant to complete your accounts for the Companies House return and the Corporation Tax return.
This is a statement that probably is not recognised by the vast majority of limited companies in the UK who still insist on using services of a chartered accountant to prepare their accounts. There is no reason at all to use an accountant. If your turnover is less than £10,000, we think it is perfectly possible and realistic to prepare your own accounts using the HMRC and Companies House online systems without needing to bother with a chartered accountant.
The reason behind this is simple. Firstly a chartered accountant will take a considerable amount of money off you from your turnover for doing very little work. Preparing accounts is an extremely simple task, which is why in most accountancy firms the work is done by a junior or assistant accountant who is not qualified. Very often, it simply involves putting the figures into a spreadsheet and typing the spreadsheet out, pressing a button and automated software preparing the various statutory documents required. In this day and age, an accountant is no longer necessary to do this and accountants themselves recognise this because they use unqualified staff to prepare the vast majority of this type of work.
The only time a limited company in the UK needs to use an accountant is if their income is higher than the level required to have audited accounts rather than unaudited.
If you do not want to do the accountancy yourself, then you can also use another low cost alternative to employing the services of a chartered accountant. For less than 15% of the price you would have paid to your accountant, you can get an outsourced accountant to complete the work for you. Services like www.businessbusstop.com can assist and the cost savings for companies with a turnover of less than £300,000 can be quite dramatic. Instead of paying in the region of £1,000 to £2,000 plus VAT for the accounts to be prepared, it is likely you are looking at a figure of about £200. The service would be virtually exactly the same and the finished product identical.
To learn how to save money on your accounts, please contact enquiries@businessbusstop.com.