It’s highly recommended that you keep 7 years’ worth of bookkeeping record (6 years plus the current financial year). A HMRC investigation could happen at any time so it’s always best to keep everything. 7 years is an awful lot of boxes of paperwork so we recommend using a software to store things electronically. Apps like Dext Prepare/Commerce, Apron, Hubdoc, Pleo, Quickbooks, and Xero all store documents. Then there’s Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive for the bits that your accounting apps may not store.
We don’t recommend this. It can be quite overwhelming when learning a new software and our brains can only take in so much new information at a time before we start to switch off. We used to run day courses, so we’ve seen this first hand. We recommend that training be a little and often. This also gives you chance to go away and use the skills you’ve learnt practically, before going on to the next bit of training. To learn more about our training click here.
We offer a wide range of services, many of them tailored to meet our clients needs. Please visit our services and pricing page to find out more details on this.
There are a few key things to check when outsourcing a bookkeeper:
- Are they insured?
- Are they regulated? By law they must have a supervising body. See here for more info on this.
- Do they have a privacy policy?
- Are they registered with the ICO (information commissioner’s office)
Bookkeepers are required by law to be supervised for anti-money laundering by an awarding body. Awarding bodies include (but are not limited to):
- HMRC
- ICB
- IAB
- AAT
If they suspect money laundering is taking place within a firm they are required by law to report it.
When we take on a new client we perform identification checks, anti-money laundering checks, and risk assessments before undertaking any work.
Accountants and bookkeepers perform different functions. In order for an accountant to do their job they need accurate, organised data in the correct format and at the right time. This is where a bookkeeper comes in. Bookkeepers’ are expert in managing day-to-day finances. To find out the difference between a bookkeeper and accountant read our blog or watch our video here.
Bookkeeping takes time, patience, training, and experience to get it right. It’s also important to have someone to check your work as we’re only human and can make mistakes. We provide training in all elements of bookkeeping so we can train you up, to a point. There are certain advanced elements that will take experience and time to learn. We have support options which give you access to an experienced bookkeeper to run questions by, check your work, and do the more advanced work. You can find out about our training and support options here.
Bookkeeping brings together all of your financials in an organised manner which helps a business for an array of reasons.
These include but are not limited to:
- Having accurate records to submit to your accountant and HMRC
- Make accurate financial projections for company growth
- Debt management
This isn’t a straightforward question, different software packages have different capabilities. This is why we don’t use just one software provider, it would be doing our clients and bookkeepers an injustice. We assess the individual requirements of each client before making recommendations. If you would like a software review please book a meeting with us here. You can also check out our post here on what to look out for when choosing a software package.
Often people have the misconception that bookkeepers and accountants are the same role when in fact they are two different job roles. Yes, they can cross over but it’s important to know they are generally expected to do different things. We have a blog all about the differences here and a TikTok video on it here.
There are misconceptions about what a bookkeeper does. We’ve created a short TikTok video you can view here that will clear this up.
