AlwaysWorkWorkWork
11th May 2010, 16:49
Dear all,
i apologize for the pretty generic title of this thread but i didnt want to flood the forum with different ones...so i decided to simply list a number of questions in the same thread....
I would also like to thank for your replies in advance.
About me:
I am registered as self-employed software and electronics engineer in the UK for the past 3 years. This time i have been mainly offering my services to one UK company whom i have been invoicing once a month for my time spent working for them. My annual revenue has to date been around the 12-15K and although last year i got up to around 25K, i am not really considering registering for VAT yet.
During my free time i have been learning web technologies and in order to complement my income i am now looking into expanding part time into web hosting and web development.
My questions:
1. As a self-employed do i need to open up a business account? During the introductory session at inland's offices this wasnt really mentioned and i have so far been using just a normal HSBC account i used to hold.
2. I am really flirting with the idea of starting up a spin-off doing web stuff. But currently i am invoicing with simply my name on the invoice (well when i started trading i wasnt prepared to come with a company name so i used my name instead), and for the spin-off i would like to come with a fancy name. I was thinking of calling Inland and ask them to open up a second trading record for me with the company name i want. So i will continue offering my services to my existing clients as it is and my new venture will bear the new name...Any advice on this?
3. If i start up a second account for my part-time venture i will have to fill up 2 separate self assessment forms correct? But will then everything be counted as 1? for example my web services will incur a minimum expense of around 45GBP monthly for the web hosting account...at the end of the year will these expenses count towards my overall revenue?
4. I would like to start accepting payments online (via Paypal). But paypal is currently bound to my current HSBC (non-business account). Would that be a problem? Would you advice me in opening a new paypal account with a new email address and bound to some other account?
5. For my web services i will try and keep it simple and deal with UK and Greece only. To be antagonistic i will have to charge in euros. However and because i will be mainly targeting Greece would it make sense to open up a bank account in Greece and instruct my clients to make payments there? All revenue will be declared here in the UK and will not exceed the 20-30% of my total revenue (and therefore i think i dont have to be registered in Greece).
6. With web hosting and web development things are a bit scary. I will need to adopt a set of specific procedures for quoting, submitting project proposals, proforma invoices and invoices...Any good links with resources on this...I just need to foolproof myself from all the pitfalls that come with unclear policies.
7. I intend to offer a six month free trial web hosting package. So the client will try my services for six months and if he likes he will pay another six months. After that it will be recurring on an annual basis. Any ideas when it will be time to invoice? Given that money will be paid after the initial trial period i would think it should be ok to invoice at the 6th month...
8. Invoicing. Given that i will be undertaking two activities at the same time..how will that work with my invoices? Do they need to assume sequential numbers? Or can invoices from either activity follow their own numbering system?
9. And finally...I would certainly welcome offers for professional help by the experts here....I am in Reading, Berkshire and would prefer skype/conference sessions.
Pheww...i think that all for now...many many thanks !!!
i apologize for the pretty generic title of this thread but i didnt want to flood the forum with different ones...so i decided to simply list a number of questions in the same thread....
I would also like to thank for your replies in advance.
About me:
I am registered as self-employed software and electronics engineer in the UK for the past 3 years. This time i have been mainly offering my services to one UK company whom i have been invoicing once a month for my time spent working for them. My annual revenue has to date been around the 12-15K and although last year i got up to around 25K, i am not really considering registering for VAT yet.
During my free time i have been learning web technologies and in order to complement my income i am now looking into expanding part time into web hosting and web development.
My questions:
1. As a self-employed do i need to open up a business account? During the introductory session at inland's offices this wasnt really mentioned and i have so far been using just a normal HSBC account i used to hold.
2. I am really flirting with the idea of starting up a spin-off doing web stuff. But currently i am invoicing with simply my name on the invoice (well when i started trading i wasnt prepared to come with a company name so i used my name instead), and for the spin-off i would like to come with a fancy name. I was thinking of calling Inland and ask them to open up a second trading record for me with the company name i want. So i will continue offering my services to my existing clients as it is and my new venture will bear the new name...Any advice on this?
3. If i start up a second account for my part-time venture i will have to fill up 2 separate self assessment forms correct? But will then everything be counted as 1? for example my web services will incur a minimum expense of around 45GBP monthly for the web hosting account...at the end of the year will these expenses count towards my overall revenue?
4. I would like to start accepting payments online (via Paypal). But paypal is currently bound to my current HSBC (non-business account). Would that be a problem? Would you advice me in opening a new paypal account with a new email address and bound to some other account?
5. For my web services i will try and keep it simple and deal with UK and Greece only. To be antagonistic i will have to charge in euros. However and because i will be mainly targeting Greece would it make sense to open up a bank account in Greece and instruct my clients to make payments there? All revenue will be declared here in the UK and will not exceed the 20-30% of my total revenue (and therefore i think i dont have to be registered in Greece).
6. With web hosting and web development things are a bit scary. I will need to adopt a set of specific procedures for quoting, submitting project proposals, proforma invoices and invoices...Any good links with resources on this...I just need to foolproof myself from all the pitfalls that come with unclear policies.
7. I intend to offer a six month free trial web hosting package. So the client will try my services for six months and if he likes he will pay another six months. After that it will be recurring on an annual basis. Any ideas when it will be time to invoice? Given that money will be paid after the initial trial period i would think it should be ok to invoice at the 6th month...
8. Invoicing. Given that i will be undertaking two activities at the same time..how will that work with my invoices? Do they need to assume sequential numbers? Or can invoices from either activity follow their own numbering system?
9. And finally...I would certainly welcome offers for professional help by the experts here....I am in Reading, Berkshire and would prefer skype/conference sessions.
Pheww...i think that all for now...many many thanks !!!