a few questions before my tax return...

[manwithaplan]

I got an accountant to do my accounts last year, so i have the documents as a template for this year.
I didn't make any money this year so thought it would be better if i did it myself.

(i'm using gnu cash as my accounts package.)

last year i made £4571 profit that i planned/plan to take as a dividend.
(currently i created a liability account called "last years dividend" that has 1 transaction of 4571 (to balance the extra money in the business current account )and is linked to the imbalance account.
q1 What is the correct way to do this?

q2. how do i note this on my balance sheet that goes in the report to HMRC?

currently it looks like:

Current Assets
Cash at bank and in hand xxx

Creditors: amounts falling due within a year xxx

Net current assets

Total assets less current liabilities

q3. i have the same problem with balancing last years corporation tax and accountancy charge in my accounts package, how do i do them?


q4
last year i opened the company / bank account with £1000 in shares and this is menthiod in the balance sheet as
Called up share capital £1000
since this has not changed this year do i need to mention it again?
to balance the cash at bank as above?

q5
I am a bit late with my accounts and will be fined.
do i add this to this year as a liability or an expense or does it go to next years accounts?

q6. i would like to take last years dividend soon (although i am happy to wait for the next year if that makes it easier.)
When i do:
1. how do i record it in my accounts package?
2. how do i record it on the docs that go to hmrc and comapnies hours?
3. what else do i have to do?


Thanks so much for your help. If you can/want to only answer some of the questions then please do so. :)

[Williams lester]

You probably do need an accountant if you have to ask questions such as these on a forum. If you get the CT600 and accounts wrong it could cost you more in penalties than an accountant would charge you!

[Jenni384]

I agree with Dave.


I am a bit late with my accounts and will be fined.
How late? It goes up from £150 to £375 once you're more than 1 month late. At this point it really will be cheaper to let a professional do it all for you. After 3 months it's something like £750.

There are plenty of good accountants on here who would be happy to look at if for you and if the data is as complete as you say, it might cost less than you think.

[manwithaplan]

i would be happy to pay for the answers to these questions, but i think it is importnat that i learn to do it myself.

[Jenni384]

i would be happy to pay for the answers to these questions, but i think it is importnat that i learn to do it myself.

I think you need to find a middle ground.

Bear in mind that professionals spend years learning how to do it properly, can you afford to spend that much time and effort? Getting company accounts and tax right is not something you can get purely from forum advice.

It might be better to find an accountant who will prepare the figures - and then sit down and talk you through them and help you understand what they mean, and how their final figures might differ from the numbers you gave them initially.

Wanting to know how it works is great, more business owners should want to know this imo, but I don't think going as far as learning to do it all yourself is time or money efficient.

For the price you would pay for someone to talk you through it all - it would probably be cheaper to pay them do do it for you and then explain what they have done.