Do I need a prefessional accountant?

[Monikka]

I wonder if a limited company needs a chartered accountant to prepare its final accounts , tax return etc or if this can be done by e.g. an accounting student?
Thanks

 

[kevin.doran]

It can be done by the bloke next door sunning himself with his top off providing he knows what he's doing.

No quals needed whatsoever so long as not above the audit limit.

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Anyone can call themselves an accountant and do your accounts and tax return.

Caveat Emptor.

As to a student - I expect their professional body will limit them Practising whilst studying. Most do.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

I wonder if a limited company needs a chartered accountant to prepare its final accounts , tax return etc or if this can be done by e.g. an accounting student?
Thanks

The student may be able to do it but if they are asking the question very probably not, and bear in mind if that student will probably breach his/her professional body regulations by doing so without a practising certificate.

 

[Curious]

Don't scrimp on your accountant. A good one is worth every penny they charge in my opinion because whilst they may look expensive on paper when you work out the amount they can actually save you they really do come in quite cheap.

 

[Rhodes100]

You don't need an accountant, you can also take out your own teeth if you want to rather than go to a dentist.

 

[Charles Accountancy]

Limited company accounts and corporation tax returns now have to be filed online to HMRC in ixbrl format, so whoever you use needs to have the correct corporation tax software to do this.

The disclosures and notes to the accounts also require a certain level of knowledge and competence, in order to do the correctly.

 

[Charles Accountancy]

XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language)

 

[BobBuilder]

Limited company accounts and corporation tax returns now have to be filed online to HMRC in ixbrl format, so whoever you use needs to have the correct corporation tax software to do this.

Is the pdf based software that HMRC provides free, the same thing or has the situation changed recently?

I've had no problems this year submitting all the necessary accounts and returns using the free HMRC software.

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Is the pdf based software that HMRC provides free, the same thing or has the situation changed recently?

I've had no problems this year submitting all the necessary accounts and returns using the free HMRC software.

everything changed on 1 April 2011 - to harp on about needing an accountant ...

An accountant keeps you the right side of legal by keeping up to date with filing days and changed in legislation.

The Finance Act was in the region of 1,200 pages this year along!

Of course not all of that is relevant to limited companies but good luck checking it all out

 

[Alan R Price]

You don't need an accountant, you can also take out your own teeth if you want to rather than go to a dentist.

Probably the best piece of advice I have seen on this forum!

 

[Monikka]

everything changed on 1 April 2011 - to harp on about needing an accountant ...

(...)
The Finance Act was in the region of 1,200 pages this year along!

Of course not all of that is relevant to limited companies but good luck checking it all out

If they (accountants) can do it we (non-accountants) can manage too

 

[InPrintImaging]

If they (accountants) can do it we (non-accountants) can manage too

Doubtful. I've seen comments like that before, right before the individual gets a slap from HMRC or Companies House, and then ordered to contract a professional. A Chartered Accountant (or Certified Chartered also) is assesed to the level of Masters Degree in order to obtain their qualification.

 

[directform]

If they (accountants) can do it we (non-accountants) can manage too

Would you rather spend time in crunching the numbers or spend time with your clients and bring in more revenue (money)?

Sir Richard Branson can also do the accounts if he wants to but I'm sure he would rather use his time to build his business empire than try to figure out how to produce a set of account.

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

If they (accountants) can do it we (non-accountants) can manage too

Of course - anyone with the right aptitude and time could train to be an accountant

 

[Alan R Price]

Of course - anyone with the right aptitude and time could train to be an accountant

Yup, it only takes about three years, and then a couple of years of post-qualification relevant experience to get a practising certificate, doesn't it?

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Yup, it only takes about three years, and then a couple of years of post-qualification relevant experience to get a practising certificate, doesn't it?

that is correct

 

[accounting-help]

Probably the best piece of advice I have seen on this forum!

Great piece of advice.

 

[InPrintImaging]

I'm going to answer the OP in a different way:



Do you know what accruals are, and why they are important? Further, before I just mentioned this word, did you even know the term "accrual" even existed?



You need to answer that question honestly (particularly with reference to the second bit), as you need to answer it without reference to any research material (eg search engine, wikipedia).

The reason I've asked it is this. An accrual is one of the basic techniques used to compile accounts. It is one of many things that have to be considered in order to complete a set of "true and fair" statutory accounts, and in comparison to many other technical aspects, it is actually relatively simple, being taught to trainees in basic form, during their first year.

HOWEVER, if you didn't know what it is, or, even more fundamentally, that this concept existed in the first place and that you needed to adjust for it, how on earth are you going to be able to do the job of an accountant? Trust me, there are plenty more things that I havn't mentioned, that you need to know about in order to produce a set of accounts, that are much more complex than the basic item I referred to above.

If you are recording invoices on a computer system, this is what is known as book keeping. It is not the same as producing a set of accounts.