Ebay/Amazon business - accountant needed

[littlelottie20]

Hi there
I am coming near to my first year end and need an accountant to do my accounts.
I have all sales records on spreadsheets but not sure if I may have too much info which makes it a bit messy so just wondering what I actually need to give to the accountant as I dont want to cause them lots of extra work by sending irrelevant records.
As I sell online I have lots of small sales daily so would I need to record all of these one by one or just a daily/weekly or monthly total.
I am in the Warwickshire area so any recommendations welcome.
many thanks

 

[Mr D]

Most accountants should be able to handle your business.
I record monthly figures for income from each source - so one for paypal, one for amazon etc.
Talk it over with prospective accountants as to how they want things presented. Some use particular packages.

There's a number of accountants on the forums.

 

[Lavender2306]

Hi there
I am coming near to my first year end and need an accountant to do my accounts.
I have all sales records on spreadsheets but not sure if I may have too much info which makes it a bit messy so just wondering what I actually need to give to the accountant as I dont want to cause them lots of extra work by sending irrelevant records.
As I sell online I have lots of small sales daily so would I need to record all of these one by one or just a daily/weekly or monthly total.
I am in the Warwickshire area so any recommendations welcome.
many thanks

Hi Lottie,
If I were your accountant I would say the more detail the better especially if it is in excel.
As long as you records your sales, purchases and the rest of the business transactions accurately
that information should be useful to an accountant. As you know it is easy to manipulate data in excel, so I would not worry about giving too much details.
If the business is not too complex , I would suggest you to file the accounts by yourself.
If you like I can send you an excel template that you could use to prepare annual accounts.
But on the other hand it is a good idea to have a professional to deal with these things if you are not sure where to start.

 

[littlelottie20]

Hi Lavender/Mr D
Thank you both for your advice.
The excel template would be very much appreciated Lavender

 

[Blue Sky Accounts]

Hi Lottie.

What are you looking to get out of finding an accountant?

Are you in need of their services to file your tax return for 17/18? Or do you want to keep a better control over your business?

The year-end tax return may take a little preparation if it is all kept on excel, but it shouldn't take too much work.

What you should look out for (and is something I can help with) is an accountant that could set up processes to make keeping an eye on your finance a lot easier going forward.

A simple set up on a free accounts package could save you hassle recording things in an unsecured excel sheet. Then you would just pay a small retainer to the accountant / Bookkeeper to keep it up to date with the latest information.

 

[Adam (EBS)]

Sign up to some online software, upload CSV file each week, and get your bookkeeper/accountant to sort it for you, less you have to worry about the better. That's what we do with our clients in similar positions to yourself, get them signed up to our accounting software, they upload csv, system notifies us and we deal with all the data and do it for them.

It is possible something you could do yourself, but if you have a big volume and aren't sure in relation to methods and legislation then yes get someone to do it for you. Don't just look local, you don't need someone local, not these days.

 

[Lavender2306]

Hi Lavender/Mr D
Thank you both for your advice.
The excel template would be very much appreciated Lavender

Let me have your email address then.

 

[littlelottie20]

Hi lavender2306, im unable to post or send email address due to being a newbie

 

[littlelottie20]

Thank you Adam and Blue Sky.
Your advice sounds very good but for the this year (ending June) i need to use the records I have as otherwise it would mean putting a years worth of transactions into software at once.

 

[Mr D]

Thank you Adam and Blue Sky.
Your advice sounds very good but for the this year (ending June) i need to use the records I have as otherwise it would mean putting a years worth of transactions into software at once.

Monthly income from a site, perhaps individual receipts for items (or monthly when you have a lot) - how many entries you thinking it could be?

 

[Adam (EBS)]

Thank you Adam and Blue Sky.
Your advice sounds very good but for the this year (ending June) i need to use the records I have as otherwise it would mean putting a years worth of transactions into software at once.

Hi, so you mean that you started the business last June? In that case yes, use what you have already for June 17, up until 05th April 2018 for 17/18 return, but thereafter a months worth of transactions will be easy enough to sort and you can start your new method as of today if you wanted. Does that make sense, or am I missing what you are saying?

 

[Blue Sky Accounts]

Hi Charlotte.

Are you set up as an LTD or sole trader?

If you are a LTD company then you will need to do a company tax return and a self-assessment for any money you have paid yourself. Your self-assessment will be from June to April. Your Corp Tax will run from June to June.

You could summarise a period's transactions and upload them into an accounting package, or individually. Any good accountant can help you with this.

PM me if you need any further help and advice with this.

 

[Phil Ballard]

Hi Lottie. I know many accountants in and around Warwickshire who would be happy to help. Please PM me if you would like me to recommend some. Many accountants will cater to your needs; if you can run the books yourself, they will simply get involved in the yearend bits and help on an adhoc basis.