grab lorry business questions

[jamesold]

I have a few questions about running a grab lorry business as a vat registered limited company.
I understand all the licenses we need and these are in place.
In terms of day to day running we will basically collect inert waste from customer sites and then take this waste to local tips. We will also collect materials such as sand, limestone scalps and deliver these to customers sites.
We will just be moving materials around and not storing any ourselves.
A few questions:
- do we need a paper trail of every material we grab on the lorry and where it goes to?
- as a vat registered ltd company what info are we legally required to record when submitting accounts? how detailed do the records need to be?
Many thanks for any info, just want to run the operation as streamlined as possible.

 

[SillyBill]

Are you in this industry - I would thought you would know as a customer what you get? You need to be issuing Waste Transfer/Consignment notes to your customers for any transfer of waste. For companies like mine which are audited in areas like environmental practice and have voluntary certifications like ISO 14001 it is a pain in the arse chasing up any contractor who seem to have ignored the last 15 years of regulatory landscape change and think they can just roll up and collect it without so much as a fag packet receipt.

For stuff like weekly or bi-weekly collections of general/cardboard waste we get an annual waste transfer note; this cuts down the admin. For one-off runs you need to generate the paperwork to show the Duty of Care for the waste has been followed.

 

[jamesold]

thanks yes every customer receives a waste transfer note to confirm we have taken the load , what material it is and where it will be tipped.
would you recommend accounts cloud software like xero as we are vat registered and ltd.
also whats the best way to pay the director who is also the driver. i understand it can be in different ways like dividends but not sure the best option.

 

[Alan]

would you recommend accounts cloud software like xero as we are vat registered and ltd.
also whats the best way to pay the director who is also the driver.

I'd recommend you get an accountant and they will advise what is best for you. Accountants are not scary or expensive, and most will give you plenty of time before you hire them to discuss what your business is about for free.

Not sure of the size of grab lorry but even second hand they will cost you what £50-£80k
An accountant will cost you something like £1k per year and probably save you that many times over in tax savings or avoided fines by getting things right

 

[Scalloway]

- as a vat registered ltd company what info are we legally required to record when submitting accounts? how detailed do the records need to be?

You need to open a bank account for the company for all tranasactions. For VAT and PAYE you will need a computer system to record all your income and expenditure and send the returns to HMRC electronically. Your accountant will need this information to send your accounts to Companies House and the Corporation tax reurn to HMRC.

You need to retain accounting records for 6 years.

 

[jamesold]

thanks weve got the barclays business account which also has a free smart dashboard which links up with xero, quickbooks or paypal.
only one worker being the director so do we need paye?
we are vat registered im guessing this is the reason an accounts package such as one of those above would be recommended?

 

[Scalloway]

only one worker being the director so do we need paye?

Yes you should set up the director to recieve a salary through PAYE. There are various reasons why this is a good idea. The company can pay you a sum that is below the personal allowance but you will be credited with NI payments so that you will have a full record when you are the age to receive an Old Age Pension so you get your full entitlement. It will also ensure you are eligible for other state benefits.

A further point that I have made in the past is that sometimes directors take more money out of their company than they should. This can have tax consequences. It can also mean that if the company goes bust they have to repay what they have taken out. There are many threads here from directors who have had this happen.

Beyond this point the lockdown of business activity in the past year has affected some company directors badly. They have relied on dividends to make ends meet and when their business had to stop working they were not entitled to furlough payments that they could otherwise have claimed.

Your accountant will be able to advise further.

 

[Stedurham]

is there a market for this? its saturated in most areas these days, just had 2 tonne sand delivered for £38 a tonne no idea how they make money

 

[bodgitt&scarperLTD]

If you are down south, consider trading upon reputation, quality and service rather than rates. I’ve stopped using three different companies because they messed me around in various ways. I don’t mind paying an extra ten or twenty a load if it’s reliable, there’s enough money down south.

 

[Mark T Jones]

thanks yes every customer receives a waste transfer note to confirm we have taken the load , what material it is and where it will be tipped.
would you recommend accounts cloud software like xero as we are vat registered and ltd.
also whats the best way to pay the director who is also the driver. i understand it can be in different ways like dividends but not sure the best option.

These are questions that really require personal, professional advice (which comes at a cost).

Unfortunately, random opinions from forum members can be very misleading.

 

[jamesold]

thanks i just need a basic procedure of what to do, obviously invoices stored and a record of which are paid / not paid. the next thing i think is vat which a spreadsheet could store but would need updating regularly with the bank account statement. also i think each load taken away or delivery needs a paper trail eg a supplier invoice or tip ticket to show where the material came from and went. finally with directors loans eg money into the company via personal account is it fine to pay it back gradually for the moment instead of paye as the director has put in about 30k to get things up and running?

 

[Scalloway]

invoices stored and a record of which are paid / not paid. the next thing i think is vat which a spreadsheet could store but would need updating regularly with the bank account statement.

For bookkeeping I would strongly recommend using software. There are plenty of systems aavailable, both fre and paid for. It will be essential if you are going to be VAT registered as VAT returns must be submitted online.

directors loans eg money into the company via personal account is it fine to pay it back gradually for the moment instead of paye as the director has put in about 30k to get things up and running?

Yes you can take out your director's loan without tax consequences as funds allow.

 

[jamesold]

thanks we use barclays business and this can link up with xero or quickbooks - any views on these?

 

[Scalloway]

I've used Quickbooks and find it a bit complicated, particularly for a fair simple business like yours. Xero is very popular but I haven't used it. Personally I would give it a go.