New Business and need help please

[Cupandcakecafe]

Just owned a cafe with my girlfriend. we are both 22 and amateurs to this.
We are in a partnership and started trading last week. Should we get VAT registered and how do we register for tax. Any good sites that we could use for our accounts.

And if we dont register for VAT do we need to keep all our receipts.

This may seem dum i hope some one can help thank you

 

[Scalloway]

You must register as self employed asap

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/selfemployed/register-selfemp.htm

You must register for VAT if your turnover reaches £77,000. There are rules for the exact point it becomes necessary. You can register early if you wish. Remember either your prices will jump 20% or your income reduce proportionately when you do.

You MUST keep all receipts for a minimum of 6 years in case HMRC make enquiries. You can get into all kinds of trouble if you don't.

 

[fashionprintdesigner]

Hi,

just to say I really wish you and your girlfriend all the best with your venture.

Mandi

 

[ParfittTaylor]

Good luck with your venture.

I would recommend either using Xero (which is online so you don't have to worry about backups and upgrades and is simple to use) or a free cashbook software from VT (spreadsheet based).

You will need to keep all receipts to be able to complete your self assessment income returns at the end of the tax year even if you don't register for VAT. You will also need to record all the sales that you make and keep the records.

I would have a look at the Business Link website for information on running your business and there is information on there about VAT registration.

 

[internetspaceships]

Just owned a cafe with my girlfriend. we are both 22 and amateurs to this.
We are in a partnership and started trading last week. Should we get VAT registered and how do we register for tax. Any good sites that we could use for our accounts.

And if we dont register for VAT do we need to keep all our receipts.

This may seem dum i hope some one can help thank you

Please go and see an accountant. Like yesterday because you sound like you really really need some professional advice.

I wish you all the very best with your venture and it's sad that I'm the first person on this thread to offer you the proper advice, which is to go see someone who knows how to tell you to run your books and more importantly can share some business knowledge with you.

You need to do this right now at the start of your business and you'll prevent all kinds of problems and worries later by doing it.

 

[PrestonLad]

I can't argue with the idea that you should see the cost of consulting an accountant to be an essential part of your start-up investment.

Listen to that advice... but if you want an indicator, I think you will ultimately want to keep away from VAT registration for as long as you can (i.e. until your turnover reaches 77K). If you register early, your prices would immediately need to increase to reflect 20% VAT (which makes your small business much less competitive than multinationals like Greggs and Tesco, who recently very cleverly found a way of avoiding a lot of VAT by labelling it a "pasty tax" and making some very emotive claims.

The price increase might not be 20% though. Because your costs would be reduced because you would be able to reclaim most of the VAT that you currently pay in the course of running your business. I guess that you do have to pay VAT on some of your food supplies (you will know this better than me... look at your invoices if you're not sure!)... and you'll certainly pay VAT on some other items/fittings/services you use.

The only likely scenario I can think of, where you'd benefit from early registration, would be if you spent a lot on fit-out of the cafe... in which case, my (non expert) understanding, is that you could reclaim some or all of the VAT you paid to contractors, equipment suppliers etc.

 

[ankit.puri]

Hi All,

I hope I will get some people here who can help me.. I am merchant from India with a UK registered company.I am running a tech support business can someone please suggest me some merchant id providers for online remote support business and also a processor. Please help ..

Regards
Ankit Puri

 

[Phoenixflyhigh]

Hello ankit,

I once took service of these guys, i cant post link yet ... you can try if you like.. pretty cool group, helped in setting up my website and all.. hope this helps

Hi All,

I hope I will get some people here who can help me.. I am merchant from India with a UK registered company.I am running a tech support business can someone please suggest me some merchant id providers for online remote support business and also a processor. Please help ..

Regards
Ankit Puri

 

[Yuriy]

Just owned a cafe with my girlfriend. we are both 22 and amateurs to this.
We are in a partnership and started trading last week. Should we get VAT registered and how do we register for tax. Any good sites that we could use for our accounts.

And if we dont register for VAT do we need to keep all our receipts.

This may seem dum i hope some one can help thank you

I'm so touched! So cute! I wish you all the best!

 

[Swapnil007]

If you are in India then you need not to register for vat until your turnover crosses 9 lakhs and your payment will start once your turnover crosses limit of 10 lakhs. No idea about the other parts of the world as I am from India as well

 

[Donstu71]

A good online Accounting website is Kashflow, it's not overly expensive and is aimed at new businesses and people who hardly know anything about accounting.
With regards to getting help, I found that my area had a Business Enterprise in fact my local one is now a Consortium of Business Enterprises and they offer free Business courses, accounting and tax courses and point you in the right direction, I am currently using them alongside my own Business advisor from the Army. Good luck with it all anyway

Just owned a cafe with my girlfriend. we are both 22 and amateurs to this.
We are in a partnership and started trading last week. Should we get VAT registered and how do we register for tax. Any good sites that we could use for our accounts.

And if we dont register for VAT do we need to keep all our receipts.

This may seem dum i hope some one can help thank you