Should the accountant be categorising and adding up my invoices, or should I?

[happyhippydad]

Hello all..
I have just joined this forum as I have a specific question.
This is my first year in business as a sole trader and I have chosed to use an accountant for the first year or two whilst I gain some knowledge.
They have just e-mailed me asking for a 'List of expenses by category'. I have perhaps 200 invoices for various items/tools/stationary/petrol etc etc and I was expecting the accountant to categorise and add up all the expenses.
Is this part of his job or is it mine? What is the usual practise?
Many thanks..

 

[Nuno]

Accountants charge (say) £40/hour. Is your income sufficient to cover a few hours at this rate for something you could quite easily do?
Categorize them yourself but be prepared in the first year at least for the accountant to change the categories around a bit. From then you know what categories to use, (or you could ask them for some guidance on what categories are wanted, perhaps supplying a list of the ones you have thought of.)

 

[Scalloway]

It is up to you and the accountant. Many of my clients just produce a pile of invoices and bank statements for me to make sense of. Others give me a download of their ledger. Getting a ledger that has already been prepared saves you money and relieves the accountant from doing some basic work.

 

[happyhippydad]

Thankyou both for replying,

I shall get my calculator out and start adding up!

 

[14Steve14]

It doesnt sound like you do use one, but surely your accounting software will produce a list like this. I have used sage and quickbooks and they can do it. If you dont do your accounts, maybe you should start.

 

[KM-Tiger]

I shall get my calculator out and start adding up!

You'd be much better to get to grips with bookkeeping software now. After all you don't send messages by carrier pigeon any more.

Not only will that allow you to effortlessly produce the reports that your accountant requires, but it will allow you to produce other reports that will enable you to manage your business better. That will be important if you experience growth, as managing just on instinct and cashflow as evidenced by the bank balance could lead you to hit the buffers.

Best value is likely to be one of the online services, all of which are user friendly. See other threads on this, but Accounts Portal, Xero, and Kashflow are frequently mentioned.

 

[Newchodge]

I agree that getting to grips with accounting software is a good idea. Why not talk to your accountant and see which packages they recommend/support?

 

[deniser]

Our accounting is very straightforward so we don't use online packages which are for much more complicated businesses. Our accountant gave us some basic spreadsheets to fill in so at the end of the year has has all the information presented to him in the format that he likes which saves him hassle and saves us costs.

So maybe ask him for something similar if your accouting is reasonably straightforward?

 

[Socio South West]

Is your accountant offering you more than just basic accounts preparation and taxation?
Do you have any idea what your margins are on products or jobs? Do you know how much you rely on a small number of suppliers or customers?

If not, you definitely need to get your own book keeping going, either using a self employed book keeper at abut £15-20/hour or learning how to do it yourself, and looking under the lid of your accounts a bit to help improve your management and gain advance warning of pitfalls as they may arise.

I find Quickbooks has the best and most flexible reporting for a small business, but there are several suitable products to choose from.

 

[deniser]

Is your accountant offering you more than just basic accounts preparation and taxation?
Do you have any idea what your margins are on products or jobs? Do you know how much you rely on a small number of suppliers or customers?

Are you asking me or the OP? I know my numbers, margins, customers, expenses and profits inside out. We have our own systems for these.

 

[Socio South West]

deniser - apologies, the questions are directed to the OP