Hey everyone, Id just like to get advice from some people here...maybe mostly from people based in the UK. I am very set on starting my own company in the near future, doing what everyone else does here, and I already have...some income...from websites that I own... I am in my last year of uni, so I have quite a lot of work on... My question is, when is the best time to register as a new business? Is it possible to do tax returns etc yourself, do you need an accountant...If so how much does the average small business accountant cost? How much does legal advice that I need cost? Shall I just bluff my way through this tax year and just mark my income as from other sources, or shall I go ahead and register a business? How much more administration does having a business have? Any advice is apprecieated... Pete
hi - I am in the same position. Uk, 2nd year of uni. Here's what i did: Find out if your uni has a department to help projects such as the one you are looking to do. I'm at Nottingham uni and they have such a department - it is seperate to the uni but affiliated. They will give you very helpful advice (free) and possibly free advice with professionals (i saw an accountant for free). Basically you need to inform the IR within 3 months of getting income. If not there could be repercussions. A better reasons than "repercussions" is that the sooner you inform the IR the sooner you can show a turnover (nice small profit though - having taken off books/computer/printer/ink cartridges and anything else you may have used in your business.) Now if you ever need to get credit to expand you can show books. You inform the IR by filling out a simple form. Set up as a "sole owner". No need to get a merchant account or anything like that. Sole owner just means that you are the sole owner of the business. No need to go LTD just yet. Main thing is just to inform the IR that you have another source of income. OH and keep all receipts/invoices in a nice folder wth little plastic wallets for each month. cute. What uni you at btw? and what course do you do? If you have a website post the URL. If you are interested in undertaking any project with someone else drop me a pm and we can discuss things. Thanks and gl Jamie
Hey man, thanks for the friendly reply Im in London at Imperial doing computing...What are you studying...? Def need to inform the ir in that case, probably quite soon. Pete
I'm studying Business management @ Nottingham University. Definately sounds like we could successfully combine our skills productively. I'll pm you