What accounting records do I need to keep?
For a simple small business, we consider that the minimum records should comprise:
- cash book receipts
- cash book payments
- sales listing with invoice and payment dates
- stock records (if applicable)
The cash books should distinguish between cash and cheque transactions, and should be reconciled periodically to the business bank account. If registered for VAT, the records should identify the VAT on each transaction. For limited companies these records will in most cases satisfy the record-keeping requirements of the Companies Acts.
If you are familiar with spreadsheets they can be an ideal way to maintain the required records, provided the volume of transactions is not too large. We can provide template spreadsheets for our clients to use.
Businesses with larger volumes of transactions can benefit from using an online accounting package such as Xero. We can help with selecting, setting up and training in the use of these accounting packages.
Useful links:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/rec-keep-self-emp.htm