You’ve decided to start a new business, you’ve sorted out a name, told friends and family, your Twitter and Linkedin accounts are set up, you’ve worked on a business plan and sorted out a business bank account and you know you have to sort out your bookkeeping and the taxman.
Do you sort out the taxman first, then get a Bookkeeper followed by an Accountant? or do you get a bookkeeper, then an accountant and presume they will sort out the taxman? Or do you get an accountant, then a bookkeeper and then tell the taxman?
The simple answer is get an accountant first, because they will handle all the necessary notifications for the taxman, help you decide which bookkeeping system is best for the business you are about to start, help you decide if you want to do your own bookkeeping with their help or simply pass all the bookkeeping over to them from the outset.
The tax you will eventually owe the taxman will be based on the profit you make from your business and the profit will be extracted from your books so if you get that part wrong then your tax will be wrong and if Mr Taxman finds out you get penalties and fines so your books and your tax are inexorably linked and the link should be your accountant.
