Records to keep
Whatever your business type you must keep accurate records and this means keeping a record of everything the business buys and sells.
The basic records you will need to keep are:
- a list of all your sales and other income;
- a list of all your expenditure relating to your business;
- a separate list for petty cash expenditure (if relevant);
- Bank statements and correspondence from HMRC;
- a record of goods taken for personal use and payments made to the business for these;
- a record of all business and private miles travelled and keep all your petrol receipts;
- a record of all money taken out for personal use or paid in from personal funds;
- If you hold stock, keep stock records and carry out regular stock takes.
- If you are VAT registered, make sure that when you make purchases of goods or services that you get a VAT receipt and the VAT receipt is invoiced to the name on the VAT registration certificate.
Make sure you keep back up documents and receipts for all of the above.
You need to keep self employment records for five years and limited company or partnership records for six years after the latest date your tax return is due.
It is a good idea to keep a cash book listing your income and expenditure, below is an example of a simple cash book;
What expenses can I claim when working from home? Go to the link below for an article
http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=177635&d=1032&h=1019&f=1026
