Keeping It Simple: Small Business Bookkeeping, Self-Assessment & VAT
The first part of the book is mostly aimed at sole traders, though I still found the simple explanation of bookkeeping records extremely relevant to our business (which is a limited company). Then to make me even happier there is a section on ‘Accounting for Limited Companies’ which explains some of the additional records that a company needs to keep. I’ve never seen such a clear explanation of a director’s loan account! There is then a fairly extensive section on VAT with some excellent advice to help you decide whether you should register for VAT or not (it doesn’t just boil down to how much your turnover is). Finally, the book ends with some general advice on small business issues – accounting software, taking on an employee, and choosing a bookkeeper or accountant.
I suppose I should say that the book doesn’t cover absolutely everything, however it’s not setting out to. If it had it would have become overly complicated like a lot of other accounting books. Instead it sets out just enough to get you started and gives you pointers as to what else you may need to find out about. It is nice and clearly laid out, with lots of example spreadsheets and uses case studies to help explain different scenarios.
The book’s blurb starts with “This plain-English guide is essential reading for all small business owners” and I couldn’t agree more. I wish that I’d had a copy when I was first starting out, it would definitely have helped me get my accounts on a firm footing, but even a few years down the line it’s clarified some issues for me and given me an idea of how I can improve my accounts in a managing the business context rather than just essential records for tax purposes.
Rating: 
Buy “Keeping It Simple” from Amazon >
Not a great start to the week
I had the second instalment of the Managing Your Finances course today. I’m trying hard to think of something positive to say about it but unfortunately I think it may have been a wasted day. I can’t say that I learnt very much at all. That’s not to say that the course was badly taught – for what it was I think the tutor did a pretty good job and I got the feeling that some of the people on the course were picking up some good tips. However, it was at completely the wrong level for me. Perhaps I should have checked out more thoroughly what it was about before signing up for it – will definitely do that next time.
The problem was that it was all stuff I knew and carrying on the ‘basic numeracy’ theme from last week I didn’t have much problem doing the sums. I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t need to be taught how to fill out a cashflow forecast, I can figure that out for myself, what I would have found more useful was an overview of the tools/records that are useful when managing business finances so that I can feel more confident that I’ve got it all covered. Basic bookkeeping I’m fine at, but something about reports I could be generating to help me assess our finances would have been really useful.
I have to admit that I’m also feeling pretty grumpy about the day because we had no heating for half of it and lunch was a fiasco (one veggie sandwich between three vegetarians). Next course I go on I’m taking my own lunch, whether they reckon they’re providing it or not!
