I have always recommended that business owners have an accountant for compliance services and tax advice and a bookkeeper to keep the day to day accounts up to date along with VAT returns filed promptly. Having two professionals with different responsibilities ensures you are receiving the best support possible for your business. …
As qualified bookkeepers and not qualified accountants we don't offer accountancy compliance services such as tax returns, partnership or limited company accounts. This is because, whilst we may have covered the foundation of these in our bookkeeping qualifications, we don't have the knowledge or experience to give our clients the advice they need on tax matters. Of course we know what can be claimed for both VAT and tax purposes but when it comes down to knowing how best to use the tax rules for your personal and business circumstances we leave that to accountants who work with tax matters frequently and for more clients and therefore have the knowledge and experience that we don't. Because we choose not to do this work …
If you decided to outsource your bookkeeping would you choose a bookkeeper or an accountant? It can be confusing because many accountants offer bookkeeping services and therefore are a one-stop shop for your bookkeeping and your tax return or statutory accounts. Bookkeepers provide bookkeeping services (and tax returns in some cases) and do not offer the services which accountants offer because they are not qualified tax advisers. So you might think that an accountancy firm is the best solution because …
Not all bookkeepers and accountants are good at their job. Each has a different sets of skills. Bookkeepers do the day to day record keeping for your business, whilst accountants are better qualified to look at the overall picture of the business and advise on tax savings and planning. …
