Questions you have always wanted to ask your accountant

Decided to give a 4sight into the wonderful world of accounting and wondered if anyone has any questions they have always wanted to ask their accountant/bookkeeper but afraid to ask or have asked and was given a confusing answer.

Many thanks

An easy list of exactly what the self-employed can claim for

Excellent idea Allison. Here's my puzzle. In non-technical terms, what is the difference between an accountant and a bookkeeper? When and why would I employ the services of one over the other?

Good one Barry but Im sure it wont be that straight forward unfortunately ;-(  ........ but surprise me Allison!

@Brian

Very simply.

A bookkeeper is a person who generally works with the clients prime records - bank account, invoices, receipts etc - and compiles them in the appropriate way that can give you certain information i.e. sales to date, amounts owing to and from the business, reconciled funds in the bank etc.  He/she may also prepare VAT Returns, Payroll calculations etc.

An accountant will then generally use these compiled records to produce such things as annual statutory financial statements, corporate or personal tax returns, and provide general tax and financial planning, business plans etc.  Chartered and Certified Accountants will also undertake an audit of a set of financial statements should the company in question exceed certain limits.

The two areas can get a bit blurred at the edges, with accountancy firms providing outsourced bookkeeping and payroll work, and bookkeepers preparing annual accounts etc.  This is probably where the confusion arises.

HTH

Stuart

Thank you for your post I will write a (hopefully) punchy guide of what can be claimed under self assessment

Hi Stuart,
Would you agree that a rough description could be:
the job of bookkeeper ends where the job of accountant begins ?
And that accountants who have bookkeepers working for them as an employee do take on all the bookkeeping duties too.

That's my take on it.

I work alongside with Client's accountants, that enables my clients to see me when they can, which is normally out of the hours when the accountants can.

( I guess that may change when I have children :) )

Aliz

I think all accountants try to work with, and assist their client's bookkeepers, whether external or in-house employees.  Building a working relationship with a bookkeeper can help considerably as it engenders trust between, and we no longer are perceived as "the enemy" out to pick up on any small error.  We can also assist in areas where the bookkeeper may have less experience - dealing with VAT and Payroll queries especially.  So it ends up in a quid pro quo situation, with many accountants referrring their clients to external bookkeepers they have worked with and trust to "do a good job".

Having the benefits of both a good bookkeeper and accountant can work wonders for a business (and there is room for both in many instances)

In essence there is some truth in your view of things.

Stuart