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February 2021

Gain Control of your Self Assessment | Help with Self Assessment | Self Assessment Hints & Tips
Gain control of your self assessment 758 513 Stepping Stones Accountancy

Gain control of your self assessment

It is surprising how a to-do list can achieve so much. The art of writing down a list of actions and then following them through to completion is nothing new but it still remains an incredibly powerful tool for efficient people. So how can this method help you get control of your self assessment?

Quite simply, if you follow some specific instructions to a set timeframe every year then you will have complete control of your self assessment. For example, if we look at the period of 2021 to 2022, it really is a very simple process based on 5 key steps:

  1. Monthly – keep track of all your monthly business transactions, logging a record of invoices, receipts and expenses.
  2. Register for self assessment by 5th October 2021 (if you have never done this before)
  3. When filing online submit your return by midnight on 31st January 2022
  4. Ensure relevant tax payments are made by midnight on 31st January 2022

In order to complete the self assessment you will need the following:

  • Your 10-digit unique taxpayer reference (UTR)
  • Your national insurance number
  • All details of your untaxed income for the period 2021/22 (this will include income from self-employment, dividends and interest on any shares
  • All records of expenses in relation to self-employment
  • Charity or pension contributions that should be eligible for tax relief
  • A P60 or any other records to demonstrate how much income you have received which has been paid on

Keeping in control of your self assessment can be a very simple exercise just follow your to-do list. Otherwise simply delegate and get your accountant to look after it for you.

Should you have any questions or need any help in relation to your self assessment please call us on 01173 700 079 or e-mail hello@steppingstonesaccountancy.co.uk.

In Control of Self Assessment 150 150 Stepping Stones Accountancy

In Control of Self Assessment

In our latest animated video we show how you can get complete control of your self assessment, when it needs completing and what information needs to be submitted.

Translating The Accountancy Jargon | Accountancy Terminology |
Translating the accountancy jargon 758 513 Stepping Stones Accountancy

Translating the accountancy jargon

People usually go into business because they feel that they have something special to offer; a unique skill set or product that the market needs and a desire to offer the very best customer service to complement that offering.

Whether you are gifted at capturing the perfect photograph, capable of building distinct websites or have a unique talent for developing flavour combinations for that favourite of lunchtime foods, the humble sandwich, you are a specialist for a reason and you are no doubt passionate about what you do. However, as business owners there are lots of areas that you are not a specialist in. For example, apart from a web developer few people need to understand what CMS means or apart from a photographer only a small number of people will understand what the use of bokeh is. There are so many business acronyms and technical terms that we will probably never fully understand and perhaps have no need to understand.

If we look at the world of accountancy, how many people really know their accruals from their capital gains or their liabilities from their overheads?  To help you navigate the plethora of phrases commonly used in accountancy, here is an A to Z of some of the most popular ones and what they actually mean:

Accrual – an expenditure that has not yet been paid for or invoiced
Balance Sheet – a summary of the assets and liabilities within the business
Capital Gain – the profit that you make on the sale of asset which is purchased and used within the business (rather than sold on)
Depreciation – the devaluing of an asset purchased within the business
Equity – the value of the business to its shareholders
Fixed cost – a recurring cost that remains the same for a dedicated period of time
Goodwill – the intangible asset associated with the value of a business, e.g.  goodwill, brand recognition, copyrights, trademarks, customers, etc
HMRC – Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, the UK’s tax, payments and customs authority
IFRS – the accounting standards set by International Financial Reporting Standards
JSA – job seekers allowance is the money paid to people who are unemployed but that are actively seeking work
Kashflow – one provider of the many solutions for online accounting software
Liabilities – either money or debt which the business owes and results in funds quickly coming out of the business
MTD – a HMRC scheme called Making Tax Digital which is focussed on digitalising the tax system
NI – known as National Insurance which is a payment made by everybody who is employed with a salary over £9,500
Overheads – the fixed costs which do not relate to sales, e.g., rent, fees and depreciation
P45 – a formal document issued to an employee when they leave the company
Quarterly – accountancy processes that need to be completed four times a year e.g., VAT returns and MTD updates
Retained Profit – the sum of all profits when all taxes and dividends have been taken out of the business
Self Assessment Tax Return – personal tax used by HMRC to collect relevant income tax payments
Tax Planning – the process which can be completed to help reduce the burden of large tax payments
UTR – this will be a 10-digit number (known as the Unique Taxpayer Reference) which is given to self-employed professionals for either self-assessment or setting up limited companies
VAT – the tax payments that needs to be made on business purchased (also known as Value Added Tax)
Worker – the newest phrase predominantly used in the ‘gig economy’ for a person’s employment status
Xmas Party Tax Relief – for annual events such as a Christmas party there are tax free benefits as long as the costs is no more than £150 per person
Year End – the closing period of a business’s accounting year
Zero Rate – all goods that are rated zero rate means not VAT is applied to their cost

If you have any questions or unsure about any other accountancy terminology then please call us on 01173 700 079 or e-mail hello@steppingstonesaccountancy.co.uk.

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