Ltd Company accounts

CPenney · February 2011

Hi all, had fab response to my last post so thought I'd try another!
This may sound like a stupid question but..........I know that there is no requirement for any formal qualification for sole trader/partnership accounts but how does this work with LTD accounts? I've recently got my licence back

and to date have only carried out self employed work for sole traders. I am, however, employed by a Ltd Company to do bookkeeping, payroll etc that gets hanede over to accountant at year end, and was wondering if you have to be chartered to complete Ltd Company accounts (or what HMRC requirement is - if any?!)? I even asked my lecturer about this last week and she (a chartered accountant) said she wasn't sure?! (Makes me feel a bit less silly about asking the question on here )

Monsoon · February 2011

Anyone can do ltd co accounts. Pretty much the only thing you cant do is audit, for which you need to be chartered.

paulstafford · February 2011

Ltd company accounts must be prepared in accordance with relevant accounting standards, but there are no restrictions on who is allowed to prepare them.

Obviously you need to be a registered with one of the chartered associations if the company requires an audit

CPenney · February 2011

Thanks guys - I thought so - giving me even more food for thought with the whole ACCA/ATT dilemma....

wildgoose1uk · February 2011

You not only need to be chartered to do an audit but also a registered auditor.

CPenney · February 2011

Dilemma with ACCA at moment is that in order to gain audit certificate as well as chartered status you have to complete all modules within 5 years which is a bit scary with a 4 year old and 10 month old running around! I feel that I will have to sacrafice so much to achieve it all in 5 years and since it is to benefit us as a family in the long run it just seems a bit ironic when it's to the detriment of family life for the next few years! I had always aimed to do it as quickly as possible but knowing that I HAVE to makes the process that much harder

coojee · February 2011

I've noticed from other posts that you're also studying ACCA. You can't be in practice and be an ACCA student, it's against ACCA rules. There've been other threads about this. You either need to stop being self employed or stop studying ACCA.

CPenney · February 2011

I contacted ACCA when i applied for my student registration with them to clarify - you are allowed to carry out self employed work up to trial balance and you are allowed to produce 'management accounts' /self assesment as they are signed off by the individual. Basically - the only thing you are not allowed to do is statutory accounts (Ltd Company) or advertise yourself to be a part of the ACCA in any way - which was part of the reason why I was asking the question about who can submit Ltd Company accounts - I wondered whether it was a legal requirement or just one imposed by ACCA bye=laws.

Bluewednesday · February 2011

I believe you cannot do self assessment under ACCA, no income tax work just VAT payroll and bookkeeping

paulstafford · February 2011

I've got my ACCA membership and currently I'm filling out the forms for their practicing certificate. All I see at the moment is a lot of £s leaving my bank account. Will I gain the additional business after obtaining Chartered Status to justify the expense ? Who knows.

If I was in your position I'd go with the ATT option

Steve Collings · February 2011

Hi Paul,

Paul I would be very careful about advertising your practice on here if you have not already got the ACCA practising certificate (you say you are applying). I see you have AAT MIP but ACCA would still have issues with you dealing with taxation and year end work. I know over the years ACCA have gone on people's websites via this forum and contacted them directly about practising without a certificate.

All the best,
Steve

CPenney · February 2011

Grrrr...have just telephoned ACCA again as I'm so scared about breaking any rules and got a different response (seems to happen a lot with ACCA?!) so got given a number for the member's helpline - spoke to a lady there and Bluewednesday you're right - no self assesment! You can produce management acounts for internal use but not final accounts (unless they are overseen and responsibility accepted by an approved person/body)! REALLY frustrating seeing as I'm doing this whole studying thing to be my own boss and thought at least I could work with sole traders/partnerships for time being. Does ATT place any restriction on self employed work? Also - do they cover financial reporting in any sort of depth?

Monsoon · February 2011

CPenney wrote: »

Does ATT place any restriction on self employed work? Also - do they cover financial reporting in any sort of depth?

No they don't have practicing restrictions like ACCA do - I'm an AAT MIP and have been an ATT student for about 3 years. I do the full lot of tax and accounts for sole traders and Ltds.

They don't cover financial reporting in any depth as its purely tax (the accountancy in it is relatively basic) but TBH AAT plus CPD plus experience is enough on that side of things IMO. It's the tax side of things I want to study more of.

CPenney · February 2011

I'm just not sure that I would be overly confindent in producing ltd acounts at the moment - I've only ever worked for Sole trader/Partnership and all Ltd work has been as employee under accountant. Maybe I should look into some CPD events etc - I really don't want to have to put my life/family/work etc on hold until I qualify with ACCA - and even then it's highly unlikely that I'm going to fall out of studies into a ready made client base! I was hoping to build that gradually as I went through qualification process! Hmmm - what a dilemma - I've already invested a fair amount of time/money in ACCA - serves me right I suppose for not checking out beforehand!

On a separate note - Monsoon - did I read in a post on here that you are a reseller for Solar accounts? I've downloaded the free trial for a nosey and seem quite good so far - would it be of benefit to you in any way if I go via you if I decide to purchase?x

Steve Collings · February 2011

CPenney wrote: »

Grrrr...have just telephoned ACCA again as I'm so scared about breaking any rules and got a different response (seems to happen a lot with ACCA?!) so got given a number for the member's helpline - spoke to a lady there and Bluewednesday you're right - no self assesment! You can produce management acounts for internal use but not final accounts (unless they are overseen and responsibility accepted by an approved person/body)! REALLY frustrating seeing as I'm doing this whole studying thing to be my own boss and thought at least I could work with sole traders/partnerships for time being. Does ATT place any restriction on self employed work? Also - do they cover financial reporting in any sort of depth?

When I was going through the rigmarole of getting my practising cert/audit qual I sometimes found inconsistencies with what the contact centre were saying. It might be best when you get through to ACCA Connect to ask to speak to the 'Authorisations Department' who deal with PC applications.

Just a thought....

regards
Steve

CPenney · February 2011

Thanks Steve!

Monsoon · February 2011

CPenney wrote: »

On a separate note - Monsoon - did I read in a post on here that you are a reseller for Solar accounts? I've downloaded the free trial for a nosey and seem quite good so far - would it be of benefit to you in any way if I go via you if I decide to purchase?x

Yes I am and yes I get a small commission for referrals through my link. Thanks

It's here: http://www.solaraccounts.co.uk/offer/FARR4976

However, you might want to read this thread regarding the way Solar accounts for VAT:
http://forums.aat.org.uk/showthread.php?t=30123

And here for the workaround (post 2)
http://forums.aat.org.uk/showthread.php?t=29009

paulstafford · February 2011

Thanks for the tip off steve

wannabebean · October 2014

You should also note that you need to be registered for Money Laundering to complete anyones accounts and also a company Director (or an employee or relative of a company director) can NOT submit their own accounts. This is a Companies House Rule and they can and will ban you from being a company director if you do this and get found out (which is highly likely)