Anyone registered for VAT?

[CornishPete]

I'm a building contractor and I've finally gone over the VAT threshold after the last few years managing to keep just under it! I'm currently going through the process of registering and getting my number and I'll have to use some MTD software. Some are free some are relatively little each month but all sound like they do the same thing. My returns would be relatively simple so I'm wondering if the paid versions will offer features that I'll never use?
A bit of info on my situation might help answer my question: currently a self employed/sole trader building contractor with no employees. Turnover is approx £110k/year. I typically send 10-15 invoices a year to customers, and receive about 300 a year from mainly material suppliers plus fuel, phone etc so not masses of paperwork to contend with, and I don't have stock to keep track of. Lots seem to advertise they link everything to be more streamlined and efficient but I wonder if this is really for retailers? I currently do all my own book keeping and file my own tax return which is very straightforward doing the simplified return on a cash basis. I did once get persuaded to use an accountant on the "he'll save you more than it costs" line but found this wasn't the case, I did my own simultaneously and got virtually the same numbers.
The amount of info online is bewildering and very technical whilst also being very vague on each persons situation which I think will affect the best solution so I thought Id ask my "Go to" forum first! I did wonder about becoming limited but that's a whole other discussion!!

 

[Kayos]

It's easy really, especially with the new software

Not sure how you managed to stay under for a few years, sailed past in year one!

 

[brightspark]

quckbooks seems to be the thing dunno always just been under the threshold for vat so dont need it

 

[CornishPete]

It's easy really, especially with the new software

Not sure how you managed to stay under for a few years, sailed past in year one!

I'm very good value!

 

[brightspark]

Oh you didn't sail past in year one either? Not sure how you managed that... /s

only once i was £500 below and nearly got clobbered so of loaded a lot by big customers buying there own gear

 

[CornishPete]

only once i was £500 below and nearly got clobbered so of loaded a lot by big customers buying there own gear

That's pretty much what I've done this last year, got customers to buy their own "gear". I just build a watertight shell really then pass on numbers for the follow on trades. Really not interested in organising other people, that's why I don't have employees, or do that many jobs in a year as I like the variety and I'm happy to plod along relatively speaking. All my jobs are word of mouth and I'm upfront with customers. I realise it's held me back a bit and jobs are becoming bigger and more technical so it's unrealistic for me to continue as I am. This is the first step!
One thing I do know is that every step of the way everyone wants a slice of the pie I'm baking!

 

[nickk]

I’ve been vat registered since 1989,always better off with it,I used to do my own returns,then the girlfriend,then my dad,when he hit 94,he made a few mistakes so stopped! Then a new gf took it over,with the help of a friend they wrote a spreadsheet,then hmrc took over,so rather than buy a program at big expense,,I leave it to the accountant,for £15 ,they do the last part of the submission to government gateway.
I typically write 10-15 invoices a month,1 employee,80-110,000 turnover.

 

[James1979]

I am.

Who do you bank with? I’m RBS but they are part of NatWest. That gives you FreeAgent for free. Which is a good bit of kit. Accountant can do loads of back office things I don’t need to worry about.

It chases late payers automatically and all sorts

I got mr remmington to try it out and I think he’s happy. @premmington

@Craig-SM woild be best placed to advise I think.

 

[JimmyS]

Another happy Freeagent user.

 

[sako243]

MTD or something (My Tax Digital?) it's a free service that you just type in and the same boxes you used to submit before all this rubbish and it submits it digitally. Don't need to upload or store any of your accounts in the cloud.

 

[premmington]

I am.

Who do you bank with? I’m RBS but they are part of NatWest. That gives you FreeAgent for free. Which is a good bit of kit. Accountant can do loads of back office things I don’t need to worry about.

It chases late payers automatically and all sorts

I got mr remmington to try it out and I think he’s happy. @premmington

@Craig-SM woild be best placed to advise I think.

Yeah "Young James" - suggested FreeAgent to me - I bank with Natwest.

FreeAgent is very powerful tool - it has more functions than I will ever use!

Changes in accounting practices and methods - I always take slowly. You can get in a mess quickly - "if you try to run before you can walk".

At the moment I am sort of running two systems in parallel.

 

[Paulbarrett]

I’ve been registered for around 10 years, firstly as a sole trader with subbies, then limited for last 7 years now.
Been using freeagent all that time. Have one box file of paperwork now that sits on shelf for my guys bits and jobs have x5 employed on the books.
It’s a game changer. Does everything now, vat payroll corporation etc. I do have an accountant that checks over as too much for me now we have grown

 

[Paulbarrett]

I ran two companies with the crossover from sole to limited for 2 years until it streamlined to the limited and employed guys, no longer use subbies too unreliable around here

 

[skotl]

I am.

Who do you bank with? I’m RBS but they are part of NatWest. That gives you FreeAgent for free. Which is a good bit of kit. Accountant can do loads of back office things I don’t need to worry about.

It chases late payers automatically and all sorts

I got mr remmington to try it out and I think he’s happy. @premmington

@Craig-SM woild be best placed to advise I think.

100% this. FreeAgent is extremely easy to use and handles PAYE and VAT payments to HMRC

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I use Xero...it's a bit expensive I think but I like it ( they seem to do discounts sometimes). It's handy when you have quite a lot of bank accounts in multiple currencies as it tracks the currency gain/losses etc automatically (main reason I got it)

On Xero the account linking is optional...I don't use that bit though.

 

[Craig-SM]

@CornishPete you’ve stated your turnover has exceeded the threshold, if it’s a one off due to a large job then you can inform HMRC and avoid registering for VAT. If not then you have no alternative than to register.

MTD isn’t as bad as people think and using online accounting software does make it easy. I recommend QuickBooks or Xero but I let my clients decide which they prefer and QuickBooks s their preference. Both link up to your bank account and feed your daily transactions so it’s easy to match up your income and expense. A lot of clients new to this find it a bit much to start with then within a few weeks find it great and time saving, wishing they’d made change before.
CIS and Reverse Charge VAT is also taken care of with either software package. The CIS on suffered is taken care within the software for HMRC submissions but withheld still needs to be sent through HMRC Gateway account. This is down to HMRC rather than the software.

As for going limited it depends on a few factors but the main one is tax and that is profit related. You’re too late to take advantage of the super deductions on new plant and machinery bought as that ends this month

 

[pressbrake1]

It's easy really, especially with the new software

Not sure how you managed to stay under for a few years, sailed past in year one!

Your a plumber so you was past the threshold in the first quarter

 

[CornishPete]

This won't be a one off, it was only a matter of time. Sounds like free agent gets a few votes! Might look at a NatWest account. I currently only have a personal account I've always had since before I became self employed. Probably be better to have a business account anyway. Don't have multiple accounts or foreign currency or lots of customers so maybe it's as I expected and lots of features won't really be for me!

 

[roofman]

This won't be a one off, it was only a matter of time. Sounds like free agent gets a few votes! Might look at a NatWest account. I currently only have a personal account I've always had since before I became self employed. Probably be better to have a business account anyway. Don't have multiple accounts or foreign currency or lots of customers so maybe it's as I expected and lots of features won't really be for me!

Shop around..I pay almost £150 a month banking charges with my NatWest business account
EDIT...see my later post,my mistake

 

[Paulbarrett]

Shop around..I pay almost £150 a month banking charges with my NatWest business account

How much!