Accounting Record Book and Receipts?

[bridget1802]

Hi All

I am just starting up doing mobile tanning and also doing nails from home, I work full time so this is on evening and weekends
Does anyone know where I can get an accounting book specifically for the nail/beauty industry?, I spoke to a friend who is also self employed and she had a book for childcare where she could log all her outgoings and income which was relevant for childcare?
Thanks
Vicky x

 

[leonnib]

not sure about this but i have a book and i just use a normal account record /accounts book from rymans..

 

[SammiG]

I just have a receipt book and make sure I pay the exact amount into my business acct. Then I give a carrier bag to my book keeper every quarter!lol.

I'm hopeless at numbers and tax returns etc so figured out I could earn more money doing nails than spending days trying to keep records etc. It takes my book keeper 10 minutes to do something thst would take me two hours!

Sam xx

 

[diesel1978]

I bought a salon accounts book from Sallys , 10 years ago tho! Still use the same sheets though. Think it cost circa £15. Works well for me ! x

 

[loubylou]

I use the Simplex D account book, you can buy it from most stationers and it explains everything in there and how to use it, hth :hug:

 

[Curly Bamboo]

I use an excel spreadsheet.

if your tax return is done by an accountant they most likely will have a template in excel for you to do your book keeping.

 

[user 28883]

I use a WHSmith Ledger book which I find easy and straight forward. It has 2 ledger columns so I use one for income and one for outgoings and 2 years later I still have plenty of pages left. I just store it in a concertina file which I store all receipts in month by month.

 

[Violet Star]

I know they sell salon account books in capital hair and beauty they are about 8 or 9 pounds

hths x

 

[Sapphire nails]

Hi,

My dad has been self employed most of my life and he taught me a reall simple way with out buying any account materials and it goes as follows......
for every month keep all reciepts ( payed out paid in)
get yourself some plain white normal envelopes and starting at the top just listing everything for that month and putting all the reciepts inside and seal.

E.g
June 09

Petrol £50.00
Stock £70.00
Rent £100.00
Phone £60.00
Uniform £30.00

Income £1200
-
Out going £310

Gross Income - £890

- 22.5% Tax (just to be on the safe side i would always use this percentage)

= Net income - £689.75

This i feel is one of the easiest ways of doing your account yourself. then at the end of the financial year take all of your envelopes to your accountant and he will process the rest. By keeping your account neat and simple like this makes less work for the accountant and also keep his bill down. if you give your accounts to him in a mess he will charge more.
I was self employed for a couple of years and my accountant bill never came to more than £200 for the year and i would always be asking has advise

Hope this helps, sorry its a bit long winded

Gem

 

[bridget1802]

Hi,

My dad has been self employed most of my life and he taught me a reall simple way with out buying any account materials and it goes as follows......
for every month keep all reciepts ( payed out paid in)
get yourself some plain white normal envelopes and starting at the top just listing everything for that month and putting all the reciepts inside and seal.

E.g
June 09

Petrol £50.00
Stock £70.00
Rent £100.00
Phone £60.00
Uniform £30.00

Income £1200
-
Out going £310

Gross Income - £890

- 22.5% Tax (just to be on the safe side i would always use this percentage)

= Net income - £689.75

This i feel is one of the easiest ways of doing your account yourself. then at the end of the financial year take all of your envelopes to your accountant and he will process the rest. By keeping your account neat and simple like this makes less work for the accountant and also keep his bill down. if you give your accounts to him in a mess he will charge more.
I was self employed for a couple of years and my accountant bill never came to more than £200 for the year and i would always be asking has advise

Hope this helps, sorry its a bit long winded

Gem

Thanks for all the advice, I wasnt planning on getting an accountant but I think I will see how it all takes off as I am only doing it part time, I will keep all my receipts together for each month and along with that I will do an excel spreadsheet to go with it each month

Can I claim my tanning course and training and my college course against my earnings?

I do also pay for a lot of things on my credit card especially when ordering over the internet, I have just read another post about keeping your personal bank accounts seperate and now I am thinking a bit more ahead as I tend to lend friends/family money quite often and they pay me cash back, I think this would be hard to explain to the inland rev so I think I will have a seperate credit card for my stock and I already have 2 current accounts I will start using 1 of them to deposit any cheques I have, should I also deposit any cash? or can I keep this aslong as I keep a record of it...I think I am best to get a receipt book too sorry so many questions in one!!

Thanks
Vicky x

 

[Sapphire nails]

paying by your credit card is no prob's at all, just high light the amout and description and put that months statement in with every thing else.

Yes you can i think Claim for your training.

As you do have so many Q's. I know your not thinking aboiut getting an accountant but make an appointment with one to get all of your Q's Answered ( its free to have a chat) that way you will get told the absolute correct answers

Hope this helps

gem

 

[Poshfloss]

Hi,

My dad has been self employed most of my life and he taught me a reall simple way with out buying any account materials and it goes as follows......
for every month keep all reciepts ( payed out paid in)
get yourself some plain white normal envelopes and starting at the top just listing everything for that month and putting all the reciepts inside and seal.

E.g
June 09

Petrol £50.00
Stock £70.00
Rent £100.00
Phone £60.00
Uniform £30.00

Income £1200
-
Out going £310

Gross Income - £890

- 22.5% Tax (just to be on the safe side i would always use this percentage)

= Net income - £689.75

This i feel is one of the easiest ways of doing your account yourself. then at the end of the financial year take all of your envelopes to your accountant and he will process the rest. By keeping your account neat and simple like this makes less work for the accountant and also keep his bill down. if you give your accounts to him in a mess he will charge more.
I was self employed for a couple of years and my accountant bill never came to more than £200 for the year and i would always be asking has advise

Hope this helps, sorry its a bit long winded

Gem

Hi,
Thanks this is perfect for me, I am so messy with papers.
Hubby has a quite simple system for his business but this is much easier for me. I want to do mine on my own.
Lotsa luv x x :hug: :hug: x x

 

[bridget1802]

Thanks for all the replies its been a great help

Vicky x

 

[jes]

Can I claim my tanning course and training and my college course against my earnings?

Hi Vicky,

Apparently if you've trained for a new skill then you cannot offset the cost of training against tax. If you've trained to improve or develop an existing skill then you can claim the costs against your tax.
Now, what exactly a new skill is supposed to mean, I don't know:lol: If beauty therapy can be called a skill then I guess you could claim for all training after, but not including your first certificate. If 'skill' is broken down into nail technician, waxing, massage etc then I don't think you can claim anything... Sorry if I've confused things, I think it's best to phone your local tax office and see what they say

I would really advise you to take out a business account, it keeps things so much more clearer with accountants and HMRC and looks so much more professional when you send and recieve cheques with a proper business name on them rather than "Miss Jane Smith" etc. Most banks will start off with free business banking and even when you start paying charges you'll be able to offset these against tax.

jes

 

[bridget1802]

Hi Vicky,

Apparently if you've trained for a new skill then you cannot offset the cost of training against tax. If you've trained to improve or develop an existing skill then you can claim the costs against your tax.
Now, what exactly a new skill is supposed to mean, I don't know:lol: If beauty therapy can be called a skill then I guess you could claim for all training after, but not including your first certificate. If 'skill' is broken down into nail technician, waxing, massage etc then I don't think you can claim anything... Sorry if I've confused things, I think it's best to phone your local tax office and see what they say

I would really advise you to take out a business account, it keeps things so much more clearer with accountants and HMRC and looks so much more professional when you send and recieve cheques with a proper business name on them rather than "Miss Jane Smith" etc. Most banks will start off with free business banking and even when you start paying charges you'll be able to offset these against tax.

jes

Thanks for this info Jess I will give them a ring next week and get myself registered and sorted...I will let you know how I get on

vicky x

 

[emda]

Hi all

I have a number of years experience running my partners salon, and myself work in database design and data managment.

I would be happy to design a basic database for you to keep your financial records online, with the function to email them to your accountant when your ready. this would also give you a breakdown of where your money goes, and where it comes in from.

Ill even make it your salon colours so its nice and pretty, and easy to use of course.

I would be happy to do this for £20, to cover my time. (you could expect to pay £50/h for this)

anything to help a struggling industry.

email me [email protected]


sean