Book keeping

[lovelashes44]

Hi salon geeks!
Iv recently became self employed and don't want to pay an expensive accountant. Can anyone recommend any apps or computer software of which I can enter all my takings and expenses so I can keep a track? Any advice would be a great help, thanks in advance, Mel xxx

 

[FlawlessBeauty]

I just use Microsoft excel and create the table I want. I total up my takings in my appointment book and add it into my table once a month. I also keep all my receipts and log them in a different place so I can keep an eye on how often i'm replacing things, etc. Then I put the monthly figure into my excel table.

You can format it how you like, so you can set all your monthly incomings to add up into a yearly total, do the same for the outgoings and then format a box to subtract your outgoings from your takings x

 

[squidgernetball]

I used pen and paper. I logged incomings and expenses. What's left is yours to spend and what you get charged tax on. Self employed is very straightforward. As I got busier I used excel as is easy to do year on year or month on month comparisons x

 

[Hive Salon Software]

Hi salon geeks!
Iv recently became self employed and don't want to pay an expensive accountant. Can anyone recommend any apps or computer software of which I can enter all my takings and expenses so I can keep a track? Any advice would be a great help, thanks in advance, Mel xxx

Hi Lovelashes

Why not try the power of Hive Salon Software to manage all your bookings, customers, payments and lots lots more.
Regards

Kim

 

[AcidPerm]

If you're only just starting up, I wouldn't waste money on specialist salon software just yet unless you are buying a salon and expect to be employing staff.

Either a simple paper system or basic spreadsheet will be fine for now.
There are also some free accounting Apps that are fine for small businesses.

 

[claireyfairy]

I've just got the tax note app (free) perfect for keeping track of income and spending I really like it x

 

[Beansy]

QuickFile is free accounting software which is cloud based and easy to use.
http://www.quickfile.co.uk

I use the Camscanner app to photograph and upload receipts

 

[hannah85]

A bookkeeper is cheaper than an accountant. Although you can mark down your expenditure and income and what's left is what you get taxed on a bookkeeper will be able to write off other expenses that may not be paid by the business like use of a home office, and all sorts of other things you can get away with.

 

[shiningfaery]

Sorry to hijack but how do you prove your income when dealing with appointments. For instance I work within a salon s/employed and don't get receipts for my clients as salon retains them so how do I prove my income?

 

[Hive Salon Software]

If you're only just starting up, I wouldn't waste money on specialist salon software just yet unless you are buying a salon and expect to be employing staff.

Either a simple paper system or basic spreadsheet will be fine for now.
There are also some free accounting Apps that are fine for small businesses.

Maybe but to be honest for £10 per month for your own salon software system where you can manage everything plus take card payments it's really a no brainer. Unlike other software providers we took consideration about the independent therapist working for themselves.

Best

Kim

 

[AcidPerm]

Maybe but to be honest for £10 per month for your own salon software system where you can manage everything plus take card payments it's really a no brainer. Unlike other software providers we took consideration about the independent therapist working for themselves.

Best

Kim

It sounds like you don't have much experience of setting up a new salon type business, to be honest.

You'd be completely wasting £10 a month (£120 year) tracking the clients and their appointments when you can easily do that in your head as there's so few of them in the beginning. A basic spreadsheet/free App is more than fit for purpose.

As @hannah85 says, once you start to increase your income, employing a book keeper is the next step. You really only need to consider expensive software when your turn-over is considerably bigger and you can afford to pay for an accountant.

 

[AcidPerm]

Sorry to hijack but how do you prove your income when dealing with appointments. For instance I work within a salon s/employed and don't get receipts for my clients as salon retains them so how do I prove my income?

The salon shouldn't be keeping the receipts otherwise HMRC might decide that you're not really self employed and to lump your takings in with the Salon's and put them over the VAT threshold, if they're not careful.

Read the HMRC online guidance for more advice.