Starting a small business requires a great deal of planning in order for it to become a viable venture. You may require planning permission for certain types of business, or to purchase premises and equipment, as well as many more responsibilities. Once you have your business up and running, invoices and paperwork should be kept in an orderly and timely fashion to avoid confusion and chaos. It is so easy to become involved in the daily management of your business and get behind with paperwork. Once this happens, it is extremely difficult to become organised, and you run the risk of falling foul of HM Revenue & Customs. Outsourcing to an online accountants is the easiest way to ensure that all your administration is organised and up to date.

Once you have an online accountants dealing with your administration you can submit important documents as an attachment to an email, rather than having to create a filing and storage system. This keeps costs to a minimum, avoiding unnecessary postage and visits to your accountant.

A reputable online accountancy will inform you of relevant deadlines for filing self-assessment tax returns, corporation tax returns, Value Added Tax returns and others if required. Missing the deadlines for filing will result in a statutory fine with added penalties from HMRC. Your online accountancy practice will also provide relevant information for your business regarding legislation changes and alterations to tax and National Insurance rates, which are subject to yearly change.

Keeping accurate records will not only keep you up to date with HMRC but also help you to keep track of your financial affairs, and the profitability of your business. It may be that you aren’t sure of business expenses which can be legitimately claimed which can affect your profitability. An accountant will be able to advise which expenses are tax deductible, and inform you of any changes to legislation regarding expenses. Accounts have to be submitted to HMRC each year, along with your self-assessment tax return. These accounts have to be legible, with clear and accurate figures to show your total income and expenditure for the year. If you prepare accounts yourself, and don’t keep your invoices and paperwork in order, you will be looking at many hours sorting and organising administration before you can even consider preparing your accounts. It is worthwhile remembering that HMRC will make queries if your accounts are not legible, and you may even become subject to an investigation.

online accounting allows you to submit relevant documents to your accountant in real time, resulting in accurate and up to date information. This will allow for actual details to be submitted to HMRC on your tax return rather than estimated figures. This should result in an accurate tax bill and a tax code that is correct, rather than having to amend the information at a later date. Outsourcing to a low cost accountants saves you time and money, both valuable resources. You will have accurate and up to date accounts prepared each year, avoiding falling foul of unexpected fines and penalty payments as well as avoiding underpayments of tax, maximising the profitability of your business.

Lee Murphy is the co-founder of The Accountancy Partnership,based in Cheshire. <p>

Specialising in online accountancy, The Accountancy Partnership offers low cost online accounting services for small to medium-sized businesses, including sole trader and national accounting. <p>

For a personalised accountancy quotation, visit www.theaccountancy.co.uk.