5 reasons why you need an accountant for a limited company
Whether you have recently set up a limited company or you have been managing your finances independently until now, hiring an accountant to help manage your limited company’s finances can efficiently help you elevate your business. Accountants can play a vital role in the success of a business.
Although many small limited companies choose to do the day-to-day bookkeeping themselves, there are a range of benefits to hiring a chartered accountant. We take a look at the reasons you need an accountant for your limited company and how Stonehouse can help you get a handle on your finances.
Filing of accounts and tax returns
All limited companies are required to submit annual statutory accounts, which must include:
- Profit and Loss (P&L) statement
- Balance sheet
- Any additional notes pertaining to the accounts
Alongside these, further mandatory annual filing is the confirmation statement (previously known as the annual return). A Confirmation Statement confirms the registered details of a company so that directories such as Companies House have the most up-to-date information on file.
Avoiding penalties and fines
Delayed or inaccurate tax returns or other company filings can lead to a multitude of fines and penalties. These could include having a company struck off, directors being disqualified, or even criminal sanctions. This, obviously, can have a disastrous impact on your business but is easily avoidable.
This can be avoided if you have an accountant as one of the key jobs of an accountant is to ensure regulatory compliance. This ensures that the reputations of companies and directors are not tarnished.
Business planning
When it comes to business planning, there are a lot of things to consider. The main issue is that many directors/business owners are so preoccupied with the day-to-day running of the company that planning for the future just isn’t in their schedule.
There are risks associated with every business and every business plan. By hiring a skilled accountant, they can help you to assess your current position, analyse seasonal trends, and help plan how best to capitalise on any opportunities. Not only that, accountants are able to help out with cash flow forecasting and budgeting.
Avoiding tax investigations
HMRC conducts Tax Compliance Checks on thousands of companies every year. As many of these are carried out on randomly selected companies, yours could easily fall under their radar. Even more so if your company has a red flag raised against it. These red flags can include a significant discrepancy or obviously incorrect figures, or even just filing a late return.
Not only does having an accountant reduce the likelihood of spot checks being carried out, but it can also give you peace of mind if a full inquiry is carried out. Accountants help you to stay on top of filings and ensure accounts are accurate, which means that HMRC is less likely to conduct a compliance check.
Saving you time
Aside from general bookkeeping, limited companies have a vast range of accounting duties. These include filing annual accounts and preparing tax returns (as mentioned above). This can take up a vast amount of time for a business owner and many would see their time better spent on generating profit for their companies. For an accountant, this is their day-to-day. Having an expert that is used to this kind of work, you’ll find that they can work more efficiently. Not only are they efficient but you can save yourself both time and money.
At Stonehouse, we operate with over 30 years of experience in the custom formation and setting up of private limited companies. We are always at the forefront of the custom formation of limited companies. We ensure that the accounting process is as simple and affordable as possible. If you would like more information on how we can assist with the formation of your limited company, then don’t hesitate to contact us today.