[LINK] private question for off list - consulting
Robert Brockway
robert at timetraveller.org
Fri Dec 6 12:55:16 AEDT 2013
On Fri, 6 Dec 2013, Roger Clarke wrote:
> Personally, I'd say 'insource your book-keeping', but 'outsource the
> accounting and tax' except to the extent that you feel comfortable
> avoiding the extra cost.
I'm in two minds about in-sourcing book-keeping. I'm on the board of
directors of a US not-for profit (Software in the Public Interest,
http://www.spi-inc.org) and we've recently out-sourced book-keeping.
Initial results seem positive.
Generally tax preparation wasn't terribly expensive and saved more than
enough time to make it worth it. First time around I did own payroll.
Useful for learning payroll rules and laws but mot much else.
As noted, my last company was in Canada so the tax/accounting/payroll/etc/
rules I learnt over there aren't even completely portable to Australia.
> By book-keping, I mean MYOB or some better-quality product, up to
> 'trial balance' stage. (I designed and wrote accounting systems in
> the 1970s, and spec'd some more in the late 1980s, and I can't
> believe how poor-quality MYOB is). And if you do that, then of
I used SQL-Ledger and (later) LedgerSMB for my privacy consulting company
in Canada. They are both Free and Open Source and were easy to work with.
I highly recommend LedgerSMB for those who do want to do in-house
book-keeping. They both run on Linux but use a standards compliant web
interface. Naturally always evaluate a product to make sure it fits your
requirements before adopting it.
> For a business like this, I'd use cash accounting, as you say
> *especially* on revenue. The exception is depreciation, done at year
> end.
>
> I haven't accrued or prepaid anything other than depreciation since I
> started my consultancy company in 1982.
Interesting. I thought it had to be 'all or nothing' across the entire
company accounts.
> Oh yes, and incorporation does make it look better, and makes
> insurance easier, and makes it a lot cleaner when bidding in other
> people as well (even for small quantities of sub-contracting), and
> being bid in by other people, and it really shouldn't cost much.
Absolutely.
And register for GST right away. Not registering for GST is like holding
up a big sign saying "Hey everyone, we don't make much money!". Companies
are fine with GST on invoices - they get input tax credits.
Cheers,
Rob
--
Email: robert at timetraveller.org Linux counter ID #16440
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