It is important to keep a number of records as part of healthy business practice.

• This is vital for tax purposes.
• Good records help you stay on top of your finances.

• annual accounts, including profit and loss accounts
• bank statements and paying-in slips
• cash books and other account books
• orders and delivery notes
• purchase and sales books
• records of daily takings such as till rolls
• relevant business correspondence

• Records of all the goods and services you buy or sell
• Copies of all sales invoices you issue
• All purchase invoices for items you buy
• All credit notes and debit notes you receive
• Copies of all credit notes and debit notes you issue
• Any self-billing agreements you make as a supplier
• Copies of self-billing agreements you make as a customer and name, address and VAT registration number of the supplier
• Records of any goods you give away or take from stock for your private use including rate and amount of VAT
• Records of any goods or services bought for which you cannot reclaim the VAT
• Any documents dealing with special VAT treatment
• Records of any goods you export
• Records of any taxable self-supplies you make - for example if you sell cars and you use one of your cars in stock for business purposes
• Any adjustments such as corrections to your accounts or amended VAT invoices
• A VAT account

• If your business is in the construction industry, you must retain sufficient business and accounting records to support your Construction Industry Scheme Return.
  • You must tell HMRC each month about all the payments you’ve made to your subcontractors within the scheme by making a monthly return, either by paper or online.
  • You’ll need to keep the following details:
    • The gross amount of each payment you make to a subcontractor, excluding VAT
    • The amount of any deduction you made from a payment before you gave it to the subcontractor
    • If you made a deduction, the amount of any material costs, excluding VAT
  • You should retain your records for at least three years after the end of the tax year that they’re for. You’ll be required to make them available, should HMRC ask to see them.

 

Need assistance with your accounts and admin? Get in touch with Paper Mountain Solutions to find out how they can help your business.

 

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