Accountants are generally calm people full of good Chi. 🧘‍♀️

We like numbers 🔢 
balancing things ⚖
reconciliations that....well... reconcile. 🫂

𝑩𝙐𝑻!

Every now and then, a client does something that makes even the most experienced Chi master accountant, tilt their head slightly and stare silently at the screen for a few seconds 🤔before getting busy, restoring balance and reconciliation.

A slight hesitation of perfect...exciting... Accountancy office... Chi.

So, if your goal is to give your accountant a minor nervous breakdown 😭, or perhaps question their career choices 🧐; here are seven highly effective ways to do it!

𝟏. 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝟑𝟎 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲

Nothing says “I❤️value🧡our💛working💚relationship” quite like sending an email with  twelve months’ worth of records the day before the Self Assessment deadline with an attachment containing 63 separate photographs of receipts, several bank statements and one mysterious spreadsheet called: FINAL ACCOUNTS NEW VERSION 3.xlsx

Bonus points if the email says:   “PS. Shouldn’t take long; there’s hardly anything there.” 😇

In reality, the earlier you send your records, the more time your accountant has to check everything properly, identify tax-saving opportunities and deal with any unexpected issues👍

𝟐. 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐬 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞… 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞...  🤔

A shoebox is traditional. A carrier bag.... acceptable. The glove compartment of your car adds an element of adventure. 😎 but for a more modern approach, take photographs of receipts and scatter them between WhatsApp, your camera roll, emails and screenshots. Then, when your accountant asks for them, simply reply:

“𖥣 𖦧𖠢𖨨𖥣ꛘ𖥣𖢧𖠢ꛚꚲ 𖨚𖠢ꛘ𖢧 𖢧𖦙𖥕𖨚𖠢 𖢧𖥕 ꚲ𖥕ꚶ...” 🤥

Thankfully, accounting software such as Xero can make keeping records much easier. Receipts can be uploaded as you go instead of embarking on an archaeological excavation project at the end of the year. 🦖 Try to remember to upload your receipts as you receive them; it will soon become second nature and a great habit to have!

𝟑. 𝐒𝐚𝐲: “𝐌𝐲 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐈 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐈𝐭” 👬

Every accountant has heard some variation of this sentence.

“My mate says I can put my holiday through the company.” 🕶️

“My brother’s accountant lets him claim his clothes.” 👗👔

“My friend bought a car through his business, so I assume I can too?” 🏍

Sadly, tax legislation does not include the phrase:

“Because Dave down the pub said so.” 🫶
A shame, because that would make things so much easier...

What you can and cannot claim often depends on the nature of your business, of the expense and how it is used. Asking before purchasing that lovely new sports car is usually much easier than trying to part with it afterwards. 😭

𝟒. 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠

Tesco, Netflix, School shoes, A weekend away, The dog groomer, Three rounds at the pub and one payment for £847.26 to someone called “Steve”, with absolutely no explanation. 👑

Once the fun is over, your accountant will then have the exciting task of working out which transactions relate to the business and which ones relate to your Saturday afternoon. 🫩

Keeping business and personal spending separate is not always possible, but where it is it saves time, reduces mistakes, HMRC queries on how Rovers grooming regime adds value to the business 🐕 and best of all, makes your accounts much easier to understand and extract useful information from. 🥳

𝟓. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲

Your company bank balance is looking healthy.........Excellent! 😍

Unfortunately, that does not automatically mean all of that money belongs to you personally. 🤪

Limited company money can usually come out in specific ways, such as salary, dividends, repayment of money owed to you, expenses or other properly recorded transactions.

Randomly transferring £5,000 to yourself with the reference “money” can create some interesting conversations about your director’s loan account.

Before making large withdrawals, speak to your accountant. It can save a considerable amount of tax — and several emails. 👍

𝟔. 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐚𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝; 𝐃𝐨 𝐚 "𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐨" (𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐥𝐝!)

“Oh, by the way…” 😏

These four words can strike fear into the heart of any accountant. 😱

“Oh, by the way, I also rent out a property.” 😱

“Oh, by the way, I sold some shares.” 😱

“Oh, by the way, I have another company.” 😱

“Oh, by the way, I received some income from overseas.” 😱

Please be mindful to mention the “by the way” things before your tax return is submitted wherever possible. 👍

Income, investments, property, capital gains and overseas interests can all have tax implications, even if they do not seem particularly important at the time. 😬

𝟕. 𝐈𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐇𝐌𝐑𝐂 𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐲 💀

We understand; HMRC envelopes rarely contain birthday cards. 🥳 But putting the letter in a drawer does not normally make the problem disappear. 🫥

Sometimes the letter is simply requesting information. Sometimes HMRC thinks something is missing. Sometimes there is advice of a deadline to respond to.

Whatever it is, your accountant would much rather see the letter straight away than three months later with:

“I completely forgot about this — not important...is it?” 👀

More often than not, yes. It is. 🤨



ꖡꖾꗍ ꕷꗍ𐝥ꕯꗞꖹꕷ ꕗꕯꖡ 🙃

Good accounting does not need to be stressful.

Keeping records up to date, separating personal and business transactions, using accounting software properly and speaking to your accountant before making major financial decisions can make a huge difference.

At Partridge Accountancy Services, we would much rather help you plan ahead than help you untangle everything afterwards.

Although, to be fair, we are quite good at untangling things too; so do not let it put you off getting in touch!

So if you recognised yourself in three or more of the points above, perhaps it is time to have a chat and see how we can help you to get back on track (Preferably before 30 January).

Ｎｅｅｄ Ｈｅｌｐ Ｗｉｔｈ Ｙｏｕｒ ▲ｃｃｏｕｎｔｓ？

Whether you are a sole trader, limited company, landlord or growing small business, Partridge Accountancy Services can help with bookkeeping, tax returns, VAT, payroll, Xero, Making Tax Digital and year-round accounting support.

Get in touch with us to find out how we can help make your accounts a little less stressful for you.

Oh..... and your accountant 😀

Partridge Accountancy Services
Helping businesses stay informed, compliant and prepared.

Simple.