A certified public accountant (CPA) helps people and businesses keep track of their money. This article will be mostly about personal accounting, but there are many other types of accounting as well.
When Do You Need an Accountant As An Individual? #
A lot of the time, you would only hire a bookkeeper when you need to file your taxes. This is for you if you work for yourself as a sole trader, a limited business, or for any other job that gives you untaxed income that you need to report on your tax return. Employers figure out how much tax you owe if you use Pay As You Earn (PAYE).
Since you are a regular person, your accountant’s main job is to make and send in your personal tax return.
These are some other things they can do for you:
- Help you to claim expenses
- Calculate the tax that you owe
- Find ways to help you lower your tax bill, like showing you which tax-free allowances you can claim
You can make your own Self Assessment tax return in the UK, or you can hire an accountant to do it for you. If you do hire an accountant, you should make sure they’re trained. This means they should have at least the basic AAT (9-point scale) training. Check the list of professional accounting groups in the UK to make sure the person you’re working with is licenced.
Why Do I Need to File a Tax Return? #
You may need to make a tax return for a number of reasons. Here is a list of some things that you could get good help with:
- Self-employed, as a sole trader or limited company
- Paying tax on inheritance
- Capital Gains Tax on investment profits
- Declaring rental income
- You earn over £100,000
- Savings interest
- Pension withdrawals
- You’re due a rebate
- CIS subcontractor refund
- Declare earnings from a side gig
