Proactive

London Office - New Address

You can link directly to this article using the short URL http://bit.ly/b8wASf

We are now in the City of London

We have moved 500 metres, out of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and into the City of London. On account of multiple issues with Royal Mail (see the article below) we believe that there is a better chance of the Mount Pleasant Sorting Office delivering our mail, when compared to the Whitechapel Sorting Office.

Proactive
Unit 115
155 Minories
London
EC3M 1AD

We may still encounter some problems with Royal Mail but as the City of London is such an important financial centre, we feel certain that the service here, has to be better!

And of course, we are still moving towards a 100% paperless operation. Until all of the Civil Service does that, we will maintain our hybrid system, and accommodate regular mail whenever necessary.

You should follow us on Twitter here

Posted on 8 Jun 2010 by The Proactive Accountant Dot Com

Payroll in partnership with @bookkeeper140

You can link directly to this article using the short URL http://bit.ly/ciu9gc

Concise and to the point

In conjunction with our sister organisation @bookkeeper140 we can now offer a monthly payroll service . . .

Click here for details

You should follow us on Twitter here

Posted on 6 Apr 2010 by The Proactive Accountant Dot Com

Paper or Paperless

Paper or electronic

We are happy to accept your records in either paper form or as a collection of digital files, but not both. In order to ensure that there is no duplication of income or expenses, we would ask you to choose either one method or the other.

• Paper - Please do not send hard back folders or lever arch files. Documents may be sent to our London office where the majority of records are processed. Proactive, Unit 115, 155 Minories, London, EC3N 1AD.

• Electronic - We can accept electronic files in all common formats including PDF, CSV, XLS, DOC, ODT and ODS. We use VT Transaction for book keeping and we can accept VTR files. We regret that we are unable to accept files designed exclusively for other book keeping packages so that means no Sage files nor Quickbooks files. etc. Packages such as Sage and Quickbooks can export PDF files and that suits us best. We know from experience that CSV files generated by Sage and Quickbooks do not always work properly, so please stick to PDF files! Thank you for your understanding.

A Paperless System (1)

You can link directly to this article using the short URL http://bit.ly/8qVdxm

A Mix of Paper and Digital Files

How do we do it? We have a hybrid system! Yes, all of our own internal procedures are paperless. And yes, there’s still a lot of paper going through the system. Many government departments still need things on paper, and most of our clients prefer to send us paper. So we are a hybrid!

We submit accounts and tax returns electronically, and we still use old fashioned pigeon holes to handle client records. What we do try to do, is process paperwork quickly and ship it back to the client for safe keeping. We no longer have the racks and racks of paper files which used to extend from the floor to the ceiling. We have to keep some paperwork for 6 years and it is now stored in archives. Each year we destroy the oldest files (as confidential waste) and because 2008 was our first totally paperless year, we are now reducing the paper in storage. Each year we can shred some, and by 1 Jan 2014 we will have no paper left!

For those of you who are interested, we use Fujitsu Scansnap 500 scanners. We’ve tried a whole variety of scanners from HP, from Canon and from others, and we have settled on this amazingly small and efficient one from Fujitsu!

Posted on 24 Jun 2009 by The Proactive Accountant Dot Com

A Paperless System (2)

File Naming Convention

Proactive operates a paperless system and that means we need a strict file naming convention. Every file name is unique and the various collections of numbers each serves a different purpose. That way we can find any document quickly.

A number of our clients have asked for more details and so here’s a basic summary:

Every client has a 10 digit reference number.

Every document type has a 6 digit number code.

All dates are shown as 8 digits, in scientific notation - yyyymmdd.

If a document has more than one date, generally the first date is the tax year or trading year, and the second date is the date the document was created. Occasionally, the rules are adjusted, and extra numbers may appear for a variety of reasons. It’s the first 10 digits that link the file to a client, and the next 6 that tell us what the document is about. At the end of the file name a short narrative is usually added to make things clearer.

• 100XXX - correspondence
• 200XXX - bank
• 300XXX - book keeping
• 444XXX - accounts
• 500XXX - VAT (to 500499) and Companies House (from 500500)
• 622XXX - personal tax
• 644XXX - partnership tax
• 688XXX - corporate tax
• 700XXX - PAYE and CIS
• 800XXX - permanent notes
• 900XXX - permanent notes

We are trying to strike a balance and fine tune the system, so that both humans and computers can cope with the demands and complexities that accounting involves. Your feedback is always welcome.

Appoint Proactive as your agent for VAT

You can link directly to this article using the short URL http://bit.ly/7eKth3

Doing things electronically - VAT on line

It may take as little as 24 hours or maybe a few days before the Government Gateway is ready for you to “manage your services”. If you are not already logged in, log in again at:

http://www.gateway.gov.uk/

• Ignore the stuff in the middle of the page and use the menu on the left hand side
• Select the item that says “Manage Services”
• Then, under “Services and Identifier” you should see “New VAT Returns” or perhaps “Submit VAT Return”. If you cannot see anything like that, and you have already waited 7 days since you first registered to use the Government Gateway, you’ll need to contact them again through the help facility.
• In the right hand column under “Action” select “Appoint Agent”.
• Enter our agent code including the capitals and the hyphen just like this:

Proactive-FWHJ1NXXTG6V

• Continue, and if asked, confirm your identity again.
• When you reach the “Where would you like to go next?” screen, the job is done.

Let us know once you get this far and then we will be able to complete your VAT returns for you, using the Agents’ bit of the Government Gateway.

If you don’t tell us, then we won’t know! Any paper VAT returns submitted after the online service becomes live will be ignored. That could result in no VAT return being logged and the issue of a surcharge notice. HM Revenue and Customs do not tell us when you have successfully set up the online facility, so we rely on you!

Posted on 9 Jun 2009 by The Proactive Accountant Dot Com

The Government Gateway and VAT

You can link directly to this article using the short URL http://bit.ly/7M4H7H

Doing things electronically - VAT on line

As a result of Government initiatives, particularly in 2007, a number of services can be accessed over the web provided that you have a Government Gateway username and password. It’s often a two tier system which relies on first having a Government Gateway account and then subscribing to other services.

Setting up a Government Gateway Account

• Visit http://www.gateway.gov.uk/ and select Register.
• It will take a few days to have everything in place and for confirmation to be sent to you in the post.
• However, keep going for now and enroll for VAT. You’ll find it easier if you have you VAT registration certificate to hand (the form VAT4).
• You’ll also need the details from the last VAT return that was submitted (and processed).
• If you have no “last” VAT return, because you’ve only just registered for VAT select N/A when it asks for “Month of last VAT Return period” and for Box 5 enter 0.00.

Once that is done, appoint Proactive as your agent.

Posted on 8 Jun 2009 by The Proactive Accountant Dot Com