Charles Verrier's dashboard

Olly replied on November 05, 2008 12:37 to the idea "Feature Request: Send automated payment reminders & overdue reminders" in FreeAgent Central:

Hi Melanie,

This isn't in place yet I'm afraid. We have a rather large list of feature requests which we're working through, and this is on that list so it will definitely be included in a future release. I can't be specific on exactly when that will be though.

Melanie Burke replied on November 05, 2008 11:51 to the idea "Feature Request: Send automated payment reminders & overdue reminders" in FreeAgent Central:

Is this feature now in place?

Ed Molyneux replied on November 03, 2008 23:07 to the question "Uploads to locked expenses" in FreeAgent Central:

Charles,

Thanks - we were originally planning to lock everything except the attachment, but you're right - that's more restrictive than it needs to be.

Charles Verrier replied on November 03, 2008 09:52 to the question "Uploads to locked expenses" in FreeAgent Central:

I know that you're looking into changes on locked expenses, but my own take on this is that you should be allowed to change anything that isn't material to the VAT return or an associated invoice..

This would include

-Change the expense type (maybe only within the same VAT rate band)
-Change the attachment
-Change the description
-Change the receipt reference
-Change the recurrence settings
-Change the reinvoice setting (if not invoiced yet)

Charles Verrier replied on October 30, 2008 14:56 to the question "Accounting for sale of stock" in FreeAgent Central:

After 20 years of doing IT for accountants - I think it's too late to switch!

Stuart Jones replied on October 30, 2008 14:53 to the question "Accounting for sale of stock" in FreeAgent Central:

No the credits were on the window side when I was articled! Also is it sensible hanging around with accountants?

Charles Verrier replied on October 30, 2008 14:33 to the question "Accounting for sale of stock" in FreeAgent Central:

Thanks (all those accountants I hang around with are having an impact!) - and the debits go on the side nearest the window, is that right?

;-)

Stuart Jones replied on October 30, 2008 14:22 to the question "Accounting for sale of stock" in FreeAgent Central:

Everything is correct, Charles.

10/10

Charles Verrier asked a question in FreeAgent Central on October 30, 2008 12:51:

Accounting for sale of stock

I act as a reseller for some software products (alongside the consulting work that is my main business).

FAC doesn't directly let me manage (or account for) stock, but I can cope by coding the product as a 'Cost of Sale' and then creating a journal to move the cost of the goods over to the '610-Stock' account. (So that the unsold stock appears as an asset on the balance sheet).

When I sell some of that stock - I need a confirmation that I'm accounting this correctly - can anybody confirm my approach? I've simplified this for clarity....

**

I have £1000 of stock (As a balance on the Stock account - at the cost price of the product)

I sell the software for £1200, and raise an invoice for that amount. That will take care of itself in the accounts and put £1200 into my P&L ('001-Sales')

I then need to do the bit that FAC won't do - reduce the value of stock on my balance sheet, and also recognise that I only make £200 profit on the sale. So...

I create a journal to credit '610-Stock' with £1000 and debit '101-Cost of Sales' with £1000.

I put the sales invoice reference in the Journal description to help match up the cost of sale to the invoice value (at least in a superficial way).

**

Am I doing this right?

Note that, in the real world, I will have purchased a big lump of stock, so I can't just apply the whole supplier invoice as a rebillable expense on the job -as I only want to rebill a fraction of the expense.

Stuart Jones replied on September 30, 2008 14:43 to the question "VATable expense items not appearing on VAT return" in FreeAgent Central:

You can reclaim VAT on items bought before registration (subject to HMRC's rules). Strangely the £2000+ limit does NOT apply on those items. Also you reclaim the 17.5% input VAT but when you sell the assets you charge the 17.5% but only pay the flat rate %. Daft but good news!

Charles Verrier replied on September 30, 2008 11:20 to the question "VATable expense items not appearing on VAT return" in FreeAgent Central:

One of the advertised benefits is supposed to be the reduced paperwork (not needing to track individual transactions and do all the work for the VAT Return). Of course since FAC does all this for you - that stops being such a factor. ;-)

I've started acting as a reseller for some bits of software, and the Flat Rate Scheme means I cannot claim back the VAT for any licences I purchase for later resale to clients (Re-salable stock is not a capital expense). At present, I'm keeping an eye on what this is costing me, as at some point it'll probably make more sense to opt out - depending on how much direct product reselling I end up doing.

Dave Nattriss replied on September 30, 2008 10:59 to the question "VATable expense items not appearing on VAT return" in FreeAgent Central:

OK, thanks guys. So, looks like the FRS isn't quite the gift-horse I thought it was (I was naively ignoring the 'flat rate' part of it), but I think it still works out better for me (my FRS rate is 13% because my business is in IT/Consultancy) as I don't have a huge amount of VAT that I'd otherwise claim back.

Is it true that the £2,000+ (inc. VAT) allowance can be backdated? I've possibly spent that much on my PC over the years, which I now use primarily for my business, and have the receipts/invoices. I realise this isn't a FAC question!

Ed Molyneux replied on September 29, 2008 19:11 to the question "VATable expense items not appearing on VAT return" in FreeAgent Central:

Thanks Stuart.

David, what Stuart described is exactly what FreeAgent uses to calculate the FRS VAT.

Hope between us we've managed to make it a bit clearer.

Stuart Jones replied on September 29, 2008 17:14 to the question "VATable expense items not appearing on VAT return" in FreeAgent Central:

It's not easy to get your head round the Flat Rate Scheme!

1. You charge your customers 17.5% VAT as normal.
2. Your output VAT for the VAT return is the relevant % of your sales for that period Including VAT. For example £10,000 + VAT of £1,750 was invoiced. FRS % say 10% gives output VAT of £1.175 to be entered on VAT return.
3. The ONLY input tax you can reclaim is VAT on "capital assets" costing more than £2000 inclusive of VAT.

Hope that helps.

Dave Nattriss replied on September 29, 2008 15:51 to the question "VATable expense items not appearing on VAT return" in FreeAgent Central:

Thanks for this, I hadn't realised the lower limit for the FRS.

However, what about reclaiming on services, like telephone line rental, web server costs etc. As I understand it, they're not 'capital assets'?

I've put various expenses onto FAC, including those just mentioned, and am now preparing my first VAT return (and am on the FRS). However, my box 4 on the return in FAC is showing £0.00.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimman...

Mike Wilson replied on September 09, 2008 11:38 to the idea "Feature Request: Send automated payment reminders & overdue reminders" in FreeAgent Central:

I hope we've bigged up the idea enough :) it's a real killer feature.

Perhaps defaults can be set on a per client basis, but overridden per project just as the payment schedule and invoice sequence numbering is currently done.

"Big up yerself!" - Ali G

bigitup replied on September 08, 2008 23:44 to the idea "Feature Request: Send automated payment reminders & overdue reminders" in FreeAgent Central:

I think a 5th would be good too (set on a per client basis), Days after due date reminder (integer).
Some other systems have a good method where several time intervals can be set, all with different comments.
For example,
15 Days Late - "Please pay"
30 Days Late - "Please pay or else"
45 Days Late - "Now you've really done it"

Charles Verrier replied on September 08, 2008 16:52 to the question "Uploads to locked expenses" in FreeAgent Central:

PS - The uploaded image preview is great - but appears to insist on showing everything in portrait.

I scanned a rail-ticket (which tends to be landscape formatted) into Adobe Acrobat as a PDF on my PC, making sure it was oriented correctly for reading, but FAC rotated it back !

..and my instinct is that the 'View Original' button should open in a new browser window - just makes it easier when verifying the transaction agaisnt the scanned image!

Charles Verrier replied on September 08, 2008 16:45 to the idea "Feature Request: Send automated payment reminders & overdue reminders" in FreeAgent Central:

How about a set of properties on the client (or project)...

1. auto-send payment reminders? (tick box)
2. Days before due date for reminder (integer)

and...

3. auto-send statement? (tick box)
4. Days after due date for statement (integer)

Plus a manual statement generator, of course!

Charles Verrier replied on September 08, 2008 16:43 to the idea "Feature Request: Send automated payment reminders & overdue reminders" in FreeAgent Central:

I'd agree here - A statement would be nice to have - just as a general reminder to clients. Automatic emailing would be a secondary feature for me - as reminders might be fiine for some clients and not for others.