Blog has moved

Firstly, apologies for the rather large time-delay in posting.  I am attempting to catch up!  You can view the new blog (which is being slowly updated) at www.happyaccountant.com
If you are linking to or blogrolling “The Happy Accountant”, please update your links.
Also, if you are blogging on a relevant or related topic (such as tax, spreadsheets, marketing, [...]

Working From Home and Time Management

I know it’s a cliche but  time management is even more important when working from home  to avoid an unproductive merging of work/home/family.  Here are just a few blogs on work/time management sites:
Time Management at Home
A Matter of Time
Mark Forster
 Pick the Business

Choosing an Accounts Package

I’ve recently been in the position of choosing accounting software, so this has been forefront of my mind.  This is a (by no means exhaustive) list of things to consider (in no particular order). 

price
functionality
ease of use/user friendliness
accounting knowledge
upgradeability
upgrade cost
ongoing support costs
flexibility
does it meet your legal obligations

Why use Accounting Software

The whole point of using accounting software is to make your life easier by saving you time and money.  Therefore, if it doesn’t and you can meet your legal requirements without it, you should question whether it’s worth the effort.
It should save you time because:

the whole process of bookkeeping should be faster (although setting up a [...]

Calculating VAT without a Calculator

For those of you who might ever wish to calculate VAT at 17.5% without a calculator (or for those who enjoy a bit of mental maths), here’s how:
Work out 10% of the net value (by moving the decimal point one place to the left)
Half the above answer
Halve the answer again
Add the three numbers, calculated above, [...]

Birthday

This is not an abandoned blog, however, it’s been very busy recently (not that I am complaining, I love being busy!).
We’ve also had a run of family celebrations, including my youngest daughter’s very first birthday.  How time flies.

Accountants’ Jokes

Who says accountants are no fun?  Accountants jokes and fun is a blog collection of jokes for and about accountants, blogged by Mark Lee, an accountant himself (although no longer in practice).

No Apology

I have been at the PUB (not that pub), the PowerUpBlog of Ingenuity Marketing (thanks to Michelle Golden at Golden Marketing for bringing this one to my attention) reading their what’s your story post and I’ve realised that I am guilty of giving off negative vibes about my profession.
I am apologetic at times, when I mention what I do and [...]

Back Again

Well, the VAT returns have been done and it’s back to the blog, which has been sorely neglected of late.
I have also been reminded of how handy Excel is as a fallback, even though it isn’t necessarily the best tool for the job, it’s relatively painless, reasonably straightforward and fairly easy to follow the “audit trail”.

Harry Potter Mania

This week and next week are proving to be extremely busy.  So busy that I wont even get time to read the latest Harry Potter book.  However, I am not complaining: there is a pleasing symmetry about a completed VAT return – is that a sad admission?
In a few days time, I will be back [...]

Change in Company Car Fuel Rates

From 1 August 2007, HMRC are changing the fuel rate for company cars (which is the fuel element of the mileage rate).  Unfortunately, the mileage rates themselves are not changing.

Advertising Caution

A while ago, I was contacted by a company claiming to be acting on behalf of a voluntary organisation, selling advertisements on a wall calendar.
In short, it turned out to be a scam, which works something like this:
The first person rings you up with a sales pitch, possibly opening by asking if you would like to  support [...]