thinking about going self employed

[wishiwascleverlikeyouguys]

Hello all. I am seriousley thinking about going self employed, I have been on jsa for 12 months now in that time i have recently had a break from it as i went on a overseas holiday. Whilst there i did some thinking and i really watch to get of the jsa cycle as its just crappy to live on and demorilsing.

 

Since my return and (recent) i have made a rapid reclaim basically as i need to ensure i one have some funds to live of and 2 to get the help i need to pay my rent and council tax

 

I was self employed a few years back and stuppidly had not heard of working tax credits so never applied for them, This time i will try for them

 

But more importantly and why im posting is back then i had no rent or council tax bills to cover (Mums n Dads r g8)

 

But now its diffrent and i do have them responcibiltys, my requests for help revolve around this

 

I dont expect to earn much in the first 6 to 12 months of trading

 

I expect to live of my working tax credits top up as well as my minimal wages

 

I called turn2us.org and they said i should get full housing and council tax benifit whilst my earings are low

 

I belive i will need to show the h/b office proof of earings every 3 months, Can someone explain how you write your books out to show what you have earned as this is were i struggle to understand, what do i put as in if i earn 30 quid and it cost me 15 on fuel ect how do i write the 15 as a for instance weekly wage if that was all i earned that week

 

Also in addition to that question would i be entilted to the run on for 4 weeks of housing benfit even tho i have just had a 2 week break in my claim?

 

thanks to all that contribute to help out

[bigegg]

You don't mention what you are intending, but I am assuming you are gonna have some sort of cash-based business such as gardening, or selling on ebay:

 

Have a google for "VT transaction+", and download it.

You'll only need the free "cashbook" application which comes with it.

It's a really simple, but very good, accounts program which is pretty self-explanatory.

 

Input all your receipts for things you've spent, and invoices/receipts for money you've received.

 

Every three months, you can print off a profit/loss report which you can give to the local council for your housing benefit.

 

Also will help at the end of the year when your self-assessment forms have to be done.

[Conniff]

Everything has been made so complicated now and I'm not sure if this is still relevent, but if you are on unemployment benefit you could get up to £200 per month for the first year and tution at a local enterprise college. That is a real boon and the assistance offered is priceless. So check out your jobcenter to see if that is still available.

 

If you purchase the correct accounting books, they are laid out in a manner that will lend itself to easy bookeeping. Just one thing, they don't like entries made in pencil, use ink and if you make an error, one ruled line through the error entry so it can still be read and do it again on the next line down.

 

There is plenty of free help and assistance out there so don't pay anyone for anything. The only person you might need help from is an accountant at the end of your first year. If you pick a good but not expensive small company/one man band accountant like I did, not only did he save me enough money to cover his bill but he chopped down my outgoings by a lot.

There is also some good and cheap software out there that can help and if you are in a position to spend a few bob, Sage accounts can be got for around £100. All departments of everyone accept Sage printouts.

[frank fist]

Just a question, but how did you support yourself whilst on holiday and how long did you go for?

[bigegg]

for the first five years, I didn't go on holiday.

After five years, the business was in a position where I had some reliable staff who could run the business day to day stuff.

So I took a week off in Bridlington (about 90 minutes drive away)