1. Bank account - if you have received your bank account details then please enter them under the "company" section. If you have NOT received bank account details then please advise as soon as possible.

2. VAT registration - if you have received notification of your company's VAT registration please enter details under the "company" section (including your first period end VAT return date - all subsequent quarterly VAT returns will follow this date). Please also "upload" a copy of your VAT registration certificate - select "certificates" from the left hand menu.

If you have NOT received the VAT registration details then please advise as soon as possible.

3. Registered office - this will normally be your home address. Please ensure that the registered office address input in the "company" is correct.

4. Paying yourself (and - if applicable - your spouse):

(A) We recommend a low salary (payable annually in arrears in March) and Dividends.

If at the end of the year it is decided that you are failing IR35 then there will be a Deemed Schedule E calculation that will calculate your NI/tax liability. You should retain 40% of your gross fees to cover NI/tax.

If you feel that you pass IR35 then you should still retain 40% of your gross fees to cover NI/tax that may be payable in the event of a successful challenge by IR.

(B) With regard to paying yourself/your spouse please note the following:

a. Paying expenses - firstly if you have any claimable employee Travelling (receipted costs for taxi/train/bus/air travel OR if using your own car, mileage allowance of 40p for the first 10,000 miles [in each tax year] and 25p per mile thereafter) and Subsistence (receipted costs of meals or hotel accommodation) expenses you should:

(i) Set yourself up as a Supplier i.e. "Joe Bloggs Expenses"
(ii) Via the cashbook raise raise an Expense transaction for your expenses under the "category" Travel. Please ensure you retain any supporting receipts so that they can be matched to the expense form in case of an Inland revenue audit/inspection.
(iii) You should then write a cheque payable to yourself in respect of the expense amount. Do not forget to enter the paid details on the expense transaction.

b. Paying dividends

(i) If your spouse does NOT work then it is tax efficient for her to be a shareholder and to receive Dividends. The shareholding that she holds (which determines the dividends she receives) is up to you. In most cases it is simpler to have a 50:50 holding between yourself and your spouse. Please let us know how you wish to proceed in this regard so that we can put the necessary companies house paperwork in place.

(ii) To calculate the amount available for Dividends, take your gross fees (excluding VAT) less any expenses per (a) above, and any salary, and deduct 40% (to cover taxes/NI [on basis of failing IR35] and our fees). This is the maximum amount that should be paid as a dividend.

(iii) You need to set yourself (and - if applicable - your wife) up as a shareholder i.e. "Joe Bloggs Shareholder"

(iv) Via the cashbook you need to raise a Dividend transaction(s) as follows:

On the first screen select the party to receive the dividend i.e. you, and the category i.e. Dividends payable - all other fields should then "pre-fill" and you should hit the "continue" button";

On the second screen you should enter:

(a) the date dividend to be paid;
(b) the accounting year end - can be found in the Company details section;
(c) the dividend amount (if you are also paying a dividend to your wife remember to divide the total dividend payment by 2 - for a 50:50 shareholding).

You can then "save" the transaction.

If you are paying a dividend to your spouse please repeat this process.

(v) You should then make cheques payable to you (and your spouse). Do not forget to enter the paid details for the Dividend transaction.

(vi) To complete the paper work you can (from the cashbook for each Dividend transaction) produce a Dividend Voucher [V] and Minutes [M] of the Board meeting authorising the Dividend payment by clicking the respective buttons. These can be clicked and printed at any time. Therefore we suggest this is done at the end of the year when finalising all necessary paperwork.

5. VAT - please note that VAT returns will normally be sent by Customs and Excise directly to your home address. It is important that the VAT return is completed and signed by you within the stipulated time frame.

EZACS will produce the figures for the VAT return in an identical format to the VAT return (please remember "garbage in = garbage out"; as the VAT return is calculated from the cashbook entries your cashbook must be accurate and up to date for the VAT period covered - if this is not the case your VAT return will be wrong). To prepare your VAT return:

(i) select VAT (from left hand menu);
(ii) ensure that you have selected the correct VAT period;
(iii) click "Submit" and you will see an analysis in the same format as the VAT return. These figures should be copied into your VAT return. Please note that the default VAT return in Ezacs is prepared on a cash basis i.e. actual amounts of VAT received/paid in the relevant quarter. Therefore it is important that you ensure payment of invoices (as per your bank statement) are input promptly and accurately.

The "cash basis" for calculating VAT applies to businesses with an annual turnover of less than £1,000,000.

Ezacs does not operate the "flat rate" VAT calculation basis.

Note: Reasonability check of VAT payable to Customs and Excise - unless you have incurred VAT on expenses the VAT payable will be the amount received in respect of your invoices in the relevant VAT period.

6. PAYE and NI - please telephone the Inland Revenue employers helpline on 0845 60 70 143 to register the company as an employer (Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday and Sunday 8am to 5pm). They will/may request the following details:

(i) Company name, number and date of incorporation (this information is stored within your Ezacs Account - select "Company" from left hand menu);
(ii) Business address - your home address;
(iii) Registered office address, if different from business address (please state that the registered office address is the same as the business address if this is the case - see 3 above).
(iv) Directors name (i.e. you), address, NI No., Date of Birth;
(v) Nature of business e.g., IT consultancy; and
(vi) Expected first pay day - we recommend that you pay yourself a small salary of circa £5,000 annually in arrears. Therefore the first pay day should be quoted as next March following the date of registration.

7. Insurance - by law you are required to have employers liability insurance (in practice many single operator companies do not take out this cover because you as the employee would be claiming against yourself i.e. your company - nevertheless it is still a legal requirement). You can organise this via http://www.contractoruk.com. The other common insurance covers such as Public Liability and Professional Indemnity are optional.

8. EZACS fees - Fidei Limited is VAT registered and therefore its fees are subject to VAT. Please arrange to pay the £99.88 per month fee at the end of each month directly into Fidei Limited bank account:

Bank : HSBC
Sort Code: 401938
Account No. : 42493616
Account Name: Fidei Ltd

Please quote your EZACS ID No. as a payment reference so that we can identify the payment. Your EZACS ID is in the "company" section.