Hi there, New to forum so this may be in the wrong place. I've had a book-keeper but am now attempting to do my own using KashFlow. I am a sole trader, VAT registered that has a home office but most of my paid work is on clients' sites I travel to. Before using the book-keeper I claimed for travel but hardly claimed for any subsistence. She then told me I could claim for anything once I was 6 miles from home and I've been claiming for all food on drink whilst at or going to and from clients sites. I've been looking on the HMRC etc and it sounds like she was wrong. Can anyone advise me on what I can claim for in terms of food and drink when away from the home office and seeing clients? Thanks!
I think you've now realised that the advice you have been given is over simplistic and factually incorrect. Just out of curiosity, was your bookkeeper a member of a professional body? Kris
Whats done is done I suppose, however in the future it's worth remembering that neither bookkeeper or accountant are protected titles in the UK. This really means that anyone can wake up one day and say from now on I'm a bookkeeper, or from now on I'm an accountant. No training or qualifications are needed. You don't even really need to know what you're doing. When engaging a bookkeeper or accountant it's best to check they are a member of a professional body. This will put your mind a ease that the person doing your accounts is sufficiently trained, insured and more importantly you have some recourse should anything go wrong. The main professional bodies for bookkeepers in the UK are Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB), International Association of Book-keepers (IAB) and Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT). Sorry you've had a bad experience. Kris