Small Sole Trader - Requirements for 'Accountant's Report'?

Denalihighway

Hi lads and lasses,

Hope I'm posting in the right area. My question is about the docs I'll need to provide an accountant in order for them to provide an 'Accountants Report'.

I'm PAYE since April 2019. The 6 months before that I contracted for the firm I'm now an employee of. So I've been with them a year. Contracted for 6 months, now PAYE for 6 months. I'm permanent.

I'm still a sole trader on the side - a very small bit of income from music production - mostly royalties and the very seldom production gig. I did music full time from around 2015 - Sept 2018.

All income is traceable via online transactions and transfers except cash from guitar lessons at a music school where I worked in 2017 and 2018 (which I reported...naturally).

All expenses are also traceable through online transactions and I keep the majority of receipts for petrol etc.

So my question is, in general what will I need to get together for an accountant for them to provide an 'Accountant's Report'?

Many thanks for any pointers. Much appreciated.

Cheers

Calahonda52

What do you need it for?
Who is asking for it?
what period does it relate to?
.
.
could it be that you need to show you are tax compliant, if so you can do this online via ROS

Denalihighway

Cheers

Its mortgage application related.
I would assume it is to confirm income.
It just says "2 years"

There are other things they ask for to confirm tax compliance and Prelim tax paid etc which are straightforward.

Calahonda52

Thanks.
So wearing my lending hat

What were you at for the two years: the last year is accounted for.

If the ancillary music income is minor and not regular then i would drop it out altogether and show PAYE slips for the PAYE bit and bank statements for the other.

While the music income is useful, if it's not regular they won't take it into account.

To be honest, depending on what you were at for the first year, I don't think an accountants report is necessary in this case.
you need to sit down with the lender and explain what you have/what you have been at, the report will cost you and is of little value in my opinion, as an accountant

Denalihighway

And a lovely hat it is...

yeah so basically the 12 months before last, I was full time in music. Small income consisting of

- Production gigs
- Film gigs
- Songwriting gigs
- Royalties from licensing
- Guitar lessons (this is the only thing I can't account for in bank accounts or receipts but it is recorded at the school I worked for and I have recorded what I received each month in my own records and then in turn reported it via ROS for those periods)

I know what you mean about not reporting it but I'm not sure how I can't at the same time?

It would be way less hassle it I didn't too obviously, but if they took even half of what would be estimated annually going forward it would help out the mortgage amount (assuming I'm approved!), every tiny bit helps I guess.

Thanks for your help

Calahonda52

Glad to help here.

Seems to me you have all the necessary paperwork so it would be easy enough to put it together: the key step is to set it out showing the income and expenses for the first year.

Have you asked them for a template of what the report should look like?
the key aspect about the report is that it is NOT an audit so I would put it together and show it to them.