Anybody rolling your own accounts with Excel et al.. (Startup business)

techguy

Afternoon all,

(In the context of a limited company)

I recently posted on here asking about accountancy packages etc

It seems that generally the offerings are quite limited and not great, to be honest. I'm on the trial with Sage Accounting (Start) and it doesn't seem great to be honest. I won't get into its shortcoming but it seems to just offer very basic accounting functionality i.e. Journals and Ledgers, HR/Payroll is a separate paid package.

It seems to get any decent power out of it, it's over the marketplace for paid extras, which would soon add up. I guess the only decent bit is perhaps the VAT side of things.

...And on that note, I spoke with somebody earlier who does their own books on Excel......and I am thinking about doing the same.

My biggest concern is locking myself into a package I resent paying for which has loads of quirks that I need to deal with.

My "naive" approach

• In Excel - It's one file for each accounting year.
• Annual accounts are basically a P&L and Balance Sheet, right? So that's a worksheet for each one.
• P&L / Balance Sheets will be populated for various other sheets such as sales (revenue/turnover) and expenses (opex/capex)

Concerns - Solutions

• Bank account reconciliation - Get bank statements into a CSV or via API and reconcile in Excel (or a custom program from my software engineering background)
• VAT - Should be able to do this easily in excel using formulae etc - Again, I could write a simple program that calculates and generates a return which might be easier.
• Payroll - one man shop right now - but would probably pay for that package if needed.
• Data consistence / backup - I use OneDrive which has version history - But I would setup a routine backup myself also.

I am sure I am missing a lot.

Curious what other people think or if they have done this in the past.

CryptoToFollow

Clients use all sorts of packages for recording data, from online packages such as Xero / Sage Online/ Surf /Big Red Book to programs such as Tas / Sage. Others use basic Excel and some don't use anything.

Depending on the nature of the business and volume of transactions, Excel can be more than sufficient.

Exporting data from bank account to Excel and allocating expenses to categories could be sufficient with other tabs for sales daybook a d purchases daybook.

A package would be needed for payroll to make returns weekly/monthly depending on how often you get paid. Could be worth getting an accountant to do that if you don't have the expertise Payroll is always a seperate package so you can't knock accounting software for that.

hold my beer

Sage is an excellent piece of cloud software, what are its shortcomings?

I use Sage all the time for clients, but use Excel for my own for quickness.

Revenue have started the consultation process re: going full digital filing for VAT returns, with all the detail included. So my guess is Excel's days are numbered as a bookkeeping tool.

Jim2007

Between open source and commercial packages, there is more that enough out there to allow you to manage a one person start up. And hopefully you have a lot more to do in you work than spending your time trying to replicate in Excel what is already available for a couple of hundred bucks.

techguy

Thanks everybody. In general, my issue with sage is that it is just very basic. The (START) package anyway. All I can see it doing is being a UI for Ledgers and Journal entries. An OK - It will calculate VAT too. I have just checked and it links to banks too.

What annoys me is it's lack of other features. I mean for a company there isn't even a simple UI for me to enter out of pocket expenses for the company.. So I need to setup my own journal for that. I also don't see anywhere it will account for capital assets and depreciations etc?

Ok - so full disclosure - I think I have reset my expectations a bit.

My problem with Sage was that it felt very limited to what I am used to and I just resented paying the money for something so basic.

Upon reflection I think my expectations were a bit out of what .. and i'll likely shoot myself in the foot going down the DIY route (lack of double entry method).

Basically I have using FreeAgent in the UK for the last 6 years and it's fantastic. For £33 a month it a great piece of software. Manages income filings for both company and directors. Payroll included and a whole host of other features. While I know it is more money it still seems like massive value compared to the price of Sage. Granted it's a different market and customer base.

To be honest, I think I will go with Sage for now and see how it goes. I still have a bit of time on the trial and I can get to grips with it.

PaybackPayroll

For Payroll, PAYE Modernisation pretty much knocked Excel spreadsheets on the head. It is still technically possible to use Excel, but you'll have to manually download RPNs from ROS and manually upload PSRs.(unless you are brilliant at writing encryption algorithms in VBA 😁)

You should maybe consider how much time you are willing to spend putting together the spreadsheets Vs buying a software package.

It might work out fine for you since you are a one man shop at the moment.

hold my beer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121710663#Comment_121710663

33stg a month jaysus. You can get Sage online (proper version) via an accountant for half that price.

For payroll, use Collsoft. At approx 120 per year it's well worth it.

techguy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121711023#Comment_121711023

Ok, to be fair I get FreeAgent through my UK accountant for a bit less than that.

What is the proper version you mean? Which Sage offering is that?

I'll have a look at Collsoft. Thanks.

hold my beer

The proper online version of Sage Accounting, not the stripped back Start version.

Capt'n Midnight

The statistics on Excel aren't good. Depending on who believe 90% of audited spreadsheets with more than 150 rows have errors.

hold my beer

You have to use control colums and formulae if you're going to use Excel.

mct1

I used Excel for my self-employed business accounts, husband still uses Excel for his one-man limited company. Our accountants have always been happy with that.

I now do the online accounts for a mid-size registered charity and for this I use Xero - there's a monthly fee but it's brilliant for breakdowns and figures., and the accountant has easy access when the annual accounts need submitting. It's probably more than you need though.

Your post doesn't mention an accountant but hopefully you have one? Great for peace of mind.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058334067/anybody-rolling-your-own-accounts-with-excel-et-al-startup-business

Used QuickBooks for a good many years and does what it needs to do.

Yes, there is a bit of a learning curve to set things up the way you need. But once that's done, it's rinse and repeat as far as daily transactions go. And monthly, end of year task etc

But for tax purposes, I'm a 'sole trader' and that's quite complex enough for me.

Why are you trading as a 'limited company'? To reduce exposure? Complicates matters further imho and I certainly wouldn't be trying to do my accounts using Excel for same, if you don't know what you're doing. Get an accountant.

techguy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121715424#Comment_121715424

Wow - fair. That is something I can definitely believe!

techguy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121715523#Comment_121715523

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121715615#Comment_121715615

Thank you.

I won't say I don't know what I am doing - while i'm not an accountant, i'm fairly clued in.. famous last words.

I don't currently have an accountant... I did last week though.....!

I had engaged a local guy after an introduction from friend.. but frankly I felt like I was getting the runaround. Asked for same form twice to be signed, not doing stuff when they said the would. I felt like I was being given the push, hoping I would go elsewhere.. either that or just they are just woeful at their job.

Either way I am happy to go elsewhere now, just need to sort somebody else. I'm still very much in the startup phase so as long as I am keeping a record of everything I can iron it out later.

Right now there are just a bunch of expenses by me. Transaction will lower frequency (longer running jobs).

I'm doing a company as I like the separation on a number of fronts. The complication and compliance is fine with me. I have my own one man company in the UK since 2018 so am aware of various deadlines and consequences of not filing on time etc.

This is a great thread, thank you all.