Q: Tell us a bit about yourself and your interests.
A: Before Covid my main interest was travel, travel and more travel! Nothing better than planning a trip, lots of background research on what to do and where to go and then seeing it all come to fruition. I love seeing new places and people and just understanding a bit more about how other people live their lives. One of my favourite places which I have visited to date would be Iceland. Now travel is off the cards I am reading a lot more (love a good thriller) and spend time in my garden – makes you feel positive and always something new happening out there.
Q: How would you describe your role?
A: Local clients drop in their accounting documents – bank statements, paying in books, invoices etc and I put a set of accounts together for them ready to accompany their tax return to the Revenue Service. Some have well maintained accounting packages of their own (Quickbooks, Sage and Xero) but others need help from scratch to pull everything together. My work is largely in respect of local Limited companies but I also prepare accounts for some sole traders, charities and prepare personal and company tax returns. Over the years documents have been dropped off in shirt boxes, paper bags and even a drawer from someone’s cupboard (handles still attached!).
Q: What do you enjoy about your profession?
A: I enjoy that I still have close contact with my clients, they are locally based and I still see them face to face. I also enjoy the variety of what I do as well – there are a very wide range of clients with very different needs. I’ve always compared preparing a set of accounts from basic books and records to be similar to doing a jigsaw without knowing what the final picture will be!
Q: Who is a typical client?
A: There is no such thing as a typical client. I have dealt with so many different types of business over the years – retail outlets, restaurants, fishermen, hotels, builders, architects, software consultants and then there are companies set up to hold portfolios of property or shares. You can deal with someone with a turnover of a few thousand pounds one day and the next day someone with a portfolio worth several million pounds. As I said before the variety is everything.
Q: What do people need to be thinking about now/ at this time of year in terms of tax?
A: I would say to clients be aware of what the tax deadlines are, speak to us early in the year so they can get an idea of what we need from them, get your documents together as early as possible and drop them off to us. We will do the rest.
Q: What would be your top tip to somebody who is looking to get their taxes in order?
A: Don’t bury your head in the sand – the tax returns don’t go away! Speak to us, we are always ready to help. We are on the end of the telephone and can talk someone through what they need to do, the deadlines they face and how to manage them.