

Ask HN: Sole Trader accounting - perspective

I'm in the UK and will soon be setting up as a sole trader to legitimately manage the freelance work I do outside of my day job. Can anyone recommend an accounts package or software for the bookkeeping? At the moment my options seem to be Excel (and I'm not sure what I need to store) or GNUCash (which seems more for personal accounting). Any suggestions welcome, I just don't want to get fined a year down the line!
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jnye131
I use FreeAgentCentral it is a web app, uk based very good, deals with VAT etc
etc correctly and can do your tax return online

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perspective
Wow, that looks pretty slick, and the pricing seems reasonable too. How long
have you used it for? Ever had any big problems with it?

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Peroni
Sage Line 50 is the standard package for most small business'.

How much are you willing to spend?

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perspective
I don't have all that much money to play with at this point, so really I'm
looking for something cheap

Interestingly, I write software for Sage Line 50 as part of my day job, and
can get bleeding edge developer editions, unlimited license keys etc. It is a
bit overboard for what I want to do though - and FreeAgentCentral suggested
above seems to do all of the accounting stuff, plus some smart project/time
management features which IMO make it worth £15/month - although in the
fullness of time this will no doubt be the more expensive option.

Great suggestion though, I hadn't actually thought of that! (Couldn't see the
wood for the trees I suppose :)

