local accountants/financial advice for musicians?

[Guest Tam o' Shantie]

yo all,

just thought i'd punt up this thread and see if any forum users can recommend a good local accountant, preferably with experience in dealing with professional musicians' income?

agency gigs & remix work are starting come in thicker and faster and I need to keep all the finances above board & declared etc. need to make sure i'm doing the right thing with tax and so forth but have also considered the possibility of registering as business. any help appreciated!

[Dakota]

I'm not a chartered accountant or anything (in fact I'm very far off it) and sadly can't recommend one as of yet, but I have extensive knowledge on the subject as I'm studying it. Unfortunately I have minimal experience and haven't dealt with clients yet, though are you just looking for general advice on tax? What sort of information do you need? How about budgeting tips?

If you wanna start up a business you can either be a sole trader if it's just yourself, which means you don't have to faff around with paperwork, but if you'd like to start a private limited company you'll most likely have to get an accountant to help you set up and file your annual accounts, etc to start with until you figure it out for yourself (to avoid penalties). Obviously the first step would be to register with the Companies House and information can be found here:

http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/

Taxation regulations are too complicated to explain on here - I'd be here all day. Kind of feel like I'm stating the obvious here with the company thing though! Sorry I couldn't be of more help. I do think it's completely possible for you to set up either of the businesses mentioned on your own, as there are packages you can buy where it's all done for you (includes incorporation certificate, etc).

If you go on here it'll give you a lot of useful information too:

http://www.business.scotland.gov.uk/bdotg/action/home?site=202

I tried. Good luck in finding a qualified accountant.