Starting and Running a Business: Keeping Records

You will need to keep records for your own sake, but you must also keep them by law to support your VAT, other tax and National Insurance contribution payments and claims. If you are a limited company or an LLP, there are further conditions to do with your annual reports and annual accounts. In the case of companies, there are also condition concerning records of board meeting and transactions in your company's shares.

In you are a sole trader or a partner, the tax rules are different but you still need to produce completed financial records. Please do not hesitate to use Coddan's accounting department to help you with your accountancy and tax questions.

If you plan to keep any information about people electronically, for example on a personal computer, you must notify the Information Commissioner under the Data Protection Act 1998. Under this Act, computer users must follow eight Data Protection principles for using computers.

The Data Protection Act has also been extended to certain manual records. The Data Protection Act will affect many aspects of your business and you should obtain professional advice on these implications in your precise business circumstances.