The first time that you use a new business you will need to fill in some basic details so that it is created correctly including a basic coding structure.
Do not worry if you are not sure of some of the answers to start with as they can all be viewed and edited at a later date by going to the Settings icon at the top of the screen, except for the business type.
Business Info
Enter the name of the business – this will be shown on documents such as invoices.
Select the business type from the drop down list:
o Sole Trader
o Partnership
o Limited Company
o Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
o Trust/Estate
o Charity
Please note it is extremely important to get this right as this cannot be changed later so please check with your accountant if you are unsure which option to select. It will have important implications when MTD ITSA is introduced. If you business type does not fall inot one of these categories please contact us before proceeding.
Trading Name – if you have an additional trading name as well as the main business name then you can also add this in here so that it is also shown on invoices
Your financial year start date will be used to calculate the default dates for any reports but you will get the chance to change date ranges at the time of preparing the report
Lock transactions up to – it is possible to ‘lock’ periods once they are complete so that you do not enter data into them by mistake, for example your accountant may wish to lock everything up to the last day of a previous financial year once it is complete. To start with leave this blank.
Business Address
Enter your contact details so that they will appear on all relevant documentation such as Sales Invoices.
Financial Info
Do suppliers invoice the business? Do you wish to claim the VAT back on purchase invoices before they are paid and/or keep a record of who you owe money to?
Does the business invoice customers? Do you need to declare the VAT on sales invoices and/or keep a record of who owes you money? If you issue sales invoices to customers go to Settings>Document Settings to determine their layout once you have saved this screen.
Does the business have employees? This will enable the Wages Adjustment option and add some relevant categories.
Does the business use multiple currencies? If you deal with other countries and need to use alternative currencies including adding bank accounts – see Multiple Currencies in Farmplan Business Cloud.
Is the business VAT registered? It is important to tick this box if you wish Farmplan Business Cloud to create and submit your VAT figures to HMRC.
Does the busines own motor vehicles? This will add additional categories relating to vehicles including depreciation but of course you will also have the chance to add your own as well.
Does the business use a merchant account for processing payments? If you accept credit card payments and have an account where funds are paid into before being transferred to your bank account then this option will add a merchant account to your list of bank accounts.
VAT registration number – this will be required if you are VAT registered – enter without any spaces
VAT Registration Date – this date can be found on your business’s VAT certificate. If you are not sure enter a date in the past before any data is to be entered. It is important to enter it correctly if the business becomes newly VAT registered so that Farmplan Business Cloud knows when to start adding transactions to your VAT returns.
How often do you report your VAT – How often do you report your VAT figures to HMRC i.e. monthly, quarterly or annually?
Which is your main tax code? This is the VAT status that will be used by default if you have not specified a tax code against a category.
What is your main tax code? You will not normally need to alter this unless this is a non UK business. Leave it set to ST. See Customised tax rates.
EU Trading Only tick this if you buy or sell goods or services from other countries prior to January 2021. See VAT - Trading in Europe
Does your business use Reverse Charge? If you do use the domestic reverse charge scheme then tick this box so that you are offered an RC tax code in each transaction.
If your VAT scheme changes use the VAT Schemes button at the bottom of the screen so that Farmplan Business Cloud knows the date of the new scheme and can calculate the VAT return correctly.
NOTE - The vast majority of businesses using Farmplan Business Cloud will be on the standard Invoice Scheme even if you are only recording bank entries and not invoices. Do not change this option unless you are absolutely sure that you fall under one of the other schemes. You may wish to check with HMRC or your accountant if you are not sure.
See also -
The Farming Activities tab will help you design your coding structure (known as categories) tailored to your business. You will be presented with a list of potential farming activities where you can pick the ones that apply to your business. Of course you will be able to customise them by renaming them, adding new ones and deleting ones that you do not want. Click on this link for more details. See also Managing Categories.
Officers
This tab is present for Partnerships or Limited Companies and is a list of the partners or directors of the business.
Users
Who can access this business and what is their permission level? See User Permissions for more details. New users can be added by the company administrator. They will receive an email with an access link on it. Remember to add your accountant if you wish them to view your data so that they can advise you during the year and prepare your year-end figures, including if you wish, adding adjustments directly into the accounts.
Access can also be removed if a user is no longer involved in the business.
Access to particular areas of the business can be controlled for individual users by changing the user permissions. ‘Company Admin’ will have full access to all areas of the program including creating other users.
There are some pre-set levels but you can create customised permissions. For example you may wish to add a user who can enter data but cannot see more sensitive financial details. Alternatively you may wish to give read access to a user but restrict their ability to edit or add information.