The book I use is a collins cathedral analysis 697.1 book. If you would like me to send you a photograph of the layout In I can email them to you. I also use a small note book with my ins and outs and at end of month I transfer the figures into the collins book.
At the end of tax year I just transfer the figures into the online return, its really simple.
I wonder what the other book is like the one louise mentioned
Diane
Thank you! Iâll look out for the book.
Organisation!! time to turn over a new leaf. This is the book I spoke of
Hi Susannah, just wanted to mention a couple of things in case you werenât already aware of them:
Donât forget to include a proportion of your âEstablishment Costsâ. As you run your business from home you can use a proportion of the broadband, utilities etc. Hereâs a useful link:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/bim47825.htm
Also, even if you donât have receipts for things, you can still put it in as long as itâs reasonable and the cost could be backed up by other similar items available on the market (takes some screen shots from items for sale on the internet). Better to have receipts in future though, even if itâs a hand written one.
You can offset any loss against other income in the SAME tax year (so if you make a loss on your self employed income, you can offset against your full time job income and pay less tax). Or you can carry the loss forward to be used against future profits in the same business (so if you carry it forward you canât offset against your other income in future years).
If you donât already, I would make sure you have a separate bank account for your business so itâs not all mixed up and easier to see whatâs going on.
Hope that helps, it can feel like a lot to take in when youâre first registering, but itâs easy once you get going.
Wendy
When I buy something for cash I type out an invoice saying it was a cash purchase, the date and where I got it from, i.e. if I buy fabric from the market instead of a shop, or haberdashery from my local Button Boutique who give a receipt, but it is not a detailed one, this helps with my costings, as I can look back to see how much I paid for a particular item.
Thats helpful. Thank you. 
Yeah, itâs a fair bit to think about when itâs the part Iâm not really interested in. (Accounts and all that!). Never mind. Has to be done I guess.
Have my appointment with our local business factory next Thursday so will see if they have any further advice or just reassure me Iâm doing the right thing.
Thanks for everyoneâs help though. Hopefully itâs helped a few other people in the same position too.
Just had a bit of a look, thanks! Will come back to that one.
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Youâre welcome 
When I started looking at it first I found it quite scary and it was really bending my brain 
Well, for anyone who may be interested - I am now registered as self employed! Yey! (Sadly as well as my full time jobâŚbut you never know how things might develop!!)
So it was easy actually. Although I did spend 2 hours this morning talking to a business advisor. Theyâre provided through my council authority. And the lady I saw was super helpful. I had my list of questions but she also provided me with extra information and things to think about. She was impressed with how things are going so far as well, so I guess I should be happy with that!
Registered with HMRC while I was there with her. It only took 10 minutes to do that, and it didnât ask anything difficult or confusing so that was good!
On the plus side, for registering with their help, I also get a ÂŁ100 grant, as well as access to a lot of free business sessions should I want to attend, including things like keeping a record of your business, to usual social media to help it grow.
Theyâre also there to help me whenever I may need them for free and independent information/advice. So even better!
So if you have a service like this in your local authority and arenât too sure, I recommend them! 
AnywayâŚjust thought I would share my achievement for today! Feel like itâs the start of something today!
Thanks to everyone again who replied with information/advice - I really do appreciate it!!
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Alas my local council doesnât seem to offer business advisors. Make sure that they have registered you for HMRCâs online services so that you can do the pesky tax return online (which is actually dead easy once you have recieved your p60 and so long as you keep good records).
Yeah we did all that. Not looking forward to that part but Iâm not exactly a fan of filling in forms.- online or offline! Haha Never mind though, I guess it will just become part of my routine!
I have only recently registered as started selling in march this year, I will probably only see a very few items as I make Jewellery as a hobby really but sold an item so thought I had better get registered. I donât really want to have to open a seperate bank account unless it is free? Do I have to have seperate one? Do I have to send copy of my monthly statements at Tax return time? Itâs my joint account with my husband and we are both employed with other jobs. Thanks
Thanks very much!
The business advisor told me that HMRC donât care how you bank, so long as thereâs a paper trail.
She said the banks want you to have a business acc because you have to pay for one so they get more ÂŁ. But she said thereâs nothing stopping you using a normal current account, assuming all paperwork is in your name & not a business name.
She did say that technically HMRC can look into your paper trail at any time should they want, so having it as part of a personal account would mean they can see anything & everything.
I started selling around last summer. But everything then was out of my own pocket as I was finding my feet in terms of understanding how to make a profit. So that period of time has all gone down as âtestingâ in terms of my product & whether it would work or not. It was when I started making actual money that I realised was the time to register.
You do need to make sure youâre keeping all reciepts.
Itâs also amazing the amount of things you can count towards your taxable allowances! I think Iâll find working that part out quite difficult.