How did becoming VAT registered change your business?

[Excels1or]

Just in the process of registering for VAT. Anyone notice downturn in accepted quotes? Any advice on what to think about? Cheers.

[doobin]

The ones who are put off by it are the ones you need to shed in order to grow your business. 

[Will C]

As doobin has said. You will lose some clients that are only interested in the bottom line but you will gain more that are happy to pay the vat as it shows you are a “proper” setup. 
If you do struggle in the transition your overheads have just dropped by the vat you can claim back so you can drop prices by a few % before vat and still pocket the same. However I wouldn’t recommend this, stick to your guns on price - the better clients are wait just round the corner waiting to avoid the one man band who they don’t see as proper(the same 1 man band that is vat registered is seen in a new light). When we registered I was worried the same, 6 months later we wished we had done it years before rather than dodging it by keeping turnover under the threshold. 

[gdh]

You'll probably lose a few customers but it's not as bad as it first looks because you're not actually going to need to charge 20% more. Most of your costs will have 20% vat removed so I'm reality it will only be a few percent increase and you can explain that to customers.

 

You just have to get used to reading prices excluding vat when do costings which is actually a nice feeling seeing how much cheaper it is at first. 😉

[Ty Korrigan]

This struggle, is it unique to the smaller self employed only?

 

 

 

[maybelateron]

Agreed with all comments, been VAT registered 10 years. Turnover now beneath the compulsory registration level, but would not dream of deregistering. There are some things you can claim VAT back on if they were bought within a certain time before registering. From memory I think this was tools/machinery bit not things like fuel and materials. My accountant was worth every penny (nah pound) when I registered for VAT.

[Chris at eden]

16 hours ago, maybelateron said:

Agreed with all comments, been VAT registered 10 years. Turnover now beneath the compulsory registration level, but would not dream of deregistering. There are some things you can claim VAT back on if they were bought within a certain time before registering. From memory I think this was tools/machinery bit not things like fuel and materials. My accountant was worth every penny (nah pound) when I registered for VAT.

You can claim back VAT on plant and equipment for up to 4 years before you registered.  Vans, computers, saws, pens and paper, etc. as long as you have the VAT receipts. You can claim back VAT for up to 1 year before you reg on services. 

[Chris at eden]

I just went VAT reg in June. So far so good touch wood. I get my accountant to sort most of it to be on the safe side.
 

I use quickbooks for invoicing and DEXT for uploading my vat receipts.  They are supplied by my accountant for about £10 a month and well worth it. 

[Chris at eden]

Oh yeah, I worried about it for ages and turned away work to stay under so you are not alone in worrying. 

[donnk]

15 minutes ago, Chris at eden said:

I just went VAT reg in June. So far so good touch wood. I get my accountant to sort most of it to be on the safe side.
 

I use quickbooks for invoicing and DEXT for uploading my vat receipts.  They are supplied by my accountant for about £10 a month and well worth it. 

 

try clearbooks, it does the vat for you. saving the accountant charges. piss easy to use as I  can use it.