Hi,
Congratulations for the software, after testing it a little bit I think it is fantastic.
I have one question, maybe users with more experience could help me.
I am a sole trader with 3 trading names (business).
I know I can choose between having 3 accounts on quickfile or only one and have 3 different invoices templates.
I see some issues with this approach. Let me write you down my cons and pros and please tell me which one do you think is the best way to manage this with this software.
My bank account is shared for the 3 business as a soletrader, so this will help when importing bank data if I use only one quickfile account.
I have 3 stripe accounts for each business, so if I use only one account I cannot connect them to the quickfile, as it only allows one integration. I could import the data from stripe for all 3 but only make online payments for one of the business.
having 1 account makes me to chose on the subdomain for all three, so the clients when going to pay an invoice online, could find this disturbing.
having 3 accounts will make more complex to manage as I need to login on 3 different quickfile accounts, of course.
When filling my tax return, it ask me how many business do I have, so having 3 accounts will make easier to
Any other thing I am missing?
Which approach do you recommend?
While you can open 3 QuickFile accounts, we do operate a one account per email policy, and recommend looking at Affinity for users with multiple accounts. This makes it easier to access them too.
Youâre quite right in that a QuickFile account can only be linked to one Stripe account. You could use just one account and use a generic sub domain (e.g. your name as youâre a sole trader). Each client area can be customised based on the trading style.
Having 1 account would make it overall easier to manage (one login, one client list, one profit and loss report, one account to manage). But I think this is something that comes down to you at the end of the day, and how you would want to present yourself to your clients.
Weâll leave this thread open a little longer for other users to add their comments which will hopefully help you with your decision
I have been thinking about this and thank you to your software I have found that my accounts on my two business were really mixed on the bank accounts.
So I have decided (for now) to use two different accounts on quickfile and create new real bank accounts to separate both business also there, so It will be easier in the future to fill up the information and generate the tax returns.
Is this not what the âTrading Stylesâ side of things is for?
Surely this would be a much easier option for a sole-trader to use.
Account settings -> Design Customisation -> Additional Trading Styles.
Yes, but that clashes with the Stripe Settings.
I can only have one stripe connection with one account but maybe you are rightâŚ
I just started to add the new account, and having everything duplicated (real bank accounts, credit cards, etc) is not going to be easy to manage.
I could add several merchant accounts for each stripe account and only use the direct Stripe Payment here on the one business that requires it most⌠and use alternate stripe buttons for the othersâŚ
@QFMathew Will be possible to setup 3 Zapier rules to connect with 3 stripe accounts so the invoices are generated automatically for the three business?
I think Iâd be inclined to do just that, only have the main stripe account linked, and then track the others as normal bank accounts.
Also, I do believe when youâre self-employed, you tax return only asks for your earnings as self-employed, not for each self-employed activity individually - so, in this case, having one account on QF would make your tax return easier I would have thought.
As @gcotton mentions, this issued can be resolved with the trading styles feature, although there are one or two things that are fixed such as the web address. But you could make this generic to all 3 businesses.
I canât see why you canât set up a Zapier to import transactions or generate invoices. That would really come down to the limitations of Zapier. All I could suggest is setting up a Zapier account and giving it a go.
However the main purpose behind the Stripe integration is to take payment from the customer via QuickFile. This can only be done with one Stripe account.
Thank you @gcotton
When I started to do the tax return, it asked me for how many business do I have, and it asked me about income and expenses for them separately so I though I needed to separate them completely here too.
@QFMathew How can I get that information using only one quickfile account? I am sure it can be done, I cannot find the right menu for this yet.
I will try the zapier thing (and upgrade to paid account) as soon as I finish to set everything. So far this is a great piece of software that deserves to be paid for.
This is a Power User feature however, so if you donât have one of these, then you will be prompted to sign up for one. However, I can preload a trial on your account if you wanted to explore this area.
As for Zapier, take a look here, sign up for a Zapier account and itâll guide you through the steps to connect QuickFile with your Zapier account. Let us know if you need help there too (although it may be worth starting a new thread for that)
[Edit]
You specific QuickFile and Stripe zaps, this link will get you started with logging Stripe transactions in QuickFile, for transactions that take place outside of QuickFile
How strange, its never ask me that before that I recall, only for the number of employers Iâd had, self-employed income was always separate and on its own.
@gcotton I can confirm that the self assesment ask for different business:
Self-employment
Did you work for yourself (on your âown accountâ or
in self-employment) in the year to 5 April 2016?
(Answer âYesâ if you were a âNameâ at Lloydâs.)
Fill in a separate âSelf-employmentâ page for each
business. On each âSelf-employmentâ page you complete,
enter any payments or expenses related to that business.
Say how many businesses you had in the âNumberâ
box below
I also have several sole trader names and was trying to use the custom trading styles. Whilst it does sort of work it is a complete nightmare and is easy to mess up, to the extent where I have given up and am switching to limited instead so that the shared parts are all showing the Ltd company name and the custom trading styles are then just basically invoice templates showing the trading as details. This also makes managing the business a lot easier as I only have to do the accounts for the limited company and not try and keep track of 3 separate ones.
