VAT Registration?

Today I have turned my thoughts to the money side of the business - more specifically accounting. I have decided that I want to implement some proper accounting software rather than try and run the business on a variety of spreadsheets.

I came across the following free piece of software from the guys at Sage www.tassoftware.co.uk/free/- I think the plan is that you pay for more complex add-ons such as a payroll system etc. but hopefully I can get by for now on the basic free piece. I will install the software over the coming days and post my findings here to let others know how it has gone.

The other question I am pondering right now is whether I need to register the company for VAT - from a quick look on the Inland Revenue website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/start/register/when-to-register.htm I think I can escape without registering for VAT at the moment as I will not be at the threshold of £68k turnover for a while yet. The exact wording is

Supplying goods or services within the UK. If your turnover of VAT taxable goods and services supplied within the UK for the previous 12 months is more than the current registration threshold of £68,000, or you expect it to go over that figure in the next 30 days alone, you must register for VAT. See the section in this guide on calculating your VAT taxable turnover.

So as I see it when I get close to £68k of sales in a year I will have to look at registering for VAT and hence charge VAT to customers and do all of the associated accounting for VAT, but for now I will place this on the list of things to monitor but not do.