[tom_usher]

I'm facing the same problem. I'm just out of education (in the UK) and primarily doing contract work under my own name, I don't know whether getting an accountant would be beneficial, and if so, how to find one that is best for someone in my situation (and aiming to start up).

This sort of information about the basics is surprisingly hard to find, so this article is particularly refreshing.

Makes me think, I'm sure many people (including me) would be happy to pay to talk (IM) to someone who knows something about this sort of thing. Does this exist as a web service anywhere?

[amouat]

If you're in Scotland, Business Gateway are meant to help new (small) companies. They've been pretty useless with me so far though. I'll give them another go later. Scottish Enterprise are supposed to help "ambitious" (larger) companies.

I did find the following from them on finding an accountant: http://www.business.scotland.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?r.i=1...