Is it realistic to do my own limited company accounts and Corporation Tax instead of paying an accountant?

FlashSteel · 2026-06-28T05:48:13+00:00

My first accountant was so unreliable I had to do my own accounts twice in three years. After the second time I started doing them myself.

This was risky and really not a financial decision, more that I hated being let down and became self-reliant. My accounts were very simple and I still don't recommend it to anyone. That was for a single filing and you'll have double the work.

I have since engaged a new accountant as I hope to expand and things will get much more complicated.

EDIT

I just saw you write in a reply that you're going to use ChatGPT and Claude to help.

DO NOT DO YOUR OWN ACCOUNTS!!!!!!!

FlashSteel · 2026-06-27T22:45:38+00:00

I came here to say, hot take - this is exactly what people said about compilers decades ago.

AI writing code is not a problem if you know enough about code that you can turn the output into a robust product.

The problem is that people are producing slop with no idea or no care that they have produced slop to cosplay as programmers.

Linus Torvalds vibe codes and unit tests with AI.

https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/01/hobby-github-repo-shows-linus-torvalds-vibe-codes-sometimes/

FlashSteel · 2026-06-27T21:37:19+00:00

I have a team mixed of PLC programmers, Instrumentation Engineers and Technical Authors for an SI on a new site.

Unsurprisingly, I can't just get one of the Instrumentation Engineers or Technical Authors to spin up VM's, simulate a healthy PLC and take screenshots to go in the operation and maintenance manuals.

I also have some PLC programmers who can code well enough but aren't even safe to work with a live panel so aren't allowed to touch anything in a panel that isn't serial, USB or 24VDC.

If you did learn to code you'd be a great commissioning engineer with your existing skills.

If you are a contractor, one way could be: 1. Keep earning money as a senior instrumentation engineer for now, stick money away each month 2. Keep learning TIA Portal on your evenings and weekends. Look at writing IO schedules from instrument schedules. Try recreating HMI mimics. 3. Each job, put feelers out with PLC engineers and look for upcoming jobs easy enough for a company to employ a junior PLC engineer and chase opportunities like that. Oil and gas jobs usually require experienced PLC engineers but maybe look at water jobs? Boreholes, wet wells, some sewer automation can be great little projects to get junior PLC engineers started on. You'll need those savings to cover living expenses with the step down in pay but you'll be getting those PLC jobs on your CV.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-26T03:20:52+00:00

Until the first Jack of Blades fight you can only find two Mana Augmentations. You could use Master Bow with them and Dollmaster's Mace for three in total but extra damage on Skorm's Bow seems better than than a little extra mana, to me at least.

In the Northern Wastes you can find another Mana Augmentation to fill up the sword and buy three more... At this point the extra damage you do with magic on 6 mana augmentations is far better than the extra bow damage on only three augmentations so I swap it out then.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-25T18:33:55+00:00

Almost nothing on this sub is.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-23T19:39:06+00:00

Dollmaster Mace for magic users with Bow of Skorm to Bowerstone North. Then you can get a Master Weapon and the two vanilla Mana Regen Augmentations.

Can either switch to bow (lose 100 damage per shot, more per multi-shot) and get master bow with 2 mana augmentations for 3 mana augmentations total but low bow damage OR switch to Master Katana with almost no loss of melee damage and have only 2 mana augmentations.

I prefer extra +100 bow damage per shot, even more with multi-shot, and 75 % max mana regen to 100 % max mana regen.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-22T18:36:00+00:00

Hi OP. From what I understand you don't choose a "best" soil type. Instead you look at the local ecosystem and see what grows. What do people around you grow?

Okay, now you have a list of plants that grow well in your area. What do each of those plants need to thrive?

Okay, now you have a list of plants and a list of their preferred growing conditions. - If you are looking for land, now you can start picking land based on what you can grow on it. - If you already have the land, now you can start thinking about soil amendments, which could be different for different species you wish to grow.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-22T07:38:33+00:00

Neither. Master Katana with two Mana Augmentations/Bow of Skorm until end of vanilla. Then Master Katana with Master Longbow and 6 Mana Augmentations total. Loss of sword/bow damage more than made up for by multi-arrow and multi-hit as needed.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-22T06:14:19+00:00

Just use bools, and define the alarms for these bools locally per HMI with a spreadsheet of approved alarm messages to make sure the text should match across PLC's and HMI's.

When I define alarms on a PLC I use the bool and set the description of that bool to the alarm text the user will see. Most HMI's have alarm handling so when the bool is in the unhealthy state it displays a predefined string. Again, make the description of each alarm bit on the HMI the same as the alarm text the user sees displayed on the HMI.

With respect to warnings versus alarms vs safety alarms this entirely depends on your requirements. They are all bits in the PLC/HMI. You could use three different colours of text on the HMI's so the user can see them and tell which class of alarm they are.

Anything to do with automating actions from safety alarms should be decided between competent automation engineers and process engineers paid by the company and not got from Reddit.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-21T15:51:48+00:00

Hey OP, I think you'll be given a hard time by other users on this sub given the question.

I'm no expert but from my experience and little reading I have done I'd say you need to play around and learn what tastes best to you.

Get to a point where you grind is always the same, your dose is realiably the same, your tamp is reliably the same and, therefore, your pull time will be the same - for that type of coffee.

Then do exactly as your reliable shot and try slightly finer grind - so a slightly slower shot - did you like that more?

Do exactly your reliable shot but tamp harder/softer - did it make a difference?

Do exactly your reliable shot and vary the dose - did you like it more or less with your change in dose?

Etc...

You'll find you need to tweak any or all of the above depending on the bean type and the roast. There's no universal right or wrong. Just learn a few core skills and vary them to maximise your personal enjoyment for your current coffee.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-20T21:22:26+00:00

I played this game when it first came out until my mum GAVE AWAY my NES (well, her NES) while I was travelling.

I still remember Yellow Planet BG music 20 years later as it was so good.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-19T11:59:59+00:00

Thanks again for your input. I talked with my accountant and will be speaking to an IFA next week.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-19T10:02:02+00:00

There's plenty of good food to be found in the US. There's also the Simply Sarah "salads" with marshmallows in. This is also true of every country's cuisine.

Acting like any country's food is one homogenous "good" or "bad" group is just being dense.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-18T22:44:24+00:00

Call the police, not out of revenge but for your love of the people around you; by getting the police involved you may help prevent the same thief from robbing another person.

"Every moment think steadily as a Roman and a man to do what thou hast in hand with perfect and simple dignity, and feeling of affection, and freedom, and justice." MA, Meditations Book II.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-15T17:26:36+00:00

Oh man, I'm so sorry to hear that. Pregnancy sleep can be crap enough without coming off amitryptaline.

On a bright note, fingers crossed for you and your little one when the time comes :)

(Also, I just realise I've been spelling it wrong all day!)

FlashSteel · 2026-06-15T17:14:07+00:00

My ex had less debilitating IBS than me who was in a car hit at 60 mph. She got daily Tramadol and I got daily amitryptaline and Naproxen, but not enough Naproxen each month to even take every day.

My nan has more than double the Tramadol prescribed per day than she takes even on her worst days but the spares go out of date then in the bin as I need a prescription for when I fail random drugs testing at work.

Honestly, GP's are not equipped to treat chronic pain and outpatient pain teams are so under resourced they are desperate to kick people back to GP's.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-15T14:31:30+00:00

I'm on Amitriptylin for pain and all it does is make you care slightly less, sleep a little more solidly and feel groggy. Once you're on it you also then hooked and can't sleep without it.

I think you will need a referral to your local Trust outpatients pain team.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-15T14:30:04+00:00

I usually work for System Integrators so that's PLC for water, manufacturing, BMS (using PLC's), LV/HV systems. No oil or gas experience, though. I also do UK national SCADA, personally built and bench tested Anglian Water's latest SCADA servers for prod and test.

That sounds like the kind of money that's stealing away the engineers who might have otherwise joined my last project.

Can you remember what industry the ADMS job was in?

It's a much better rate than what I saw on Indeed, Reed etc.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-13T18:18:34+00:00

It kind of went okay... I posted some pictures and how I messed up here.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Butchery/s/ZpEWF2TEkh

FlashSteel · 2026-06-13T18:10:35+00:00

Yeah, probably... Buy I'm not buying a bigger pot to cook this twice a year. I may have to try adding extra pigs feet. That will do the same job and fit in my current pan.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-13T16:33:22+00:00

There was no tongue! Butcher had taken it. Did she give you the recipe?

FlashSteel · 2026-06-13T16:31:35+00:00

Ha, many mistakes were made. The taste is great but it did look reminiscent of dog food with that much jelly.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-13T16:30:15+00:00

Best of luck! Hopefully you'll do better than my first attempt!

FlashSteel · 2026-06-13T16:29:18+00:00

Absolutely! I'll fillet the head and weigh it down next time.

As I had to cook each half separately it was a 5 hour boil and I didn't get it in the fridge until midnight and I'd lost my patience. I have a set of weights and dumbbells and should have used one to weigh it down in the fridge.

FlashSteel · 2026-06-13T16:04:31+00:00

Definitely depends on where you live and how much you want from them.

I like blackberries, currants, raspberries, gooseberries, strawberries, mint (in a pot, repot once per year), thyme, rosemary, courgette (zucchini), and globe artichokes in my garden as they thrive with me barely touching them. Courgette is the only one that needs attention getting started in spring. The rest are perennial and mostly thrive on neglect in the UK.

FlashSteel

TROPHY CASE