What software handles well
The right VAT Margin Scheme software — like AutoVAT — takes over the most time-consuming parts of margin scheme compliance: building and maintaining your stock book, capturing purchase and sale records, calculating margins on each item, and producing the accurate VAT figure for your return. These are tasks that previously required either a knowledgeable bookkeeper or significant manual effort on your part.
With good software in place, the day-to-day bookkeeping for your margin scheme transactions is largely automated. Your records stay up to date without manual spreadsheet work, and your VAT figures are ready when your return is due. For many smaller dealers, this genuinely reduces the need for ongoing bookkeeping support.
What an accountant still brings
Software handles the mechanics — it does not provide professional tax advice. There are several areas where an accountant continues to add clear value, even for well-organised margin scheme sellers:
- Year-end accounts and tax returns — limited companies must file annual accounts with Companies House and submit a Corporation Tax return. Sole traders need a Self Assessment return. Neither of these is handled by margin scheme software, and getting them right matters.
- Tax planning — an accountant can advise on salary and dividend strategy (for company directors), pension contributions, allowable expenses, and other planning opportunities that can meaningfully reduce your overall tax bill.
- HMRC correspondence and enquiries — if HMRC opens an enquiry into your returns, having an accountant represent you is valuable. They know how to respond, what HMRC expects to see, and how to manage the process.
- Business structure advice — as your business grows, questions about incorporating, taking on employees, or restructuring benefit from qualified advice rather than software output.
- Unusual situations — part-exchange disputes, complex stock lots, export sales, or cross-border transactions can all have VAT implications that go beyond what margin scheme software is designed to handle on its own.
The realistic picture for most dealers
Many second-hand dealers who use AutoVAT find that they no longer need a monthly bookkeeper specifically for their margin scheme records — the software covers that. But they continue to use an accountant for their annual accounts, tax returns, and occasional advice. The overall cost of professional support typically goes down because the routine bookkeeping work is automated, leaving the accountant to focus on higher-value advisory work.
If you are a sole trader with a straightforward operation and comfortable with your own tax affairs, it is possible to manage without an accountant. But for most dealers — particularly limited companies — professional support for year-end work and tax planning remains worth the cost.
How AutoVAT and your accountant work together
AutoVAT is designed to make life easier for your accountant, not to replace them. We export clean, reconciled figures into Xero, QuickBooks, or a format your accountant can work with directly. Your stock book is complete and HMRC-ready. When your accountant sits down to prepare your accounts or review your VAT, they have everything they need without hunting through spreadsheets or reconstructing records. Get in touch to see how AutoVAT fits into your existing setup.
