Your first steps
Read this guide to help you get started with Provestor's Property Tax Software
Open a business bank account
As you’re using a limited company, you’ll need to open a business bank account in your company’s name. This is because your company is a completely separate entity from you and it is a legal requirement to keep your personal and business finances separate.
It’s a good idea to open a bank account as soon as you can after setting up your company.
In order to use Provestor, you'll need to choose a bank that supports Open Banking. Most banks do nowadays but for a full list of who we support, click here.
The process for setting up a business bank account may vary slightly between banks but the general requirements are:
Proof of ID, and
Proof of address details (usually for the past three years)
You’ll also need the following documents relating to your company:
Certificate of Incorporation
In some cases, you’ll need your company UTR (Unique Taxpayer Reference), which is posted to your registered office address within 14 days of your company being registered
Register for Corporation Tax
You'll need to register for Corporation Tax at HMRC within three months of starting to do business.
You can register here.
Before you start, you'll need on hand:
Your company’s 10-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)
Your company’s registration number which can be found on your Certificate of Incorporation
The date you started to do business (usually your incorporation date)
The date your annual accounts are made up to (your company year end)
Learn more about Corporation Tax here.
Connect your bank account to the software
Once your business bank account's set up, you'll need to connect it to the software via the 'Open Banking dashboard' page.
Select 'Connect to bank'.
Select your bank from the list of Open Banking compatible banks.
Read the consent page and select next. You'll then be taken to your online banking site to authorise Provestor.
Select the accounts you'd like to connect to the Provestor software. If you have multiple accounts with your bank, only select your business account.
Your account's now been added!
Repay pre-incorporation expenses
In order to record business expenses that you've paid for personally, including those you incurred before the company was set up, you'll need to:
Transfer the expense amount from your business account back to your personal account
Once this transaction appears in your accounting software, categorise it as you would for any other business expense (e.g., by selecting the appropriate expense category etc)
This action will ensure the expense is properly reflected and accounted for in your year-end accounts
Loan your company money
It's likely that you'll need to inject some cash into your business to cover start-up costs or the deposit on your first property. In order to ensure you're not left out of pocket, this will need to be recorded as a director's loan to the company.
Recording your loan in the software
When you've transferred the money from your personal to your business account, it'll appear in your bookkeeping records. Follow these steps to record it correctly:
Create new record
Select the transaction type as ‘Transfer’
To/From is 'YOUR NAME’s director loan account'
Select & save
The transaction will now be displayed in your director's loan account. The balance of your loan account will have decreased, as money is owed back to you from the company.
Tour the software
Take a look around! We've also put together an overview of our software which you can read here.
Add a property
Whether you're incurring expenses for a potential purchase or have already had an offer accepted, entering the relevant details here allows you to track any costs you incur and your property's value over time.
To add a property, click 'New' and fill out the relevant details.
Once added, you can see:
The tenants linked to the property
The property details
Add any property valuations
Mortgages linked to the property
The property status under 'Purchase and sale', which you can update depending on where you are in the buying journey
You can view your portfolio and click into each property via your 'Properties' homepage.
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Get help
Search the help centre
This help centre contains guides and FAQs that you can access 24/7. We regularly add new content based on your questions and feedback.
Email us
If you still need support, email your query to support@provestor.co.uk and we'll get back to you within 48 hours.
Please note that we don't currently offer phone support with our Property Tax Software plan. If you'd like a full accountancy service that includes phone support, please check out our Advisory packages here.