OK after much procrastination I've read this whole thread. I'm about to register as self employed and delve into all this fun for myself, but there's a few things I'm still uncertain about. I will be seeking an accountant in due course but if anyone can shed any light on their experience:
1) I'm going to open a bank account that I use for work, where clients can pay money in and I can pay for items I'll be expensing. My first question is, if I pay cash into my personal bank account and transfer it to my designated 'work' account, will I also need to keep all the records of my personal bank account for audits too? I've been recommended some online banks to use, but can't see that being beneficial if I still have to mingle my personal one in with inevitable cash deposits. I'd rather it all just be focused on one account.
2) I sometimes receive money from clients as legitimate 'gifts', i.e. to buy some particular lingerie where they don't have giftcards and have it sent to my home, or to pay for a museum membership (and I had to of course sign up myself with my real name). If HMRC saw these transfers would they expect me to be reporting them as earnings? I guess it's quite unusual in most industries for most people to receive money transfers as gifts, and the same client has also sent transfers as payments for actual bookings. He's just one example but I'm sure more will crop up, and would rather look into other ways of receiving gifts (i.e. strictly gift cards/material items) if they're going to get me into trouble
As I'm now doing onlyfans too, and the money from that is currently being deposited in my personal bank account (it has to be a Visa account) I'm really trying to organise this in my head so that I know the most streamlined and correct way to manage it all. THANK YOU for all the contributions so far, it has been a great help