The Add New Sole Trade Wizard

The first page requires you to enter three names for the Sole Trader:

These names can all be the same if you wish, and clicking Default on the last two boxes will automatically fill the field with the Trading Name.

Click Next to continue.

None of the details on this page of the wizard are compulsory for the successful creation of the client. If you do not know any of the details asked for on this page, they can be left blank and added later by editing the client's Main Details.

The next step is to enter the name of the individual who owns the business. You can do one of the following:

• Link to an existing client

  You can use an existing Sage Taxation client as the owner of the sole trade.

• Create a new client

  You can create a new Sage Taxation and make them the owner of the sole trade.

To specify the owner, click Add.

When you've specified the sole trade's owner click Next.

Option	Description
Client Code	If you use your own client coding system, enter your code here. clicking Default will generate a code using the Sage Taxation client coding system. How does the Sage Taxation client coding system work? The code consists of three letters followed by a three digit number. The letters are the first three letters of a client's surname, or in this case, the first three letters of the name of the business. The number starts at 100, then increments by one for every client that has the same three letters at the front of their code. For example, if you create a client called John Smith, his code would be SMI100. If later on you create another client called Smithy's Public House, that code would be SMI101.
Billing code	This is the code of the client that will pay this client's bill for taxation services rendered by your practice. The billing code box cannot be typed into directly. You can either click Default, which will generate a code the same as the client code, meaning that the client themselves be billed for your services. If someone else is to be billed, you should click and select one of your existing clients. You cannot create new clients from this window. If you plan to bill someone who is not currently one of your clients, you should set up that individual in Control Centre beforehand. Either that, or you can set the partnership to pay their own bill for the time being, then amend this using the Main Details forms once the paying individual has been created.
Group under	If you have set up descriptive groups in Control Centre to help you with analysis and reports, you can add the new business to one of these groups now if you wish by clicking and selecting a group from the list. If you make a mistake you can correct it using the clear button. You can also create a new group from the menu that opens up using the Add option. Simply type the name of the group in the popup window.
Introduced by	Finally you can associate the client with one of your Sage Taxation users in the bottom box by selecting a user who introduced them. This information will be stored with the rest of the client details so that they can quickly establish who in the firm has had previous dealings with the client.

Once you have set all these boxes to your satisfaction, click Next to continue.

You have to enter the date of commencement of the business here. This is required to help Business Tax calculate capital allowances and any overlap profits. Once you have entered the date click Next.

This section of the wizard is optional, but you can specify which users deal with the new client. This does not prevent other users with the required systems access accessing or modifying the client's data. It is primarily a tool to help generate Control Centre reports, as the report generator will be able to create reports regarding an individual user's workload, for example. You can find the user you want by pressing next to the type of user you wish to assign to that client and selecting them from the User Lookup list. You can even add and edit users from this window if you wish.

Next is the page where you can choose whether to apply a password to your client, which all users must enter before editing them. If you do want to password the client, click the Yes, use this password: option box and enter your password into the next field. If not leave it set to the default No.

You also have to decide whether you want the client to be excluded from Control Centre reports. These are the reports you can generate with statistical information concerning your client base. Password protected clients are automatically excluded from these reports.

Click Next to continue.

You should now see a summary of the details you have entered.

Note: Up to this point you can go back and amend any of the data you have entered using the 'Add New Sole Trade' wizard by using the Back button.

You now have to decide whether you want to create the first period of accounts for the client. If you do not want to specify a period now, untick the tickbox at the bottom of the page. You will then have to specify the first accounting period from within Control Centre by clicking the Set up button on the Tax Systems tab. When you do this you will be taken through the same process that is described below. You cannot edit a client in Business Tax until you do this, and they will not appear on your client list until a period of accounts is set (although they will still count toward your client limits).

If you do decide to enter an accounting period you will have to click Continue then click through the confirmation page. When you enter the accounting start date, a date one year later (less a day) will automatically be entered. However this can be edited to account for first accounting periods and changes of accounting date. You cannot enter an accounting period of more than two years, the wizard will not let you finish the client creation process with an accounting period this long.

Note: Note: Ensure that this is definitely the earliest accounting period you will need to enter your client's accounts for in Business Tax because there is no way of backdating the clients accounts once this first period has been set.

Once you have specified the accounting period, you also need to set the status of these accounts by clicking on the appropriate option box.

You are now given a chance to go back and amend any of the accounting period data you have entered using the Back button. If you are satisfied with the data you have entered for this client's period of accounts, click Finish.

This completes the creation of your new Sole Trade client.