Hi there
Yes, my other half is in business, not in Ireland though, we use the big red book, its very simple to use, best though to keep it up together each week, costs about 20 - 30 euros, first thing you need to do is, get an accountant, mention the red book system, he will show you how to use it, if you keep this up together, then at the end of each tax yr, give him the book, and all reciepts for work carried out, and all invoices, he will then sort it out for you from that point, VAT, not sure about Irelands, but in UK there is a threshold, where you can earn up too 55,000 approx per anum, if you go over that, you must register for VAT, hope this helps, the plus side of VAT is, you can claim it all back, what ever you buy when you start up your business in the first yr. Not sure though if that applies to Ireland.