Small business accountant

Matching your books to the bank, transaction by transaction — the discipline that makes every other number trustworthy.

The category structure your transactions are coded into. A generic one makes reports vague; a tailored one makes them useful.

Who owes you and whom you owe, banded by how overdue — the two lists that predict cash flow problems before the bank balance does.

HMRC's regime requiring digital records and software-filed returns — long mandatory for VAT, arriving for Income Tax from April 2026.

Pay HMRC a fixed percentage of turnover instead of tracking every input. Simpler, but the 16.5% limited-cost-trader rate killed the old easy win for many.

Output VAT is what you charge customers; input VAT is what you pay suppliers. You hand HMRC the difference — which is why missed input claims are pure loss.

Each late VAT return earns a point; at your threshold (4 for quarterly filers) every late return costs £200. Points expire after sustained good behaviour.

Real Time Information — the rule that HMRC must receive a payroll submission on or before every payday, not at year end.

Bundles start around £99/month for a simple VAT-registered company and typically land between £120–£180 with payroll included. Every component has its own published price (bookkeeping from £49, VAT from £35, payroll from £25), so the bundle is transparent rather than a black box.

Yes — catch-up is quoted as its own fixed piece so the monthly fee starts clean. A year of backlog is normal for us; we reconcile from bank statements, rebuild what's missing, and flag anything already late so there are no surprises mid-rescue.

Almost certainly — trades, retail, food, e-commerce, construction, care, professional services. Industry changes the details (CIS in construction, tips in hospitality, platform fees in e-commerce) and we handle those specifics rather than forcing everyone through the same template.

Everything listed in your package, with no metering: accounts, tax, bookkeeping, and VAT/payroll on the larger plans. Questions and calls are included too — we'd rather hear about a decision before you make it than fix it after.

No. You tell them you're moving; we handle professional clearance and record transfer. Most switches complete inside two weeks, and the health-check fee is refunded when you join.

Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent — whichever suits your business (or whichever you already use). Software subscription can be included in your monthly fee, and we handle all the setup and migration.

Each line on your bank statement — a payment in or out. Most one-person businesses sit comfortably under 50 a month. If you drift over your band we'll tell you before the fee changes, never after.

When your taxable turnover in any rolling 12-month period passes £90,000 — a rolling test, not your accounting year, and the most common way businesses get caught out. We monitor it for bookkeeping clients automatically.

It depends on your margins and customers. The flat-rate scheme suits some service businesses; cash accounting helps if customers pay slowly; standard suits most. We'll compare them for your numbers before registering you.

If you pay yourself a salary, yes — you need a PAYE scheme and RTI submissions even for one person. Director-only payroll is our most popular package at £25/mo, and we set the salary at the most tax-efficient level for you.

Every employer must assess staff for a workplace pension and enrol eligible employees. Even if your only staff member is you as director, you have duties to declare. We handle assessments, letters and declarations as part of the service.

Yes. Even dormant companies must file accounts at Companies House and usually a confirmation statement. Our dormant package (£99) handles it all so you avoid penalties for a company that isn't even trading.

Most small companies file micro-entity accounts under FRS 105 or small-company accounts under FRS 102 Section 1A. We pick the right one for your size and circumstances — it affects what's disclosed publicly at Companies House, and we'll explain the trade-offs.