Accounting

Startup Accountants · Scotland

Startup accountants in Aberdeen

If you are starting a company in Aberdeen, the accounting decisions you make in the first three months, share structure, VAT registration timing, how founders are paid, whether to seek SEIS assurance, shape the next three years. We get them right for startups across Scotland, online, for a monthly fee agreed before you join.

from £59/mo · fixed, per month

Next deadlines

  • VAT return and payment for the quarter that ended last month
  • VAT return and payment for the quarter that ended last month
  • VAT return and payment for the quarter that ended last month
  • Confirmation statement due within 14 days of your review date, at least once every 12 months

Who this is for

Startup Accountants for Aberdeen

New and early-stage companies in Aberdeen: founders incorporating for the first time, technology and product startups preparing to raise seed investment, service businesses moving from side project to full time, two or three co-founders who need the equity and payroll structured properly, and companies in their first two years who set up alone and want it done properly now.

What is included

Everything inside the fixed fee

  • Company formation and HMRC registrations in the Launch package, or a review of what has already been set up
  • Cloud bookkeeping configured for a growing business, with bank feeds and expense capture from day one
  • Annual accounts and Corporation Tax return, with first-period and long-period rules handled
  • VAT registration timing advised and quarterly returns run in the Grow and Scale packages
  • Payroll for founders and first hires, with auto-enrolment, in the Scale package
  • SEIS and EIS advance assurance applications prepared for founders raising investment

How it works

Startup Accountants from Aberdeen, step by step

  1. Tell us your situation

    A short message or call about what you do and what needs filing. We ask the questions that determine the right package and nothing more.

  2. Fixed fee in writing

    You receive one price for the work, confirmed by email before anything starts. It does not change if the job takes longer than we expected.

  3. Send records, review the draft

    Records come by WhatsApp or email. We prepare the draft, explain the figures in plain English and answer your questions.

  4. We file, you get the receipts

    Once you approve and the fee is settled, we submit electronically and forward the HMRC or Companies House acknowledgement the same day.

Why IGI

The IGI way of working, in Aberdeen

One fixed fee for startup accountants in Aberdeen, agreed in writing before any work starts and never changed part-way through the job, however long it takes us.

Nothing for Aberdeen is left to the last week. Each deadline relevant to startup accountants is tracked from the day you join, with the next four shown on every page we send you.

No appointments, no travel across Scotland, no parking. Everything for startup accountants in Aberdeen happens online, with a real person on the other end during UK working hours.

You get one contact for startup accountants, not a queue. Aberdeen clients message the same person throughout and get an answer in working hours, usually within a few hours.

We explain startup accountants in the words Aberdeen business owners use, not in accountant's shorthand, and we show our working so you can check it.

Nothing is filed for Aberdeen until you have reviewed and approved it. You see the draft, you ask questions, you sign off, then we submit and send you the receipt.

Local facts

About Aberdeen

Aberdeen is in Scotland, in the AB11 postcode district, Scotland. Scottish taxpayers pay income tax under six Scottish bands set by the Scottish Parliament, from the 19% starter rate through 20%, 21%, 42% and 45% to the 48% top rate, applied to non-savings income. Dividends and savings are taxed at UK rates, National Insurance and Corporation Tax are UK-wide, and property purchases pay Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.

Nearby places we also serve for startup accountants
PlaceDistanceDirection
Gilcomston0.6 miW
Footdee0.8 miE
Rosemount, Scotland0.9 miW
Ferryhill, Aberdeen City0.9 miSW
Torry, Scotland0.9 miSE
Kittybrewster1 miNW
Old Aberdeen1 miN
Tullos2 miS

Worth knowing

Rules that come up in this work

Crypto records and reporting

Most crypto holders have taxable events they do not recognise, because every swap is a disposal even when no pounds change hands. The computation requires the complete transaction history from every exchange and wallet, pooled by asset with HMRC's matching rules applied. Exchange-generated tax reports are frequently wrong because they cannot see transfers between a user's own wallets.

The 60-day property CGT return

Since April 2020 a gain on UK residential property must be reported and the tax paid within 60 days of completion through HMRC's dedicated service, separately from the annual return. Non-residents must report all UK land disposals in the same window whether or not tax is due. Getting the computation right first time matters because the figure is then carried into the Self Assessment.

Record keeping

HMRC requires records of all income and expenses, bank statements, invoices and receipts to be kept for at least five years after the 31 January filing deadline of the tax year they relate to, and companies must keep records for six years from the end of the accounting period. Digital copies are acceptable. Under Making Tax Digital the records must be kept in compatible software.

Allowable expenses

An expense is allowable against trading profit if it is incurred wholly and exclusively for the business. Materials, business travel other than ordinary commuting, a proportion of home running costs, software, insurance, professional fees, bank charges and protective clothing qualify. Client entertainment, ordinary clothing, fines and the private share of mixed-use costs do not.

Employer National Insurance

Since April 2025 employer National Insurance has been 15% on earnings above a £5,000 secondary threshold, a substantial increase for small employers. The Employment Allowance rose to £10,500 at the same time to soften it for the smallest businesses. Directors deciding their own salary weigh this cost against the Corporation Tax deduction a salary provides.

Workplace pensions and auto-enrolment

Every employer must assess its workers for automatic enrolment from the first employee's start date. Those aged 22 to State Pension age earning over £10,000 a year must be enrolled into a qualifying pension with minimum contributions of 8% of qualifying earnings, at least 3% from the employer, and a declaration of compliance made to the Pensions Regulator within five months.

Dormant companies

A dormant company is one with no significant accounting transactions in the year, where the only permitted entries are the payment for shares on incorporation, Companies House fees and penalties. It still files a confirmation statement and simplified dormant accounts every year. A bank charge or an accountant's fee paid from the company ends dormancy and requires full accounts.

Questions

Startup Accountants questions from Aberdeen

When are a new company's first filings due?

The first confirmation statement is due within 14 days of the first anniversary of incorporation. The first accounts are due 21 months after incorporation. Corporation Tax is due nine months and one day after the first accounting period ends, and the first period is often longer than a year, which creates two CT600s. We handle the split.

Can I claim startup costs incurred before incorporation?

Yes. Pre-trading expenses incurred up to seven years before the company started trading, which would have been deductible if incurred while trading, are treated as incurred on the first day of trading. Keep the receipts. Equipment you bring in can be transferred to the company at market value.

What is SEIS/EIS advance assurance and do I need it?

Investors in qualifying early-stage companies get income tax relief of 50% (SEIS) or 30% (EIS) and capital gains exemptions, which makes raising much easier. Advance assurance is HMRC's confirmation in principle that your company qualifies, and most angel investors insist on it. Our £299 service prepares and submits the application.

What are the SEIS limits?

A company can raise up to £250,000 under SEIS within the first three years of trading, with gross assets under £350,000 and fewer than 25 employees. EIS allows up to £5 million a year and £12 million in total, for companies under seven years old with fewer than 250 employees. Trading activities must qualify; some are excluded.

Should I register for VAT before I have to?

If your customers are VAT-registered businesses, early voluntary registration lets you reclaim VAT on setup costs with no real cost to customers. If you sell to consumers, registration adds 20% to your price or cuts your margin, so waiting until the £90,000 threshold is usually better. We model it for your business.

How should co-founders be paid?

Early on, often not at all, with equity as the reward. Once the company can afford it, a modest salary through payroll keeps National Insurance records intact and is deductible. Dividends require distributable profits, which loss-making startups do not have. Director's loans are a trap. We set the structure to suit the cash position.

Do you have an office in Aberdeen?

No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Aberdeen and every other UK postcode remotely, with records sent by WhatsApp or email and everything filed electronically. The absence of local premises is why the fee for startup accountants is the same in Aberdeen as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.

Is startup accountants in Aberdeen really the same price as elsewhere?

Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Aberdeen pays and what a client in any other part of Scotland pays. It is confirmed in writing before work starts and the invoice matches the quote. Where a higher package applies because your situation is more complex, we say so at the quote stage, never afterwards.

Let us take the deadlines off your plate in Aberdeen

Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.

WhatsApp for a fixed quote