Business Advisory · South London
Business advisory in Balham
Whether the question in Balham is whether to hire, how to price, how to fund growth or why the business is busy but not profitable, we bring the accountant's view to it for a fixed fee. Businesses across South London use the single session for one decision and the quarterly retainer for a standing conversation. Everything online.
from £149 · fixed, per session
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
- Tax year ends: last day for pension, ISA and dividend timing decisions
Who this is for
Business Advisory for Balham
Owner-managers in Balham facing a decision or a recurring problem: businesses that are busy but not profitable, owners considering a first or next hire, companies choosing between loan, invoice finance and investment, founders preparing to scale or to sell, franchisees and partnerships needing an independent view, and anyone who wants a quarterly conversation about the numbers with someone who has read them.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- A structured 90-minute session on the question you bring, with preparation from your numbers beforehand
- A written summary within three working days: what we discussed, what we recommend, what to do next
- Pricing and margin review: unit economics, price points, discounting and the gross margin you actually make
- Growth readiness review: hiring plans, funding options, systems, controls and what breaks at the next size
- Quarterly advisory retainer: a session each quarter with your management figures and a standing agenda
- Introductions to lenders, grant bodies and specialists where the question needs them
How it works
Business Advisory from Balham, step by step
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.
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.
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.
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
What you get in Balham
The price for business advisory is published on this page and is what a client in Balham pays. We confirm it in writing first, and the invoice matches the quote.
Deadline-first: the dates that matter for business advisory are shown at the top of this page, diarised for every Balham client and chased before they arrive.
Online only, UK based. There is no office in Balham to pay for, which is why the fee is the same here as anywhere in England; the work is done by people in the UK who answer the same day.
Continuity matters in business advisory: the person who prepared last year's work for your Balham business prepares this year's, and remembers what was agreed.
The output for Balham clients is never just a form. It is the form, a one-page summary of what it says, and a note of the decisions it points to for business advisory.
Approval before filing is a rule, not a courtesy. For business advisory in Balham, every submission to HMRC or Companies House follows your written go-ahead.
Local facts
About Balham
Balham is in South London, within Wandsworth, in the SW12 postcode district, England. Income tax in England follows the UK rates: 20% basic to £50,270, 40% higher to £125,140 and 45% additional, with the personal allowance of £12,570 tapered away above £100,000. National Insurance, VAT and Corporation Tax are UK-wide, and Stamp Duty Land Tax applies to property purchases.
| Place | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Nightingale | 0.3 mi | W |
| Upper Tooting | 0.5 mi | SW |
| Tooting Bec | 0.6 mi | SW |
| Wandsworth Common | 0.7 mi | NW |
| Clapham Common | 1 mi | NE |
| Northcote | 1 mi | NW |
| Tooting | 1 mi | SW |
| Clapham Park | 1 mi | NE |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Confirmation statements and identity verification
Every company must file a confirmation statement at least once a year, within fourteen days of its review date, with a £50 Companies House fee. Since November 2025 directors and people with significant control must also verify their identity with Companies House, and the confirmation statement is where existing officers confirm they have done so during the transition year.
CIS deductions
Under the Construction Industry Scheme, contractors deduct 20% from a registered subcontractor's labour invoices, or 30% if unregistered, and pay it to HMRC. The subcontractor reclaims the deductions against their actual tax through Self Assessment, usually producing a refund because deductions are on turnover while tax is on profit. Contractors file a monthly return by the 19th.
Late filing penalties
Lateness is expensive in a way that compounds. For individuals, £100 immediately, then daily penalties, then percentage-based ones at six and twelve months, with interest running on unpaid tax throughout. For companies, Companies House penalties scale with delay and double on repeat, and HMRC adds its own for a late CT600. Filing on time is the cheapest tax planning there is.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax began in April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, extends to those over £30,000 in April 2027 and is planned for £20,000 in April 2028. It requires digital records in compatible software and four quarterly updates to HMRC each year, with a final declaration replacing the traditional return. Payment dates are unchanged.
The Self Assessment calendar
The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. Anyone new to Self Assessment must register by 5 October after the end of the tax year in which their untaxed income began. The online return and the balancing payment are due by 31 January, with a second payment on account on 31 July where they apply. Paper returns have an earlier deadline of 31 October and are rarely sensible.
Payments on account
A common surprise in Self Assessment is the January payment that is far larger than expected. That is the balancing payment for the year just ended plus the first payment on account for the year ahead, which HMRC sets at half of the bill just calculated. We put the figure in your hands months ahead and tell you how to adjust it legitimately when circumstances change.
Salary versus dividends
The salary-and-dividend split is the central planning decision for an owner-managed company. Salary costs employer National Insurance above £5,000 but is deductible; dividends are not deductible but attract lower personal rates and no National Insurance. The optimum changes each April with the thresholds and depends on the director's other income, so it should be set deliberately every year.
Questions
Business Advisory questions from Balham
Do you need to be my accountant for compliance?
No. Advisory is available on its own, and we work from management figures or accounts prepared by another firm. Where the session reveals a compliance issue we tell you, and where implementing the advice needs ongoing accounting we quote it separately as a fixed fee.
How do I get the most from a session?
Bring one clear question and send your figures beforehand. The best sessions are specific: should I take on this contract at this price, can I afford this hire by March, which of my three services should I stop. Broad questions get broad answers; specific ones get decisions.
Can you help with funding?
We help you decide what kind of funding suits the need, debt, invoice finance, asset finance, grant or equity, and prepare the figures lenders or investors want to see. Our cash-flow forecasting service produces the forecast pack. We introduce you to lenders and grant bodies we know but we are not brokers and take no commission.
My business is busy but there is never any money. Can you tell me why?
Usually, yes, and usually within a session. The common causes are margin erosion through discounting or cost creep, slow-paying customers tying up cash, stock or work in progress absorbing it, overheads that grew with turnover, or the owner's drawings exceeding profit. The pricing and margin review goes deeper where margin is the cause.
Is this consultancy or accounting?
It is advice from accountants who read your numbers, which is different from both generic business coaching and from pure compliance. We focus on the decisions the figures inform: pricing, hiring, funding, cost structure, cash. We do not advise on marketing strategy or operations beyond their financial effect.
Can you help me decide whether to hire?
Yes, and it is one of the most common session topics. We model the full cost of the hire including employer National Insurance at 15%, pension, equipment and management time, against the revenue or capacity it releases, and the cash impact month by month. The answer is often yes but later, or yes but part-time first.
Do you have an office in Balham?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Balham 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 business advisory is the same in Balham as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Is business advisory in Balham really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Balham pays and what a client in any other part of England 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 Balham
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.