Contractor Accountants · South East
Contractor accountants in Bishop's Stortford
Contracting through a company from Bishop's Stortford means a stack of filings that have to agree with each other and a salary-and-dividend split that has to be defensible. We run the whole cycle online for a fixed monthly fee, review your contracts for IR35 and make sure the money you take out is documented properly. No surprises at year end.
from £75/mo · fixed, per month
Next deadlines
- PAYE and National Insurance for last month paid to HMRC (electronic)
- PAYE and National Insurance for last month paid to HMRC (electronic)
- PAYE and National Insurance for last month paid to HMRC (electronic)
- Online Self Assessment filing deadline and balancing payment due
Who this is for
Contractor Accountants for Bishop's Stortford
Contractors and interim professionals in Bishop's Stortford working through their own limited company: IT and software contractors, engineers, project managers, interim finance staff, consultants, medical and allied health locums who have incorporated, and permanent employees about to go contracting who need the company set up and the first engagement reviewed.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- Statutory accounts and Corporation Tax return prepared and filed each year
- Director payroll run monthly with RTI submissions and the salary set at the efficient level
- Dividend vouchers and board minutes for every distribution, with the available reserves checked first
- Quarterly VAT returns and bookkeeping in the Plus and Complete packages
- Director's Self Assessment and an annual planning call in the Complete package
- IR35 status reviews of your contracts and working practices, with a written opinion
How it works
Contractor Accountants from Bishop's Stortford, step by step
Scope the job
We find out what you need filed, when it is due and what state the records are in, and tell you which fixed-fee package applies.
Agree the price
The fee is confirmed in writing. There is no hourly billing and nothing added for questions during the work.
Hand over the records
Photographs, PDFs, software access or a spreadsheet, sent however suits you. We confirm what we have and what is missing within two working days.
Approve, then we submit
You review the draft with our explanation, sign off, and we file. Receipts, copies and the next deadlines come back to you immediately.
Why IGI
What you get in Bishop's Stortford
The price for contractor accountants is published on this page and is what a client in Bishop's Stortford pays. We confirm it in writing first, and the invoice matches the quote.
Nothing for Bishop's Stortford is left to the last week. Each deadline relevant to contractor accountants is tracked from the day you join, with the next four shown on every page we send you.
No appointments, no travel across South East, no parking. Everything for contractor accountants in Bishop's Stortford happens online, with a real person on the other end during UK working hours.
A named person handles your contractor accountants from Bishop's Stortford and knows the file, so you are not re-explaining your business to a different helpdesk each time.
Plain English, with the numbers. Every draft for Bishop's Stortford comes with a short explanation of what the figures mean and what, if anything, you should do about them.
Approval before filing is a rule, not a courtesy. For contractor accountants in Bishop's Stortford, every submission to HMRC or Companies House follows your written go-ahead.
Local facts
About Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford is in South East, in the CM23 postcode district, England. For businesses in England the tax rules are those set by the UK Parliament: the 20/40/45% income tax bands, Class 4 National Insurance for the self-employed at 6% and 2%, Corporation Tax at 19% to 25%, and Stamp Duty Land Tax on property. Business rates are set locally by the council.
| Place | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Hockerill | 0.2 mi | E |
| Bishop's Stortford (East Hertfordshire) | 0.2 mi | NW |
| Newtown, East Hertfordshire East Hertfordshire | 0.3 mi | W |
| Collins Cross | 0.7 mi | NE |
| Thorley Street, South East | 1 mi | S |
| Great Hallingbury | 2 mi | SE |
| Birchanger | 2 mi | NE |
| Thorley Wash | 2 mi | S |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Closing a company
A solvent company that has finished its purpose can be dissolved by voluntary strike-off: form DS01 with a £13 Companies House fee, after three months without trading and with all debts paid, final accounts and tax return filed, and assets distributed. HMRC objects to any application where returns or tax are outstanding, so the sequence matters more than the form.
Switching accountants
You can switch accountant at any point in the year. The new firm requests clearance and your records from the old one, which cannot withhold your own documents though it may hold its own working papers until its fees are settled. Agent authorisations with HMRC and Companies House are transferred, and the next deadline is picked up without a gap.
The 60-day property CGT return
Selling UK residential property that was not your main home for the whole period of ownership triggers a separate Capital Gains Tax return, due within 60 days of completion along with payment of the tax. This is in addition to the annual Self Assessment. The gain is taxed at 18% or 24% depending on your income band, after the £3,000 annual exempt amount.
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.
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.
Record keeping
Good records are the difference between a quick enquiry and a long one. For the self-employed, five years after the filing deadline; for companies, six years from the year end; for VAT, six years. Photographs of receipts, PDF statements and software exports all count. The requirement is to keep records, not paper, and a well-organised cloud folder satisfies it.
Workplace pensions and auto-enrolment
Auto-enrolment duties begin the day you take on your first employee, not when the Pensions Regulator writes to you. Eligible staff must be enrolled, contributions paid every pay period and re-enrolment carried out every three years. Director-only companies without employment contracts are usually exempt. Fines for non-compliance are fixed and escalating.
Questions
Contractor Accountants questions from Bishop's Stortford
Do I need business insurance?
Most client contracts require professional indemnity and public liability cover, and employer's liability is a legal requirement if the company employs anyone other than the director. Insurance is not something we sell, but we tell you what your contracts require and the premiums are deductible for Corporation Tax.
I am about to leave permanent employment to contract. Where do I start?
With the company formation and the first contract review. Our £99 formation-plus-registrations package sets up the company with Corporation Tax and PAYE registered; the IR35 review of your first engagement decides how the income will be taxed. Join the Essential package from the month you start invoicing.
What happens between contracts?
The company continues and so do the filings, but we can reduce the salary and pause dividends. If you expect a long gap we discuss whether to keep the company trading, make it dormant or close it. The monthly fee continues while the company is active because the compliance does, but we review it with you if circumstances change.
Can the company pay into my pension?
Yes, and it is one of the most efficient ways to extract value. Employer pension contributions are deductible for Corporation Tax, free of National Insurance and not taxed on you, up to the £60,000 annual allowance (tapered for very high earners). We include pension planning in the Complete package's annual call.
What is the flat rate VAT scheme and should I use it?
For most contractors with low costs the limited-cost-trader rate of 16.5% removes any advantage of the flat rate scheme, and the standard scheme reclaiming input VAT on equipment and software is better. Contractors with significant qualifying costs may differ. We calculate both at registration and review annually.
How are dividends documented?
Each dividend needs a board minute approving it and a dividend voucher recording the date, amount and shareholder. The company must have sufficient distributable profits after tax at the time. We check the reserves before each dividend, produce the paperwork and keep it on file, because undocumented dividends are reclassified by HMRC as salary or loans.
How do I get started from Bishop's Stortford?
Message us on WhatsApp or email with a sentence about your business and what you need. We reply in working hours with any questions and a fixed fee for contractor accountants. Once you confirm, we tell you exactly which records to send and the work begins. Most Bishop's Stortford clients are set up within a day.
Which deadlines matter most for contractor accountants?
The next four dates that apply to contractor accountants are shown at the top of this page, calculated from today. For Bishop's Stortford clients we diarise every one of them from the day you join and send reminders before each, so the work is done in good time rather than in the last week before a penalty.
Fixed fees, filed on time, for Bishop's Stortford
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.