Accounting

Business Advisory · South West

Business advisory in Bournemouth

Owners in Bournemouth rarely have anyone to think out loud with who understands the numbers. Our advisory sessions are that: a structured conversation about the question you bring, prepared from your figures, with a written summary afterwards saying what we recommend and why. Fixed fee per session, no retainer required, no hourly clock.

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 Bournemouth

Owner-managers in Bournemouth 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 Bournemouth, step by step

  1. 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.

  2. Agree the price

    The fee is confirmed in writing. There is no hourly billing and nothing added for questions during the work.

  3. 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.

  4. 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 Bournemouth

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

We work to the HMRC and Companies House calendar, not an appointment diary. Clients in Bournemouth get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each date that applies to business advisory.

We serve Bournemouth remotely by design: records by WhatsApp or email, drafts back for approval, filing electronic. The saving on premises is passed to you in the fee for business advisory.

Continuity matters in business advisory: the person who prepared last year's work for your Bournemouth business prepares this year's, and remembers what was agreed.

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

You stay in control of business advisory: drafts go to Bournemouth clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.

Local facts

About Bournemouth

Bournemouth is in South West, in the BH8 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.

Nearby places we also serve for business advisory
PlaceDistanceDirection
Charminster, Bournemouth Christchurch An0.4 miN
Strouden Park0.6 miNE
Queen's Park, Bournemouth Christchurch An0.6 miSE
Strouden0.7 miNE
Moordown0.7 miNW
Winton, South West1.0 miSW
Springbourne1 miS
Dean Park1 miSW

Worth knowing

Rules that come up in this work

Corporation Tax rates and marginal relief

Since April 2023 there have been two Corporation Tax rates, 19% small profits and 25% main, with marginal relief smoothing the transition between £50,000 and £250,000 of profit. The band is where planning matters: each pound of profit in it is taxed at an effective 26.5%, so pension contributions and capital expenditure timed to keep profit below £50,000 are worth more than they look.

The VAT registration threshold

VAT registration is compulsory once taxable turnover in any rolling twelve-month period exceeds £90,000, or when you expect to exceed that in the next thirty days alone. The test is rolling, not by tax year, and includes zero-rated sales. Businesses regularly cross it without noticing, and late registration means accounting for VAT on sales where it was never charged to customers.

Director's loan accounts

A director's loan account records money moving between a director and the company that is not salary or dividend. If the director owes the company money nine months and one day after the year end, the company pays section 455 tax at 35.75% of the balance, refundable only when the loan is repaid. Loans over £10,000 are also a benefit in kind unless interest is charged at HMRC's official rate.

Salary versus dividends

Paying yourself from a company involves two routes with different tax treatment. Salary through payroll is a company expense and builds a National Insurance record; dividends come from post-tax profit at lower personal rates. Undocumented drawings that are neither become director's loans, with a 35.75% section 455 charge if not repaid within nine months of the year end.

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.

The Self Assessment calendar

Self Assessment runs on a fixed annual cycle. Registration by 5 October following the tax year, online filing and payment by 31 January, and a second instalment on 31 July for those making payments on account. The penalties for lateness are automatic and escalate monthly, which is why we file early and chase approvals well before the window closes.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

The biggest change to Self Assessment in a generation is Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, now live for higher-earning sole traders and landlords and arriving for the rest in stages. Quarterly updates are due by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, built from digital records. The practical consequence is that spreadsheet-and-shoebox bookkeeping is ending for anyone above the threshold.

Questions

Business Advisory questions from Bournemouth

Can a session be about a partnership or shareholder disagreement?

Yes, where the question has a financial core: how profits are shared, how a partner is bought out, what a shareholding is worth, how to structure an exit. We give an independent financial view. Legal advice on the agreement itself needs a solicitor, and we tell you what to ask them.

Do you advise on selling a business?

We advise on preparing a business for sale: cleaning up the accounts, documenting what the buyer will ask for, understanding how value is calculated and what reduces it, and the tax position on exit including business asset disposal relief. For the transaction itself you need a corporate finance adviser or broker, and we work alongside them.

How does the quarterly retainer work?

For £129 a quarter you get a session each quarter with your management figures, a standing agenda of the things you are tracking, and a written note afterwards. It is for owners who want a regular, structured conversation about the business rather than one-off help, and it works best alongside our management accounts.

What is the growth readiness review?

For £399 we look at what the business would need to operate at the next level: people and roles, funding and cash, systems and controls, pricing capacity and the owner's own role. The report identifies what will break first at the larger size and sets out the fixes in order, with costs. It is often used before a fundraise or a major hire.

What is the pricing and margin review?

For £299 we analyse your sales by product, service or customer against the true cost of delivering each, including the overheads that are usually ignored, to show where the margin is actually made and lost. The report recommends price changes, discount policy and which lines to grow or drop, with the profit effect of each quantified.

What happens in the £149 session?

You tell us the question when you book and send your recent figures. We prepare, then spend 90 minutes by video working through it: the numbers, the options, the trade-offs. Within three working days you receive a written summary of the discussion, our recommendation and the next steps. One session often resolves the question; some lead to a review product.

How do I get started from Bournemouth?

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 business advisory. Once you confirm, we tell you exactly which records to send and the work begins. Most Bournemouth clients are set up within a day.

Which deadlines matter most for business advisory?

The next four dates that apply to business advisory are shown at the top of this page, calculated from today. For Bournemouth 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.

Start the conversation from Bournemouth

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