Business Advisory · East London
Business advisory in Canary Wharf
Whether the question in Canary Wharf 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 East 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 Canary Wharf
Owner-managers in Canary Wharf 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 Canary Wharf, 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
Why Canary Wharf businesses file with IGI
No hourly rate and no surprise invoice. Canary Wharf clients know the fee for business advisory before they send a single document, and it stays fixed.
We work to the HMRC and Companies House calendar, not an appointment diary. Clients in Canary Wharf get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each date that applies to business advisory.
We serve Canary Wharf 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.
A named person handles your business advisory from Canary Wharf and knows the file, so you are not re-explaining your business to a different helpdesk each time.
We explain business advisory in the words Canary Wharf business owners use, not in accountant's shorthand, and we show our working so you can check it.
Nothing is filed for Canary Wharf 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 Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is in East London, within Tower Hamlets, in the E14 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Docklands | 0.3 mi | NW |
| Poplar | 0.5 mi | NE |
| Isle of Dogs | 0.5 mi | S |
| Blackwall, Tower Hamlets | 0.6 mi | E |
| Blackwall and Cubitt Town | 0.6 mi | SE |
| Millwall | 0.8 mi | S |
| East India and Lansbury | 0.8 mi | NE |
| Surrey Docks | 0.9 mi | W |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
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.
Director's loan accounts
The most common tax problem in owner-managed companies is an overdrawn director's loan account: drawings taken during the year that were never declared as dividends or salary. The company faces a 35.75% charge on the balance outstanding nine months after the year end, and the director may have a benefit in kind. We review the account before every year end to clear it properly.
The VAT registration threshold
The £90,000 VAT threshold is measured over any twelve consecutive months, which is why a strong quarter can tip a business over unexpectedly. Registration must follow within thirty days of the end of the month the threshold was crossed. Below the threshold, voluntary registration is worth considering when customers are VAT-registered businesses and costs carry VAT.
Corporation Tax rates and marginal relief
Corporation Tax is not a flat rate. Profits to £50,000 pay 19%, profits above £250,000 pay 25%, and the band between is taxed at an effective marginal rate of 26.5% through the marginal relief mechanism. Associated companies share the thresholds, which catches directors who own more than one company and is the most common cause of underpaid tax in owner-managed groups.
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
MTD for Income Tax replaces one annual return with quarterly digital updates and a year-end declaration, submitted from software. The threshold is gross trading and property income, measured two years earlier, and started at £50,000 in April 2026 before falling to £30,000 in April 2027. Anyone affected needs digital record keeping in place before their start date, not after.
The Self Assessment calendar
Four dates govern Self Assessment: 5 October to register, 31 October for paper returns, 31 January to file online and pay, and 31 July for the second payment on account. Missing the January date triggers an automatic £100 penalty before any tax is even considered, so we treat it as the fixed point around which the rest of the year is planned.
Questions
Business Advisory questions from Canary Wharf
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
Do you have an office in Canary Wharf?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Canary Wharf 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 Canary Wharf as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Is business advisory in Canary Wharf really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Canary Wharf 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 Canary Wharf
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.