Accounting

Locum Accountants · North West London

Locum accountants in Canons

Locum work from Canons produces income from a dozen sources a year, each with its own statements, pension deductions and expenses, and a tax return that has to reconcile all of them. We do that reconciliation monthly, handle the NHS pension paperwork, and file the return. The fee is fixed and agreed in writing before you join.

from £69/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

Locum Accountants for Canons

Locum and sessional clinicians in Canons: GP locums and salaried GPs with extra sessions, hospital doctors with private practice or agency shifts, dental associates and locum dentists, locum pharmacists and optometrists, vets, physiotherapists and other allied health professionals, whether trading as sole traders, through a limited company or both.

What is included

Everything inside the fixed fee

  • Income from every practice, agency, trust and private engagement reconciled, including statements of earnings and remittances
  • Expense review for locums: professional indemnity, GMC/GDC/GPhC fees, exams, courses, equipment, travel between placements
  • NHS pension contributions, Type 2 certificates and superannuation reconciled to pay statements
  • Sole trader Self Assessment, or limited company accounts, CT600 and payroll, depending on structure
  • Annual allowance and tapered annual allowance checks for higher-earning clinicians
  • IR35 and off-payroll status considered for engagements through your own company

How it works

Locum Accountants from Canons, 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 Canons

One fixed fee for locum accountants in Canons, 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 Canons get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each date that applies to locum accountants.

We serve Canons 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 locum accountants.

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

The output for Canons 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 locum accountants.

Nothing is filed for Canons 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 Canons

Canons is in North West London, within Harrow, in the HA7 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 locum accountants
PlaceDistanceDirection
Stanmore, Harrow0.3 miSE
Brockley Hill0.8 miN
Stanmore Park0.9 miW
Canons Park1 miSE
Edgwarebury1 miE
Edgware1 miSE
Elstree1 miN
Belmont, Harrow2 miS

Worth knowing

Rules that come up in this work

Payments on account

Payments on account catch out most people in their second year of self-employment. HMRC assumes next year's tax will match this year's and collects half in January and half in July, in advance, on top of the balancing payment. If profits are dropping you can apply to reduce them, but reducing them too far attracts interest. We calculate the right figure rather than guessing.

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.

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.

Late filing penalties

HMRC's penalties for a late Self Assessment return are automatic: £100 the day after 31 January, £10 a day from three months late up to £900, then the greater of £300 or 5% of the tax at six and twelve months. Interest and separate late-payment penalties apply to the tax itself. Companies House charges £150 to £1,500 for late accounts, doubling for a second consecutive year.

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

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.

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.

Questions

Locum Accountants questions from Canons

I do private work alongside NHS sessions. How is that treated?

Private practice income is self-employment, not pensionable in the NHS scheme, and taxed with your other self-employed income. If the private work is substantial it may suit a limited company while the NHS locum work stays as a sole trader, and we advise on running both structures together.

Can you handle the NHS pension estimate of earnings and the Type 2 form?

Yes. The estimate of pensionable earnings submitted at the start of each year sets your contribution rate; the Type 2 certificate reconciles the actual figures after the year end and is due by the end of February. Both are prepared from the records we keep and submitted on your behalf.

How do you handle a mix of NHS employment and locum work?

Employment income is taxed through PAYE and shown on the employment pages; locum income is self-employment on the self-employment pages. The return brings them together and your marginal rate applies to the combined figure. Payments on account are often triggered by locum income on top of employment. We reconcile all sources.

Is travel between practices claimable?

For a locum working at many different sites, travel from home to each temporary place of work is generally allowable because there is no permanent workplace. For a regular session at the same practice over a long period, that site may become a permanent workplace and the travel ordinary commuting. We assess each engagement pattern.

What expenses can locums claim?

Professional indemnity insurance, registration fees to the GMC, GDC, GPhC or equivalent, exam fees and courses that maintain skills, medical equipment, professional subscriptions and journals, travel between placements (not ordinary commuting to a regular workplace), a proportion of home costs for administration, and accountancy. We review each category.

What is the annual allowance and does it affect me?

The annual allowance limits tax-relieved pension growth to £60,000 a year, tapering down to £10,000 for those with adjusted income over £260,000 and threshold income over £200,000. NHS pension growth is measured on the increase in the promised pension, which can be large in a high-earning year. We check it and report any charge or scheme pays election.

How do I get started from Canons?

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

Which deadlines matter most for locum accountants?

The next four dates that apply to locum accountants are shown at the top of this page, calculated from today. For Canons 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 Canons

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