Freelancer Accountants · Central London
Freelancer accountants in Cheap
Freelancing from Cheap means irregular income, a January tax bill that depends on a year you have half forgotten, and expenses scattered across personal cards. We tidy it monthly, tell you what to set aside, and file the return. The £99 starter session gets new freelancers set up properly before the first invoice. Fixed fees, online.
from £45/mo · fixed, per month
Next deadlines
- Online Self Assessment filing deadline and balancing payment due
- Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: quarterly updates for sole traders and landlords over £50,000 (from April 2026) and over £30,000 (from April 2027)
- Second payment on account due
- Companies House accounts due 9 months after your year end (a 31 December year end files by 30 September)
Who this is for
Freelancer Accountants for Cheap
Freelancers and independent professionals in Cheap: designers, developers, writers and editors, marketers, photographers and videographers, consultants, translators, musicians and performers, tutors and coaches, whether trading as a sole trader, through a limited company, or still deciding, and whether full time or alongside employment.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- Monthly bookkeeping from your bank feed with invoices and expenses captured by phone
- Self Assessment with the self-employment pages for sole trader freelancers, or accounts, CT600 and payroll for company freelancers
- Expense review for the costs freelancers miss: home office, equipment, software, subscriptions, training, travel
- Payments on account and a monthly set-aside figure so the January bill is never a surprise
- Making Tax Digital readiness and quarterly updates when your income reaches the threshold
- A going-freelance starter session covering structure, registration, pricing for tax and what to keep
How it works
Freelancer Accountants from Cheap, 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 Cheap
No hourly rate and no surprise invoice. Cheap clients know the fee for freelancer accountants before they send a single document, and it stays fixed.
Deadline-first: the dates that matter for freelancer accountants are shown at the top of this page, diarised for every Cheap client and chased before they arrive.
Online only, UK based. There is no office in Cheap 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.
You get one contact for freelancer accountants, not a queue. Cheap clients message the same person throughout and get an answer in working hours, usually within a few hours.
We explain freelancer accountants in the words Cheap business owners use, not in accountant's shorthand, and we show our working so you can check it.
You stay in control of freelancer accountants: drafts go to Cheap clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.
Local facts
About Cheap
Cheap is in Central London, within City of London, in the EC2V 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 |
|---|---|---|
| City of London | 0.1 mi | E |
| Cheapside, City of London | 0.1 mi | SE |
| Guildhall, City of London | 0.1 mi | NE |
| Bassishaw | 0.1 mi | NE |
| Bread Street, City of London | 0.2 mi | SW |
| Cordwainer | 0.2 mi | SE |
| St Paul's, City of London | 0.2 mi | SW |
| Mansion House | 0.2 mi | S |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Crypto records and reporting
HMRC treats cryptoassets as property. Swapping one token for another, spending crypto or gifting it are all disposals for Capital Gains Tax, and staking and lending rewards are income. Gains are computed under pooling rules with same-day and 30-day matching. From 2026 HMRC receives data from exchanges worldwide under the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework, so unreported activity is increasingly visible.
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
HMRC requires records of all income and expenses, bank statements, invoices and receipts to be kept for at least five years after the 31 January filing deadline of the tax year they relate to, and companies must keep records for six years from the end of the accounting period. Digital copies are acceptable. Under Making Tax Digital the records must be kept in compatible software.
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.
Employer National Insurance
Since April 2025 employer National Insurance has been 15% on earnings above a £5,000 secondary threshold, a substantial increase for small employers. The Employment Allowance rose to £10,500 at the same time to soften it for the smallest businesses. Directors deciding their own salary weigh this cost against the Corporation Tax deduction a salary provides.
The trading and property allowances
Not every small income needs a tax return. The trading allowance exempts the first £1,000 of self-employment or casual income and the property allowance does the same for rental income, each measured on gross receipts. They cannot be combined with rent-a-room relief on the same income, and claiming the allowance means giving up the expense deduction for that source.
Dormant companies
Companies formed to protect a name or hold a future business are dormant but not exempt: Companies House still expects dormant accounts within nine months of the year end and a confirmation statement annually with its £50 fee, and HMRC must be told the company is dormant or it will demand Corporation Tax returns. The filings are short, but the penalties for missing them are the same as for a trading company.
Questions
Freelancer Accountants questions from Cheap
Does Making Tax Digital apply to freelancers?
If your gross self-employment plus property income was over £50,000 in 2024/25 you joined MTD for Income Tax in April 2026; over £30,000 means April 2027; over £20,000 is planned for April 2028. It means digital records and quarterly updates. Our monthly package keeps the records in the right form and submits the updates.
What is the starter session?
A £99 video call before or soon after you go freelance, covering the sole trader versus company decision, registration with HMRC, how to price so that tax is covered, what records to keep and how, invoicing and payment terms, and the dates that matter. You come away with a written plan. If you then join a monthly package the £99 is credited.
I have a job and freelance on the side. How does that work?
Your employment is taxed through PAYE and your freelance profit is added on top through Self Assessment, usually at your marginal rate. If freelance income is under £1,000 the trading allowance means no return is needed. Above that, register by 5 October after the tax year you started. Our package covers the whole return including the employment pages.
Can I claim for my laptop and camera?
Yes. Equipment used for the business qualifies for capital allowances, usually the annual investment allowance giving full relief in the year of purchase, restricted for private use. Under the cash basis equipment is simply an expense when paid. Items bought before you started can be brought in at market value.
What expenses can freelancers claim?
A proportion of home costs for the space and hours you work there, or HMRC's flat rate; equipment and software; professional subscriptions and insurance; training that maintains existing skills; business travel other than commuting; marketing and website costs; bank charges; and the business share of phone and internet. We review your categories every month.
How much should I set aside for tax?
For a sole trader, roughly 20% to 30% of profit covers income tax and Class 4 National Insurance at basic rate, more at higher rate, plus payments on account in the first year they apply. We give you a specific monthly figure based on your actual profit each month, which is more useful than a rule of thumb.
How do I get started from Cheap?
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 freelancer accountants. Once you confirm, we tell you exactly which records to send and the work begins. Most Cheap clients are set up within a day.
Which deadlines matter most for freelancer accountants?
The next four dates that apply to freelancer accountants are shown at the top of this page, calculated from today. For Cheap 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 Cheap
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.