Contractor Accountants · North West
Contractor accountants in Chester
IT, engineering, finance and healthcare contractors in Chester use us because the service is built for how they work: a company with one or two directors, income from a few clients a year, and an IR35 question on every new engagement. Fixed monthly packages across North West, with an IR35 contract review at £99 whenever you need one.
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 Chester
Contractors and interim professionals in Chester 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 Chester, 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
The IGI way of working, in Chester
The price for contractor accountants is published on this page and is what a client in Chester pays. We confirm it in writing first, and the invoice matches the quote.
Deadline-first: the dates that matter for contractor accountants are shown at the top of this page, diarised for every Chester client and chased before they arrive.
Online only, UK based. There is no office in Chester 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.
Continuity matters in contractor accountants: the person who prepared last year's work for your Chester business prepares this year's, and remembers what was agreed.
The output for Chester 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 contractor accountants.
Approval before filing is a rule, not a courtesy. For contractor accountants in Chester, every submission to HMRC or Companies House follows your written go-ahead.
Local facts
About Chester
Chester is in North West, in the CH1 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Caer-Lleon | 0.1 mi | SW |
| Bars, The | 0.4 mi | E |
| The Bars | 0.4 mi | E |
| Newtown, Cheshire West and Chester | 0.4 mi | NE |
| Dee Hills Park | 0.5 mi | E |
| Queen's Park, Cheshire West and Chester | 0.5 mi | SE |
| Garden Lane | 0.6 mi | NW |
| Handbridge | 0.6 mi | S |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
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
The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. Anyone new to Self Assessment must register by 5 October after the end of the tax year in which their untaxed income began. The online return and the balancing payment are due by 31 January, with a second payment on account on 31 July where they apply. Paper returns have an earlier deadline of 31 October and are rarely sensible.
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.
Salary versus dividends
Directors of their own companies usually take a salary at or just above the National Insurance thresholds, which keeps the year qualifying for State Pension and is deductible for Corporation Tax, with further income as dividends. Dividends above the £500 allowance are taxed at 10.75%, 35.75% and 39.35% by band and can only be paid from distributable profits after tax, with a minute and voucher each time.
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.
The VAT registration threshold
Watching the rolling twelve-month turnover figure is one of the quiet jobs of monthly bookkeeping, because the £90,000 VAT threshold arrives silently. Crossing it brings quarterly returns, Making Tax Digital software and a decision about schemes. Crossing it late brings a bill for VAT you could not recover from customers and a penalty for failing to notify.
Questions
Contractor Accountants questions from Chester
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Do you have an office in Chester?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Chester 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 contractor accountants is the same in Chester as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Is contractor accountants in Chester really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Chester 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 Chester
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.