Bookkeeping · South East
Bookkeeping services in Cowplain
If you run a business in Cowplain and bookkeeping is the job that never gets done, hand it to us. We connect your bank, you forward receipts by WhatsApp or email, and each month the books are reconciled and ready for VAT, Making Tax Digital or year end. One monthly fee, published on this page, identical across South East.
from £49/mo · fixed, per month
Next deadlines
- VAT return and payment for the quarter that ended last month
- MTD quarterly update deadline (7 August, 7 November, 7 February, 7 May)
- VAT return and payment for the quarter that ended last month
- VAT return and payment for the quarter that ended last month
Who this is for
Bookkeeping for Cowplain
Sole traders, partnerships and limited companies in Cowplain with anything from a dozen to a few hundred bank transactions a month: trades, consultants, online sellers, cafes and shops, landlords with several properties, and anyone approaching the VAT threshold or Making Tax Digital for Income Tax who needs digital records kept properly.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- Cloud accounting software set up with bank feeds for every business account and card
- Every transaction categorised and reconciled each month, with queries sent to you in one batch
- Receipt and invoice capture by photo or email forwarding, matched to the bank
- Sales invoices, supplier bills and VAT coding kept current and Making Tax Digital-ready
- A monthly position summary: income, costs, cash, what you owe HMRC so far
- Year-end handover to our accounts team or your own accountant with no re-work
How it works
Bookkeeping from Cowplain, 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 Cowplain
No hourly rate and no surprise invoice. Cowplain clients know the fee for bookkeeping 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 Cowplain get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each date that applies to bookkeeping.
We serve Cowplain 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 bookkeeping.
A named person handles your bookkeeping from Cowplain and knows the file, so you are not re-explaining your business to a different helpdesk each time.
Plain English, with the numbers. Every draft for Cowplain comes with a short explanation of what the figures mean and what, if anything, you should do about them.
You stay in control of bookkeeping: drafts go to Cowplain clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.
Local facts
About Cowplain
Cowplain is in South East, in the PO8 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wecock | 0.8 mi | NW |
| Lovedean | 1 mi | N |
| Horndean, South East | 1 mi | NE |
| Waterlooville | 1 mi | SW |
| Eastland Gate | 1 mi | NW |
| Soak | 1 mi | W |
| Anmore | 1 mi | W |
| Stakes | 1 mi | S |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Late filing penalties
Penalties are the clearest reason to work to deadlines. A Self Assessment return one day late costs £100 regardless of whether any tax is due; three months late adds £10 a day. Late company accounts start at £150 and reach £1,500, and double if the previous year was also late. None of this is negotiable afterwards except through a narrow reasonable-excuse appeal.
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.
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.
Salary versus dividends
The salary-and-dividend split is the central planning decision for an owner-managed company. Salary costs employer National Insurance above £5,000 but is deductible; dividends are not deductible but attract lower personal rates and no National Insurance. The optimum changes each April with the thresholds and depends on the director's other income, so it should be set deliberately every year.
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
Bookkeeping questions from Cowplain
Do you do bookkeeping for landlords?
Yes. Rental income, agent statements, mortgage interest, repairs and the split between revenue and capital costs are all coded correctly for the property pages of your return. Portfolio landlords usually sit in the £49 or £89 band, and MTD for Income Tax applies to rental income as it does to trading income.
What if my volume changes?
We review the transaction count each quarter. If you move into a higher or lower band we tell you before the next invoice and adjust from the following month. There is no penalty for moving down and no back-charging for a busy month.
Can my existing accountant still do the year end?
Yes. Many clients use us for bookkeeping and another firm for accounts. At year end we hand over a reconciled file with the trial balance, bank reconciliations and supporting documents, in whatever format your accountant prefers.
How quickly are the books up to date?
Bank feeds update daily. We reconcile within five working days of the month end once your receipts are in, so the monthly summary arrives in the first week of the following month. Queries are sent in one message rather than piecemeal.
Will I need this for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax?
If you are a sole trader or landlord with qualifying income over £50,000 you joined MTD for Income Tax in April 2026, and the £30,000 threshold follows in April 2027. It requires digital records and quarterly updates to HMRC. Our bookkeeping service keeps the records in the required form and submits the updates.
How do you handle cash sales and personal spending from the business account?
Cash takings are recorded from your till or daily summary, and personal spending is coded to drawings or the director's loan account so it does not end up as a business expense. We flag patterns that could cause problems, such as a growing director's loan balance.
Do you have an office in Cowplain?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Cowplain 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 bookkeeping is the same in Cowplain as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Is bookkeeping in Cowplain really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Cowplain 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.
One message from Cowplain, one fixed price
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.