Business Advisory · South East
Business advisory in Folkestone
Owners in Folkestone rarely have anyone to think out loud with who understands the numbers. Our advisory sessions are that: a structured conversation about the question you bring, prepared from your figures, with a written summary afterwards saying what we recommend and why. Fixed fee per session, no retainer required, no hourly clock.
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 Folkestone
Owner-managers in Folkestone 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 Folkestone, 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 Folkestone
No hourly rate and no surprise invoice. Folkestone clients know the fee for business advisory before they send a single document, and it stays fixed.
Deadline-first: the dates that matter for business advisory are shown at the top of this page, diarised for every Folkestone client and chased before they arrive.
Online only, UK based. There is no office in Folkestone 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 business advisory, not a queue. Folkestone clients message the same person throughout and get an answer in working hours, usually within a few hours.
We explain business advisory in the words Folkestone business owners use, not in accountant's shorthand, and we show our working so you can check it.
You stay in control of business advisory: drafts go to Folkestone clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.
Local facts
About Folkestone
Folkestone is in South East, in the CT20 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Foord | 0.7 mi | N |
| Coolinge | 1 mi | W |
| Morehall | 1 mi | NW |
| Sandgate | 2 mi | W |
| Cheriton, Folkestone and Hythe | 2 mi | W |
| Shorncliffe Camp | 2 mi | W |
| Capel Street | 2 mi | NE |
| Capel le Ferne | 2 mi | NE |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Crypto records and reporting
Most crypto holders have taxable events they do not recognise, because every swap is a disposal even when no pounds change hands. The computation requires the complete transaction history from every exchange and wallet, pooled by asset with HMRC's matching rules applied. Exchange-generated tax reports are frequently wrong because they cannot see transfers between a user's own wallets.
Allowable expenses
Expense claims are where a return is won or lost in an enquiry. The test is wholly and exclusively for the trade; where a cost is mixed, the business proportion can be claimed if it can be identified. Capital items such as equipment and vans are relieved through capital allowances rather than as expenses, except under the cash basis where they are simply deducted when paid.
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
Every employer must assess its workers for automatic enrolment from the first employee's start date. Those aged 22 to State Pension age earning over £10,000 a year must be enrolled into a qualifying pension with minimum contributions of 8% of qualifying earnings, at least 3% from the employer, and a declaration of compliance made to the Pensions Regulator within five months.
Employer National Insurance
The cost of an employee is more than the salary. Employer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year, the 3% minimum pension contribution, holiday pay, equipment and management time all come on top. The Employment Allowance of £10,500 reduces the National Insurance for most employers with more than one person on the payroll.
The trading and property allowances
Small side incomes are covered by two £1,000 allowances, one for trading and one for property, which remove the need to register or report income below that level. Once income exceeds £1,000, the allowance can be used in place of expenses, a choice worth making deliberately: a freelancer with £900 of costs is better off with the allowance, one with £3,000 is not.
Dormant companies
Dormancy is a status that is easy to lose. The strict rule is no accounting transactions other than share capital and Companies House fees, which means no bank account activity at all in practice. Fees should be paid personally by the director. A company that traded and has stopped becomes dormant only after its final trading accounts and tax return are filed and HMRC is told.
Questions
Business Advisory questions from Folkestone
Can a session be about a partnership or shareholder disagreement?
Yes, where the question has a financial core: how profits are shared, how a partner is bought out, what a shareholding is worth, how to structure an exit. We give an independent financial view. Legal advice on the agreement itself needs a solicitor, and we tell you what to ask them.
Do you advise on selling a business?
We advise on preparing a business for sale: cleaning up the accounts, documenting what the buyer will ask for, understanding how value is calculated and what reduces it, and the tax position on exit including business asset disposal relief. For the transaction itself you need a corporate finance adviser or broker, and we work alongside them.
My business is busy but there is never any money. Can you tell me why?
Usually, yes, and usually within a session. The common causes are margin erosion through discounting or cost creep, slow-paying customers tying up cash, stock or work in progress absorbing it, overheads that grew with turnover, or the owner's drawings exceeding profit. The pricing and margin review goes deeper where margin is the cause.
Can you help with funding?
We help you decide what kind of funding suits the need, debt, invoice finance, asset finance, grant or equity, and prepare the figures lenders or investors want to see. Our cash-flow forecasting service produces the forecast pack. We introduce you to lenders and grant bodies we know but we are not brokers and take no commission.
Can you help me decide whether to hire?
Yes, and it is one of the most common session topics. We model the full cost of the hire including employer National Insurance at 15%, pension, equipment and management time, against the revenue or capacity it releases, and the cash impact month by month. The answer is often yes but later, or yes but part-time first.
Is this consultancy or accounting?
It is advice from accountants who read your numbers, which is different from both generic business coaching and from pure compliance. We focus on the decisions the figures inform: pricing, hiring, funding, cost structure, cash. We do not advise on marketing strategy or operations beyond their financial effect.
How do I get started from Folkestone?
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 business advisory. Once you confirm, we tell you exactly which records to send and the work begins. Most Folkestone clients are set up within a day.
Which deadlines matter most for business advisory?
The next four dates that apply to business advisory are shown at the top of this page, calculated from today. For Folkestone 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.
Get a fixed quote for Folkestone today
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.