E-commerce Accountants · South East London
E-commerce accountants in Forest Hill, Lewisham
If your Forest Hill, Lewisham business sells through marketplaces, your own store or both, the hard part is not the bookkeeping, it is the VAT: when the marketplace accounts for it, when you do, how imports are treated, what happens with EU customers. We handle this for sellers across South East London and the £149 health check finds the errors before HMRC does.
from £79/mo · fixed, per month
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
- Online Self Assessment filing deadline and balancing payment due
Who this is for
E-commerce Accountants for Forest Hill
Online sellers in Forest Hill, Lewisham: marketplace traders on one or several platforms, brands selling through their own store, dropshippers, subscription box businesses, sellers importing stock from overseas, UK sellers with EU or international customers, and businesses approaching or past the £90,000 VAT threshold who need the registration and returns handled correctly.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- Sales, fees, refunds and payouts reconciled per channel from marketplace and payment-processor reports
- VAT handled correctly for UK sales, marketplace-collected VAT, imports, EU and overseas customers
- Inventory accounting with cost of sales and stock valuation in the top package
- Cloud software integrated with your channels so transactions post automatically
- Annual accounts and Corporation Tax or Self Assessment, with the figures tying back to channel reports
- Marketplace VAT health check: a one-off review of your registrations and settings against the rules
How it works
E-commerce Accountants from Forest Hill, Lewisham, 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
What you get in Forest Hill
The price for e-commerce accountants is published on this page and is what a client in Forest Hill pays. We confirm it in writing first, and the invoice matches the quote.
Deadline-first: the dates that matter for e-commerce accountants are shown at the top of this page, diarised for every Forest Hill client and chased before they arrive.
Online only, UK based. There is no office in Forest Hill 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 e-commerce accountants: the person who prepared last year's work for your Forest Hill business prepares this year's, and remembers what was agreed.
Plain English, with the numbers. Every draft for Forest Hill comes with a short explanation of what the figures mean and what, if anything, you should do about them.
You stay in control of e-commerce accountants: drafts go to Forest Hill clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.
Local facts
About Forest Hill, Lewisham
Forest Hill, Lewisham is in South East London, within Lewisham, in the SE23 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Perry Vale | 0.5 mi | SE |
| Honor Oak | 0.9 mi | N |
| Sydenham, Lewisham | 0.9 mi | S |
| Honor Oak Park | 0.9 mi | NE |
| Bell Green, Lewisham | 0.9 mi | SE |
| College | 1 mi | W |
| Catford Bridge | 1 mi | E |
| Crofton Park, Lewisham | 1 mi | NE |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Closing a company
Striking off a company is cheap but must be done in order: stop trading, file the final accounts and CT600, pay the tax, close VAT and PAYE, distribute the remaining assets, close the bank account, then apply. Anything left in the company at dissolution passes to the Crown. Distributions up to £25,000 are taxed as capital gains; above that a formal liquidation is usually needed to keep capital treatment.
Employer National Insurance
Employers pay National Insurance at 15% on each employee's earnings above the £5,000 secondary threshold, following the April 2025 changes. The Employment Allowance offsets up to £10,500 of this for eligible employers, which for a small team often removes the liability entirely, but companies where the director is the only employee do not qualify.
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.
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.
The trading and property allowances
The first £1,000 of trading income and, separately, the first £1,000 of property income each year is tax free under the trading and property allowances. Below those figures no return is needed for that income. Above them you can deduct the £1,000 allowance instead of actual expenses if that is better, which suits side businesses and single-room lets with few costs.
Crypto records and reporting
Crypto tax splits into capital gains on disposals and income on rewards, with different rates and different reporting. The £3,000 annual exempt amount and the 18% and 24% rates apply to gains; staking, mining and airdrop income is taxed at marginal income tax rates. HMRC's nudge letters to holders have increased sharply, and a voluntary disclosure before one arrives is treated far more leniently.
The 60-day property CGT return
The 60-day Capital Gains Tax return on residential property is the deadline landlords most often miss, because it falls outside the Self Assessment cycle and runs from completion, not exchange. Private residence relief for periods you lived in the property, plus the final nine months, reduces the gain. Penalties for a late return mirror Self Assessment, starting at £100.
Questions
E-commerce Accountants questions from Forest Hill
Can you handle multiple currencies?
Yes. Sales in foreign currencies are converted at the rate on the transaction date for the accounts and at HMRC's published rates for VAT, and the difference between those and what actually lands in your bank is recorded as exchange gain or loss. The software handles this once configured correctly.
How do refunds and returns affect my VAT and accounts?
A refund reverses the sale and the VAT on it in the period the refund is made, not the original sale. Returned stock goes back into inventory at cost. Marketplace reports show these separately and we reconcile them so that both the VAT return and the profit figure reflect actual net sales.
Do I need to register for VAT if the marketplace collects it?
Marketplace-collected VAT does not count towards your registration threshold, but your other sales do. Many sellers have a mix and cross the £90,000 threshold without realising. We monitor your rolling 12-month taxable turnover monthly and tell you when registration is approaching.
Should I trade as a sole trader or a company?
Many sellers start as sole traders and incorporate as profits grow. A company protects personal assets from supplier and platform disputes, and can be more tax efficient at higher profits, but adds compliance. Marketplaces also treat business accounts differently. We run the comparison for your numbers.
Who accounts for VAT on marketplace sales?
For goods sold to UK consumers through an online marketplace, the marketplace accounts for the VAT if the seller is overseas or the goods are imported in consignments up to £135. A UK seller selling UK-held goods to UK customers accounts for their own VAT. Mixed situations are common and we separate them on every return.
How are imports treated?
Import VAT is charged when goods enter the UK and can be reclaimed as input VAT if you are registered, using postponed VAT accounting so nothing is paid at the border. Customs duty depends on the goods and origin and is a cost, not reclaimable. We make sure the C79 or postponed accounting statements are matched to the return.
Do you have an office in Forest Hill?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Forest Hill, Lewisham 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 e-commerce accountants is the same in Forest Hill as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Is e-commerce accountants in Forest Hill really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Forest Hill, Lewisham 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 Forest Hill, one fixed price
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.