Startup Accountants · East London
Startup accountants in Larkswood
Startup accounting for new companies in Larkswood: the Launch package at £59 a month forms the company, registers it with HMRC and files the first accounts; Grow at £99 adds bookkeeping and VAT; Scale at £149 adds payroll and management accounts. Fixed and published, the same in Larkswood as in any part of England.
from £59/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
- Confirmation statement due within 14 days of your review date, at least once every 12 months
Who this is for
Startup Accountants for Larkswood
New and early-stage companies in Larkswood: founders incorporating for the first time, technology and product startups preparing to raise seed investment, service businesses moving from side project to full time, two or three co-founders who need the equity and payroll structured properly, and companies in their first two years who set up alone and want it done properly now.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- Company formation and HMRC registrations in the Launch package, or a review of what has already been set up
- Cloud bookkeeping configured for a growing business, with bank feeds and expense capture from day one
- Annual accounts and Corporation Tax return, with first-period and long-period rules handled
- VAT registration timing advised and quarterly returns run in the Grow and Scale packages
- Payroll for founders and first hires, with auto-enrolment, in the Scale package
- SEIS and EIS advance assurance applications prepared for founders raising investment
How it works
Startup Accountants from Larkswood, 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
Why Larkswood businesses file with IGI
No hourly rate and no surprise invoice. Larkswood clients know the fee for startup accountants 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 Larkswood get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each date that applies to startup accountants.
Online only, UK based. There is no office in Larkswood 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 startup accountants: the person who prepared last year's work for your Larkswood business prepares this year's, and remembers what was agreed.
We explain startup accountants in the words Larkswood business owners use, not in accountant's shorthand, and we show our working so you can check it.
Nothing is filed for Larkswood until you have reviewed and approved it. You see the draft, you ask questions, you sign off, then we submit and send you the receipt.
Local facts
About Larkswood
Larkswood is in East London, within Waltham Forest, in the E4 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Chingford Mount | 0.4 mi | NW |
| South Chingford | 0.4 mi | SW |
| Highams Park | 0.6 mi | SE |
| Hale End | 0.8 mi | SE |
| Chingford Hatch | 0.8 mi | E |
| Hatch Lane | 0.9 mi | E |
| Endlebury | 0.9 mi | N |
| Friday Hill | 0.9 mi | NE |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Switching accountants
The main reasons people switch accountant are surprise invoices, missed deadlines and not understanding what they are being told. Switching involves a clearance letter between the firms, a transfer of records and agent authorisations, and a short handover of the current position. It takes about two weeks and should cost nothing extra.
Closing a company
A solvent company that has finished its purpose can be dissolved by voluntary strike-off: form DS01 with a £13 Companies House fee, after three months without trading and with all debts paid, final accounts and tax return filed, and assets distributed. HMRC objects to any application where returns or tax are outstanding, so the sequence matters more than the form.
Record keeping
Good records are the difference between a quick enquiry and a long one. For the self-employed, five years after the filing deadline; for companies, six years from the year end; for VAT, six years. Photographs of receipts, PDF statements and software exports all count. The requirement is to keep records, not paper, and a well-organised cloud folder satisfies it.
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.
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
Selling UK residential property that was not your main home for the whole period of ownership triggers a separate Capital Gains Tax return, due within 60 days of completion along with payment of the tax. This is in addition to the annual Self Assessment. The gain is taxed at 18% or 24% depending on your income band, after the £3,000 annual exempt amount.
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
Startup Accountants questions from Larkswood
Do I need a separate business bank account?
Legally the company must have its own account because it is a separate person from you; using a personal account mixes funds and creates director's loan problems. Digital business banks open accounts quickly for new companies, and we connect the feed to your software as part of setup.
What do investors expect to see in the accounts?
Clean, current bookkeeping; a cap table that matches Companies House; founder payments properly documented; VAT and PAYE up to date; and management accounts showing runway. Due diligence on a seed round routinely finds undocumented director's loans and unfiled confirmation statements, both of which cost time at exactly the wrong moment.
What does the £59 Launch package include?
Company formation with the Companies House £100 fee passed on separately, Corporation Tax and PAYE registration, a registered office if you want one, cloud software set up, the first confirmation statement and the first set of accounts and CT600 filed. It is for founders who will keep their own books in the early months.
When do I need Grow or Scale?
Grow at £99 adds monthly bookkeeping and quarterly VAT returns, and suits most startups once transactions and VAT registration arrive. Scale at £149 adds payroll for founders and first hires with auto-enrolment, plus quarterly management accounts for the board or investors. You can move between packages at any month end.
Should I register for VAT before I have to?
If your customers are VAT-registered businesses, early voluntary registration lets you reclaim VAT on setup costs with no real cost to customers. If you sell to consumers, registration adds 20% to your price or cuts your margin, so waiting until the £90,000 threshold is usually better. We model it for your business.
How should co-founders be paid?
Early on, often not at all, with equity as the reward. Once the company can afford it, a modest salary through payroll keeps National Insurance records intact and is deductible. Dividends require distributable profits, which loss-making startups do not have. Director's loans are a trap. We set the structure to suit the cash position.
Which deadlines matter most for startup accountants?
The next four dates that apply to startup accountants are shown at the top of this page, calculated from today. For Larkswood 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.
How do I get started from Larkswood?
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 startup accountants. Once you confirm, we tell you exactly which records to send and the work begins. Most Larkswood clients are set up within a day.
One message from Larkswood, one fixed price
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.