Accounting

E-commerce Accountants · South East

E-commerce accountants in Littlehampton

If your Littlehampton 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 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 Littlehampton

Online sellers in Littlehampton: 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 Littlehampton, step by step

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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 Littlehampton

No hourly rate and no surprise invoice. Littlehampton clients know the fee for e-commerce 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 Littlehampton get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each date that applies to e-commerce accountants.

We serve Littlehampton 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 e-commerce accountants.

A named person handles your e-commerce accountants from Littlehampton 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 Littlehampton 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 Littlehampton clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.

Local facts

About Littlehampton

Littlehampton is in South East, in the BN17 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.

Nearby places we also serve for e-commerce accountants
PlaceDistanceDirection
Wick, Arun0.8 miN
Toddington, Arun1 miNE
Rustington1 miE
Climping1 miW
Atherington1 miSW
Lyminster2 miN
Horsemere Green2 miW
Ford, Arun2 miNW

Worth knowing

Rules that come up in this work

Confirmation statements and identity verification

Every company must file a confirmation statement at least once a year, within fourteen days of its review date, with a £50 Companies House fee. Since November 2025 directors and people with significant control must also verify their identity with Companies House, and the confirmation statement is where existing officers confirm they have done so during the transition year.

CIS deductions

The Construction Industry Scheme affects both sides of a construction payment. Contractors must verify subcontractors, deduct the right amount, issue statements and file monthly, with penalties from £100 for each late return. Subcontractors suffer deductions on turnover and recover the excess at the year end. Limited company subcontractors offset deductions against PAYE monthly instead.

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

The biggest change to Self Assessment in a generation is Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, now live for higher-earning sole traders and landlords and arriving for the rest in stages. Quarterly updates are due by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, built from digital records. The practical consequence is that spreadsheet-and-shoebox bookkeeping is ending for anyone above the threshold.

The Self Assessment calendar

Self Assessment runs on a fixed annual cycle. Registration by 5 October following the tax year, online filing and payment by 31 January, and a second instalment on 31 July for those making payments on account. The penalties for lateness are automatic and escalate monthly, which is why we file early and chase approvals well before the window closes.

Payments on account

If your Self Assessment bill exceeds £1,000 and less than 80% of your tax was collected at source, HMRC asks for two advance payments towards the following year, each half of the current bill, due 31 January and 31 July. The first year this happens the January payment is effectively one and a half times the bill. We model it in advance and show you how to reduce the payments if income is falling.

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.

Questions

E-commerce Accountants questions from Littlehampton

What is the marketplace VAT health check?

A one-off £149 review of your VAT registration, your marketplace tax settings, your treatment of imports and overseas sales, and a sample of recent returns against the rules. It produces a written report of errors found and what to do about them. Most sellers who have set things up themselves have at least one.

Can you reconcile my payment processor as well as the marketplace?

Yes. Card processors and payment gateways on your own store are integrated so that gross sales, fees and payouts post and reconcile automatically. The fee treatment, including VAT on processor fees, is configured at setup, which is where most self-built integrations go wrong.

I sell to EU customers. What VAT applies?

Since 2021 sales of goods to EU consumers are exports from the UK, zero-rated here, with EU VAT due in the customer's country. The EU's Import One Stop Shop lets you account for consignments under €150 through one registration. Above that, local registration or the customer paying on delivery. We advise on the right route for your volumes.

When do I need the inventory package?

When you hold meaningful stock. Without inventory accounting, the cost of goods purchased is expensed when bought, which distorts profit between periods and misstates the balance sheet. The £179 package tracks stock, calculates cost of sales and values closing stock, which lenders, investors and HMRC all expect from a stock-holding business.

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 Littlehampton?

No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Littlehampton 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 Littlehampton as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.

Is e-commerce accountants in Littlehampton really the same price as elsewhere?

Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Littlehampton 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 Littlehampton, one fixed price

Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.

WhatsApp for a fixed quote