Bookkeeping · South West
Bookkeeping services in Red Post
Tidy books are the difference between a cheap year end and an expensive one. We keep the records for Red Post businesses current every month: bank transactions matched, receipts captured by photo, VAT coded correctly, and a short summary of where you stand. The fee is fixed by volume and agreed before we start.
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 Red Post
Sole traders, partnerships and limited companies in Red Post 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 Red Post, 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
Why Red Post businesses file with IGI
One fixed fee for bookkeeping in Red Post, agreed in writing before any work starts and never changed part-way through the job, however long it takes us.
We work to the HMRC and Companies House calendar, not an appointment diary. Clients in Red Post get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each date that applies to bookkeeping.
We serve Red Post 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.
Continuity matters in bookkeeping: the person who prepared last year's work for your Red Post business prepares this year's, and remembers what was agreed.
We explain bookkeeping in the words Red Post business owners use, not in accountant's shorthand, and we show our working so you can check it.
You stay in control of bookkeeping: drafts go to Red Post clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.
Local facts
About Red Post
Red Post is in South West, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Redpost | 0.0 mi | N |
| Buttsbear Cross | 0.5 mi | S |
| Launcells Cross | 0.6 mi | N |
| Prustacott | 0.7 mi | NW |
| Ossington | 0.8 mi | NE |
| Grimscott | 1 mi | N |
| Bridge, Torridge | 1 mi | SE |
| Launcells | 1 mi | W |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
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.
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.
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
Since April 2025 employer National Insurance has been 15% on earnings above a £5,000 secondary threshold, a substantial increase for small employers. The Employment Allowance rose to £10,500 at the same time to soften it for the smallest businesses. Directors deciding their own salary weigh this cost against the Corporation Tax deduction a salary provides.
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.
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.
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.
Questions
Bookkeeping questions from Red Post
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.
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.
Is bookkeeping the same as accounts?
No. Bookkeeping is the ongoing recording and reconciling of transactions. Accounts and tax returns are the year-end filings built from those records. Clean bookkeeping makes the year-end work faster and cheaper, which is why our sole trader accounts fee from tidy records is £149 and from a shoebox is £249.
What do I have to do each month?
Forward or photograph receipts and supplier bills as they arrive, and answer one batch of queries from us about transactions we cannot identify. Most clients spend under an hour a month. Sales invoices can be raised in the software by you or by us.
Which software do you use and who pays for it?
We work in the main cloud platforms that are compatible with Making Tax Digital and set up the one that suits your business. The subscription is in your name and billed to you by the software company, typically £15 to £35 a month, so you own the data and can leave at any time with your records intact.
How do you count transactions for the fee?
Every line on your business bank and card statements for the month, including payments in and out. Transfers between your own accounts are excluded. Up to 50 lines is £49 a month, up to 150 is £89, up to 300 is £149. We check the count from your statements before quoting so the band is right from the start.
How do I get started from Red Post?
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 bookkeeping. Once you confirm, we tell you exactly which records to send and the work begins. Most Red Post clients are set up within a day.
Which deadlines matter most for bookkeeping?
The next four dates that apply to bookkeeping are shown at the top of this page, calculated from today. For Red Post 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.
Start the conversation from Red Post
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.