E-commerce Accountants · East London
E-commerce accountants in River, Barking and Dagenham
Selling online from River produces more accounting events per pound of turnover than almost any other business: fees, refunds, reserves, currency conversions, VAT collected by the marketplace on some sales and by you on others. We reconcile all of it from the channel reports every month and keep the VAT right. Fixed monthly fee, agreed in writing.
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 River
Online sellers in River, Barking and Dagenham: 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 River, Barking and Dagenham, 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
The IGI way of working, in River
No hourly rate and no surprise invoice. River clients know the fee for e-commerce accountants before they send a single document, and it stays fixed.
Deadline-first: the dates that matter for e-commerce accountants are shown at the top of this page, diarised for every River client and chased before they arrive.
Online only, UK based. There is no office in River 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 e-commerce accountants, not a queue. River, Barking and Dagenham clients message the same person throughout and get an answer in working hours, usually within a few hours.
Plain English, with the numbers. Every draft for River comes with a short explanation of what the figures mean and what, if anything, you should do about them.
Approval before filing is a rule, not a courtesy. For e-commerce accountants in River, Barking and Dagenham, every submission to HMRC or Companies House follows your written go-ahead.
Local facts
About River, Barking and Dagenham
River, Barking and Dagenham is in East London, within Barking and Dagenham, in the RM9 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dagenham Dock | 0.3 mi | W |
| Goresbrook | 0.5 mi | NW |
| Beam Park | 0.6 mi | E |
| Old Dagenham | 0.8 mi | N |
| Village Ward | 1 mi | N |
| Dagenham | 1 mi | N |
| Great Fleete | 1 mi | W |
| Thames | 1 mi | W |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Closing a company
Voluntary strike-off is available only to solvent companies. One that owes money it cannot pay needs a creditors' voluntary liquidation through a licensed insolvency practitioner, and directors who dissolve an insolvent company face personal consequences. For a solvent company the process takes three to four months from filing the DS01, with notice to creditors and shareholders within seven days.
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
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.
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 River
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.
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.
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.
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.
Why does e-commerce bookkeeping cost more than ordinary bookkeeping?
Because a single payout from a marketplace bundles hundreds of sales, fees, refunds, advertising charges and reserves, and each has a different VAT treatment. Reconciling the payout to the underlying report is the job. Our fee is fixed by channels and VAT status rather than by transaction count for exactly this reason.
What is in the £79 single-channel package?
Monthly bookkeeping reconciled to one marketplace or store's reports, software integration, and the annual accounts and tax return (Corporation Tax for a company or Self Assessment for a sole trader). It is for sellers under the £90,000 VAT threshold; once VAT registration is needed the £129 package applies.
How do I get started from River, Barking and Dagenham?
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 e-commerce accountants. Once you confirm, we tell you exactly which records to send and the work begins. Most River clients are set up within a day.
Which deadlines matter most for e-commerce accountants?
The next four dates that apply to e-commerce accountants are shown at the top of this page, calculated from today. For River 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 River
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.