Freelancer Accountants · South East London
Freelancer accountants in Shortlands
Freelancer accounting in Shortlands: sole trader freelancers get bookkeeping and the tax return for £45 a month, limited company freelancers get full compliance for £79, and those who only want the year-end done pay £229 a year. Fixed, published, and the same in Shortlands as in every other part of England.
from £45/mo · fixed, per month
Next deadlines
- Online Self Assessment filing deadline and balancing payment due
- Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: quarterly updates for sole traders and landlords over £50,000 (from April 2026) and over £30,000 (from April 2027)
- Second payment on account due
- Companies House accounts due 9 months after your year end (a 31 December year end files by 30 September)
Who this is for
Freelancer Accountants for Shortlands
Freelancers and independent professionals in Shortlands: designers, developers, writers and editors, marketers, photographers and videographers, consultants, translators, musicians and performers, tutors and coaches, whether trading as a sole trader, through a limited company, or still deciding, and whether full time or alongside employment.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- Monthly bookkeeping from your bank feed with invoices and expenses captured by phone
- Self Assessment with the self-employment pages for sole trader freelancers, or accounts, CT600 and payroll for company freelancers
- Expense review for the costs freelancers miss: home office, equipment, software, subscriptions, training, travel
- Payments on account and a monthly set-aside figure so the January bill is never a surprise
- Making Tax Digital readiness and quarterly updates when your income reaches the threshold
- A going-freelance starter session covering structure, registration, pricing for tax and what to keep
How it works
Freelancer Accountants from Shortlands, 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
The IGI way of working, in Shortlands
One fixed fee for freelancer accountants in Shortlands, agreed in writing before any work starts and never changed part-way through the job, however long it takes us.
Nothing for Shortlands is left to the last week. Each deadline relevant to freelancer accountants is tracked from the day you join, with the next four shown on every page we send you.
We serve Shortlands 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 freelancer accountants.
A named person handles your freelancer accountants from Shortlands and knows the file, so you are not re-explaining your business to a different helpdesk each time.
We explain freelancer accountants in the words Shortlands business owners use, not in accountant's shorthand, and we show our working so you can check it.
Nothing is filed for Shortlands 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 Shortlands
Shortlands is in South East London, within Bromley, in the BR2 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Bromley Town | 0.7 mi | E |
| Bromley, South East London | 0.7 mi | E |
| Bromley North | 0.9 mi | E |
| Copers Cope | 0.9 mi | NW |
| Bromley South | 0.9 mi | SE |
| Park Langley | 1 mi | SW |
| Beckenham | 1 mi | W |
| Sundridge, Bromley | 1 mi | NE |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
CIS deductions
Under the Construction Industry Scheme, contractors deduct 20% from a registered subcontractor's labour invoices, or 30% if unregistered, and pay it to HMRC. The subcontractor reclaims the deductions against their actual tax through Self Assessment, usually producing a refund because deductions are on turnover while tax is on profit. Contractors file a monthly return by the 19th.
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
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.
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 trading and property allowances
Not every small income needs a tax return. The trading allowance exempts the first £1,000 of self-employment or casual income and the property allowance does the same for rental income, each measured on gross receipts. They cannot be combined with rent-a-room relief on the same income, and claiming the allowance means giving up the expense deduction for that source.
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.
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.
Questions
Freelancer Accountants questions from Shortlands
How much should I set aside for tax?
For a sole trader, roughly 20% to 30% of profit covers income tax and Class 4 National Insurance at basic rate, more at higher rate, plus payments on account in the first year they apply. We give you a specific monthly figure based on your actual profit each month, which is more useful than a rule of thumb.
What expenses can freelancers claim?
A proportion of home costs for the space and hours you work there, or HMRC's flat rate; equipment and software; professional subscriptions and insurance; training that maintains existing skills; business travel other than commuting; marketing and website costs; bank charges; and the business share of phone and internet. We review your categories every month.
Can I claim for my laptop and camera?
Yes. Equipment used for the business qualifies for capital allowances, usually the annual investment allowance giving full relief in the year of purchase, restricted for private use. Under the cash basis equipment is simply an expense when paid. Items bought before you started can be brought in at market value.
I have a job and freelance on the side. How does that work?
Your employment is taxed through PAYE and your freelance profit is added on top through Self Assessment, usually at your marginal rate. If freelance income is under £1,000 the trading allowance means no return is needed. Above that, register by 5 October after the tax year you started. Our package covers the whole return including the employment pages.
What does the £45 sole trader package include?
Monthly bookkeeping from your bank feed with receipts captured by phone, a monthly summary showing profit and the tax accruing, your Self Assessment with the self-employment pages prepared and filed, payments on account calculated, and deadline tracking. Software is in your name and billed to you separately.
What does the £79 company package include?
Monthly bookkeeping, director payroll with RTI submissions, dividend paperwork, the annual statutory accounts and CT600 filed with Companies House and HMRC, the confirmation statement filed (Companies House £50 fee separate), and deadline tracking. Your personal Self Assessment is added at the published £129 if needed.
Which deadlines matter most for freelancer accountants?
The next four dates that apply to freelancer accountants are shown at the top of this page, calculated from today. For Shortlands 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 Shortlands?
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 freelancer accountants. Once you confirm, we tell you exactly which records to send and the work begins. Most Shortlands clients are set up within a day.
One message from Shortlands, one fixed price
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.