Business Advisory · East Midlands
Business advisory in Sleaford
Business advisory in Sleaford that produces something you can act on. The pricing and margin review finds the products and customers that make money and the ones that do not. The growth readiness review tells you what will break at the next size and what to fix first. Each is a fixed scope at a published fee, with a written report.
from £149 · fixed, per session
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
- Tax year ends: last day for pension, ISA and dividend timing decisions
Who this is for
Business Advisory for Sleaford
Owner-managers in Sleaford facing a decision or a recurring problem: businesses that are busy but not profitable, owners considering a first or next hire, companies choosing between loan, invoice finance and investment, founders preparing to scale or to sell, franchisees and partnerships needing an independent view, and anyone who wants a quarterly conversation about the numbers with someone who has read them.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- A structured 90-minute session on the question you bring, with preparation from your numbers beforehand
- A written summary within three working days: what we discussed, what we recommend, what to do next
- Pricing and margin review: unit economics, price points, discounting and the gross margin you actually make
- Growth readiness review: hiring plans, funding options, systems, controls and what breaks at the next size
- Quarterly advisory retainer: a session each quarter with your management figures and a standing agenda
- Introductions to lenders, grant bodies and specialists where the question needs them
How it works
Business Advisory from Sleaford, 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
What you get in Sleaford
No hourly rate and no surprise invoice. Sleaford clients know the fee for business advisory before they send a single document, and it stays fixed.
Deadline-first: the dates that matter for business advisory are shown at the top of this page, diarised for every Sleaford client and chased before they arrive.
We serve Sleaford 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 business advisory.
A named person handles your business advisory from Sleaford and knows the file, so you are not re-explaining your business to a different helpdesk each time.
We explain business advisory in the words Sleaford business owners use, not in accountant's shorthand, and we show our working so you can check it.
You stay in control of business advisory: drafts go to Sleaford clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.
Local facts
About Sleaford
Sleaford is in East Midlands, in the NG34 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 |
|---|---|---|
| New Quarrington | 0.6 mi | SE |
| Quarrington, New | 0.6 mi | SE |
| Holdingham | 1 mi | NW |
| Quarrington | 1 mi | SW |
| Leasingham | 2 mi | N |
| Evedon | 2 mi | NE |
| Silk Willoughby | 2 mi | SW |
| South Rauceby | 3 mi | W |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Director's loan accounts
Money taken from a company has to be something: salary, dividend, expense reimbursement or loan. If it is a loan and remains outstanding nine months after the year end, the company pays tax at the dividend higher rate on it until it is repaid. Clearing the balance with a properly declared dividend before the deadline, where reserves allow, is routine year-end work.
Salary versus dividends
Directors of their own companies usually take a salary at or just above the National Insurance thresholds, which keeps the year qualifying for State Pension and is deductible for Corporation Tax, with further income as dividends. Dividends above the £500 allowance are taxed at 10.75%, 35.75% and 39.35% by band and can only be paid from distributable profits after tax, with a minute and voucher each time.
Corporation Tax rates and marginal relief
Corporation Tax is not a flat rate. Profits to £50,000 pay 19%, profits above £250,000 pay 25%, and the band between is taxed at an effective marginal rate of 26.5% through the marginal relief mechanism. Associated companies share the thresholds, which catches directors who own more than one company and is the most common cause of underpaid tax in owner-managed groups.
The VAT registration threshold
Watching the rolling twelve-month turnover figure is one of the quiet jobs of monthly bookkeeping, because the £90,000 VAT threshold arrives silently. Crossing it brings quarterly returns, Making Tax Digital software and a decision about schemes. Crossing it late brings a bill for VAT you could not recover from customers and a penalty for failing to notify.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax began in April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, extends to those over £30,000 in April 2027 and is planned for £20,000 in April 2028. It requires digital records in compatible software and four quarterly updates to HMRC each year, with a final declaration replacing the traditional return. Payment dates are unchanged.
Late filing penalties
HMRC's penalties for a late Self Assessment return are automatic: £100 the day after 31 January, £10 a day from three months late up to £900, then the greater of £300 or 5% of the tax at six and twelve months. Interest and separate late-payment penalties apply to the tax itself. Companies House charges £150 to £1,500 for late accounts, doubling for a second consecutive year.
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.
Questions
Business Advisory questions from Sleaford
What is the pricing and margin review?
For £299 we analyse your sales by product, service or customer against the true cost of delivering each, including the overheads that are usually ignored, to show where the margin is actually made and lost. The report recommends price changes, discount policy and which lines to grow or drop, with the profit effect of each quantified.
What happens in the £149 session?
You tell us the question when you book and send your recent figures. We prepare, then spend 90 minutes by video working through it: the numbers, the options, the trade-offs. Within three working days you receive a written summary of the discussion, our recommendation and the next steps. One session often resolves the question; some lead to a review product.
How does the quarterly retainer work?
For £129 a quarter you get a session each quarter with your management figures, a standing agenda of the things you are tracking, and a written note afterwards. It is for owners who want a regular, structured conversation about the business rather than one-off help, and it works best alongside our management accounts.
What is the growth readiness review?
For £399 we look at what the business would need to operate at the next level: people and roles, funding and cash, systems and controls, pricing capacity and the owner's own role. The report identifies what will break first at the larger size and sets out the fixes in order, with costs. It is often used before a fundraise or a major hire.
Can you help me decide whether to hire?
Yes, and it is one of the most common session topics. We model the full cost of the hire including employer National Insurance at 15%, pension, equipment and management time, against the revenue or capacity it releases, and the cash impact month by month. The answer is often yes but later, or yes but part-time first.
Is this consultancy or accounting?
It is advice from accountants who read your numbers, which is different from both generic business coaching and from pure compliance. We focus on the decisions the figures inform: pricing, hiring, funding, cost structure, cash. We do not advise on marketing strategy or operations beyond their financial effect.
Is business advisory in Sleaford really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Sleaford 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.
Do you have an office in Sleaford?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Sleaford 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 business advisory is the same in Sleaford as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Start the conversation from Sleaford
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.