Startup Accountants · South East London
Startup accountants in Sydenham, Lewisham
Startup accountants in Sydenham who understand that early-stage companies are loss-making, equity-funded and short of time. Our packages are built for that: no hourly billing, founder payroll when it is needed, SEIS/EIS advance assurance at £299 when you raise, and books investors can read. Everything online, every filing approved by you first.
from £59/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
- Confirmation statement due within 14 days of your review date, at least once every 12 months
Who this is for
Startup Accountants for Sydenham
New and early-stage companies in Sydenham, Lewisham: founders incorporating for the first time, technology and product startups preparing to raise seed investment, service businesses moving from side project to full time, two or three co-founders who need the equity and payroll structured properly, and companies in their first two years who set up alone and want it done properly now.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- Company formation and HMRC registrations in the Launch package, or a review of what has already been set up
- Cloud bookkeeping configured for a growing business, with bank feeds and expense capture from day one
- Annual accounts and Corporation Tax return, with first-period and long-period rules handled
- VAT registration timing advised and quarterly returns run in the Grow and Scale packages
- Payroll for founders and first hires, with auto-enrolment, in the Scale package
- SEIS and EIS advance assurance applications prepared for founders raising investment
How it works
Startup Accountants from Sydenham, Lewisham, 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 Sydenham
One fixed fee for startup accountants in Sydenham, Lewisham, 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 Sydenham, Lewisham get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each date that applies to startup accountants.
No appointments, no travel across South East London, no parking. Everything for startup accountants in Sydenham happens online, with a real person on the other end during UK working hours.
A named person handles your startup accountants from Sydenham and knows the file, so you are not re-explaining your business to a different helpdesk each time.
The output for Sydenham clients is never just a form. It is the form, a one-page summary of what it says, and a note of the decisions it points to for startup accountants.
Nothing is filed for Sydenham 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 Sydenham, Lewisham
Sydenham, Lewisham is in South East London, within Lewisham, in the SE26 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 Beckenham | 0.6 mi | SE |
| Bell Green, Lewisham | 0.7 mi | NE |
| Perry Vale | 0.7 mi | NE |
| Penge and Cator | 0.8 mi | S |
| Lower Sydenham | 0.8 mi | E |
| Forest Hill, Lewisham | 0.9 mi | N |
| Penge | 0.9 mi | S |
| Crystal Palace | 1.0 mi | SW |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Allowable expenses
An expense is allowable against trading profit if it is incurred wholly and exclusively for the business. Materials, business travel other than ordinary commuting, a proportion of home running costs, software, insurance, professional fees, bank charges and protective clothing qualify. Client entertainment, ordinary clothing, fines and the private share of mixed-use costs do not.
Record keeping
Good records are the difference between a quick enquiry and a long one. For the self-employed, five years after the filing deadline; for companies, six years from the year end; for VAT, six years. Photographs of receipts, PDF statements and software exports all count. The requirement is to keep records, not paper, and a well-organised cloud folder satisfies it.
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.
Crypto records and reporting
Most crypto holders have taxable events they do not recognise, because every swap is a disposal even when no pounds change hands. The computation requires the complete transaction history from every exchange and wallet, pooled by asset with HMRC's matching rules applied. Exchange-generated tax reports are frequently wrong because they cannot see transfers between a user's own wallets.
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
Companies formed to protect a name or hold a future business are dormant but not exempt: Companies House still expects dormant accounts within nine months of the year end and a confirmation statement annually with its £50 fee, and HMRC must be told the company is dormant or it will demand Corporation Tax returns. The filings are short, but the penalties for missing them are the same as for a trading company.
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
Startup Accountants questions from Sydenham
What if the startup fails?
Then the company needs to be closed properly: final accounts, final CT600, deregistration from VAT and PAYE, and a strike-off application or, if there are debts it cannot pay, a formal insolvency process. Our strike-off service with final accounts is from £349. SEIS investors can claim loss relief, which softens their outcome.
Can I switch to you from another accountant mid-year?
Yes. We request your records and professional clearance from the previous firm, pick up the bookkeeping where they left off and take over the filings. There is no charge for the switch and the first month's fee is the same as any other.
When do I need Grow or Scale?
Grow at £99 adds monthly bookkeeping and quarterly VAT returns, and suits most startups once transactions and VAT registration arrive. Scale at £149 adds payroll for founders and first hires with auto-enrolment, plus quarterly management accounts for the board or investors. You can move between packages at any month end.
What does the £59 Launch package include?
Company formation with the Companies House £100 fee passed on separately, Corporation Tax and PAYE registration, a registered office if you want one, cloud software set up, the first confirmation statement and the first set of accounts and CT600 filed. It is for founders who will keep their own books in the early months.
How should co-founders be paid?
Early on, often not at all, with equity as the reward. Once the company can afford it, a modest salary through payroll keeps National Insurance records intact and is deductible. Dividends require distributable profits, which loss-making startups do not have. Director's loans are a trap. We set the structure to suit the cash position.
Should I register for VAT before I have to?
If your customers are VAT-registered businesses, early voluntary registration lets you reclaim VAT on setup costs with no real cost to customers. If you sell to consumers, registration adds 20% to your price or cuts your margin, so waiting until the £90,000 threshold is usually better. We model it for your business.
Is startup accountants in Sydenham really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Sydenham, Lewisham 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 Sydenham?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Sydenham, Lewisham 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 startup accountants is the same in Sydenham as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Fixed fees, filed on time, for Sydenham
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.