Business Advisory · South East
Business advisory in Wickford
Whether the question in Wickford is whether to hire, how to price, how to fund growth or why the business is busy but not profitable, we bring the accountant's view to it for a fixed fee. Businesses across South East use the single session for one decision and the quarterly retainer for a standing conversation. Everything online.
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 Wickford
Owner-managers in Wickford 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 Wickford, 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
Why Wickford businesses file with IGI
No hourly rate and no surprise invoice. Wickford clients know the fee for business advisory before they send a single document, and it stays fixed.
We work to the HMRC and Companies House calendar, not an appointment diary. Clients in Wickford get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each date that applies to business advisory.
We serve Wickford 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 Wickford 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 Wickford business owners use, not in accountant's shorthand, and we show our working so you can check it.
Nothing is filed for Wickford 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 Wickford
Wickford is in South East, in the SS11 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Runwell | 0.8 mi | NE |
| Shotgate | 1.0 mi | E |
| Brock Hill | 1 mi | N |
| Nevendon | 1 mi | SW |
| Rawreth Shot | 2 mi | E |
| Ramsden Bellhouse | 2 mi | W |
| Burnt Mills | 2 mi | S |
| Rawreth | 2 mi | E |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Employer National Insurance
The cost of an employee is more than the salary. Employer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year, the 3% minimum pension contribution, holiday pay, equipment and management time all come on top. The Employment Allowance of £10,500 reduces the National Insurance for most employers with more than one person on the payroll.
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.
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.
Director's loan accounts
A director's loan account records money moving between a director and the company that is not salary or dividend. If the director owes the company money nine months and one day after the year end, the company pays section 455 tax at 35.75% of the balance, refundable only when the loan is repaid. Loans over £10,000 are also a benefit in kind unless interest is charged at HMRC's official rate.
Dormant companies
A dormant company is one with no significant accounting transactions in the year, where the only permitted entries are the payment for shares on incorporation, Companies House fees and penalties. It still files a confirmation statement and simplified dormant accounts every year. A bank charge or an accountant's fee paid from the company ends dormancy and requires full accounts.
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.
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.
Questions
Business Advisory questions from Wickford
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.
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 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.
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.
Can you help with funding?
We help you decide what kind of funding suits the need, debt, invoice finance, asset finance, grant or equity, and prepare the figures lenders or investors want to see. Our cash-flow forecasting service produces the forecast pack. We introduce you to lenders and grant bodies we know but we are not brokers and take no commission.
My business is busy but there is never any money. Can you tell me why?
Usually, yes, and usually within a session. The common causes are margin erosion through discounting or cost creep, slow-paying customers tying up cash, stock or work in progress absorbing it, overheads that grew with turnover, or the owner's drawings exceeding profit. The pricing and margin review goes deeper where margin is the cause.
Do you have an office in Wickford?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Wickford 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 Wickford as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Is business advisory in Wickford really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Wickford 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.
Let us take the deadlines off your plate in Wickford
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.