Accounting

Accountants by industry

Locum accountants

Locum and sessional clinicians have one of the more complicated tax positions of any self-employed group. Income arrives from many engagements a year, some pensionable in the NHS scheme and some not, some through agencies and some direct, often alongside salaried NHS employment taxed through PAYE. Each engagement produces its own statement, pension deduction and expenses. The year-end return has to reconcile all of it, apply the correct treatment to each source, account for the NHS pension paperwork that runs on its own timetable, and for higher earners check the annual allowance, which bites unexpectedly in the NHS scheme because growth is measured on the promised pension rather than contributions paid.

from £69/mo · fixed, per month

Next deadlines

  • PAYE and National Insurance for last month paid to HMRC (electronic)
  • PAYE and National Insurance for last month paid to HMRC (electronic)
  • PAYE and National Insurance for last month paid to HMRC (electronic)
  • Online Self Assessment filing deadline and balancing payment due

Fees

Packages, fixed and published

£69/mo

Sole trader locum: books + tax return

£95/mo

Limited company locum: full compliance

£199/yr

Annual-only locum tax return

£149

NHS pension annual allowance review

Who this is for

Locum Accountants

Locum and sessional clinicians in the UK: GP locums and salaried GPs with extra sessions, hospital doctors with private practice or agency shifts, dental associates and locum dentists, locum pharmacists and optometrists, vets, physiotherapists and other allied health professionals, whether trading as sole traders, through a limited company or both.

What is included

Inside the fixed fee

  • Income from every practice, agency, trust and private engagement reconciled, including statements of earnings and remittances
  • Expense review for locums: professional indemnity, GMC/GDC/GPhC fees, exams, courses, equipment, travel between placements
  • NHS pension contributions, Type 2 certificates and superannuation reconciled to pay statements
  • Sole trader Self Assessment, or limited company accounts, CT600 and payroll, depending on structure
  • Annual allowance and tapered annual allowance checks for higher-earning clinicians
  • IR35 and off-payroll status considered for engagements through your own company

In detail

How locum accountants works

Our locum packages reflect that complexity. Sole trader locums at £69 a month get monthly bookkeeping of all engagement income and expenses reconciled to pay statements and remittances, NHS pension contribution tracking, a monthly summary with the tax accruing, and the Self Assessment prepared and filed with payments on account calculated. Limited company locums at £95 get bookkeeping, director payroll, dividend paperwork, statutory accounts and the CT600, with the personal return added at the published fee where NHS employment or other income requires it. Organised locums with few engagements can use the annual-only option at £199. The NHS pension annual allowance review at £149 is for higher earners who need the growth calculated and a scheme pays election considered.

The structure decision is different for clinicians than for other freelancers because of the NHS pension. GP locum income is only pensionable when earned as an individual through Locum Forms A and B, so a GP who incorporates loses pension accrual on that income, which for most is worth far more than any tax saving. Private practice income is not pensionable regardless of structure and often suits a company. Agency work and engagements with NHS bodies through a company fall under the off-payroll working rules, where the engaging body determines status. Many clinicians end up running NHS locum work as a sole trader and private work through a company, and we advise on and run both.

The NHS pension paperwork has its own deadlines that sit outside the tax calendar. Locum Forms A and B must reach the pensions agency within ten weeks of the work or the pension on that income is lost. The estimate of pensionable earnings at the start of each year sets the contribution tier. The Type 2 certificate reconciling the year's actual pensionable income is due by the end of February. Dental associates have their own annual reconciliation. For higher earners the annual allowance, £60,000 tapering to £10,000 at adjusted income over £260,000, must be checked against the growth in the promised pension, and where a charge arises the scheme pays election has to be made in time. We track all of these from the records we already keep.

Expenses are reviewed against the rules that matter for clinicians: professional indemnity, regulator registration fees, exams and courses that maintain skills, equipment, subscriptions, a proportion of home costs for administration, and travel between temporary workplaces, with the regular-workplace rule applied honestly where a long-standing session at one practice has become commuting. Employment income from salaried posts is reconciled from P60s alongside the self-employment, and the combined return is prepared with payments on account explained, since locum income on top of a salary is the classic trigger. Everything is online, fees are fixed and agreed before you join, and nothing is filed until you have approved it.

Process

From first message to filed

  1. 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.

  2. Agree the price

    The fee is confirmed in writing. There is no hourly billing and nothing added for questions during the work.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

Worth knowing

Rules that come up in this work

Workplace pensions and auto-enrolment

Workplace pension compliance is part of payroll, not separate from it. Each pay period the payroll assesses who is eligible, calculates employer and employee contributions on qualifying earnings between the lower and upper thresholds, and sends the contribution file to the scheme. The minimum total is 8%, and many employers choose to contribute more as a recruitment advantage.

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.

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.

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.

The 60-day property CGT return

Since April 2020 a gain on UK residential property must be reported and the tax paid within 60 days of completion through HMRC's dedicated service, separately from the annual return. Non-residents must report all UK land disposals in the same window whether or not tax is due. Getting the computation right first time matters because the figure is then carried into the Self Assessment.

Crypto records and reporting

Crypto tax splits into capital gains on disposals and income on rewards, with different rates and different reporting. The £3,000 annual exempt amount and the 18% and 24% rates apply to gains; staking, mining and airdrop income is taxed at marginal income tax rates. HMRC's nudge letters to holders have increased sharply, and a voluntary disclosure before one arrives is treated far more leniently.

Allowable expenses

The expenses sole traders most often miss are home working costs, claimed by actual proportion or HMRC's flat rate, the business share of phone and internet, mileage at 45p for the first 10,000 business miles, and training that maintains existing skills. The ones most often claimed wrongly are commuting, entertaining customers and clothes that could be worn outside work.

Questions

Locum Accountants: your questions answered

What does the £69 sole trader locum package include?

Monthly bookkeeping of all engagement income and expenses, reconciliation of pay statements and remittance advices, NHS pension contribution tracking, a monthly summary with the tax accruing, your Self Assessment with the self-employment and any employment pages prepared and filed, and payments on account calculated.

What does the £95 company package include?

Monthly bookkeeping, director payroll with RTI submissions, dividend paperwork, statutory accounts and CT600 filed, the confirmation statement filed (Companies House £50 fee separate), and deadline tracking. Your personal Self Assessment is added at the published £129 where needed, often necessary because of NHS employment income.

Should a locum work through a limited company?

It depends on the work. GP locum income is pensionable in the NHS scheme only when earned as an individual, so incorporating loses pension accrual on that income. Private work and some agency work suit a company better. Off-payroll rules apply to engagements with NHS bodies through your company. We run the comparison for your mix of work.

How does the NHS pension work for a GP locum?

Locum GPs pension their income through Locum Forms A and B, submitted to the pensions agency within ten weeks of the work, with employee contributions deducted and employer contributions paid by the practice or ICB. A Type 2 certificate reconciles the year. Missing the ten-week window loses the pension on that income. We track it.

What is the annual allowance and does it affect me?

The annual allowance limits tax-relieved pension growth to £60,000 a year, tapering down to £10,000 for those with adjusted income over £260,000 and threshold income over £200,000. NHS pension growth is measured on the increase in the promised pension, which can be large in a high-earning year. We check it and report any charge or scheme pays election.

What expenses can locums claim?

Professional indemnity insurance, registration fees to the GMC, GDC, GPhC or equivalent, exam fees and courses that maintain skills, medical equipment, professional subscriptions and journals, travel between placements (not ordinary commuting to a regular workplace), a proportion of home costs for administration, and accountancy. We review each category.

Is travel between practices claimable?

For a locum working at many different sites, travel from home to each temporary place of work is generally allowable because there is no permanent workplace. For a regular session at the same practice over a long period, that site may become a permanent workplace and the travel ordinary commuting. We assess each engagement pattern.

How do you handle a mix of NHS employment and locum work?

Employment income is taxed through PAYE and shown on the employment pages; locum income is self-employment on the self-employment pages. The return brings them together and your marginal rate applies to the combined figure. Payments on account are often triggered by locum income on top of employment. We reconcile all sources.

What is the annual-only option?

For £199 we prepare your Self Assessment from the records you keep yourself, including the reconciliation of your engagement income and pension contributions. It suits locums with a small number of regular engagements who are organised. If records are incomplete, the monthly package is usually better value.

Do locum pharmacists and dentists have the same pension issues?

Dental associates and performers pension their NHS earnings through the dental pension arrangements with annual reconciliation statements; locum pharmacists generally have no NHS pension on locum income. Each profession has its own regime and we handle the specific paperwork for yours.

I do private work alongside NHS sessions. How is that treated?

Private practice income is self-employment, not pensionable in the NHS scheme, and taxed with your other self-employed income. If the private work is substantial it may suit a limited company while the NHS locum work stays as a sole trader, and we advise on running both structures together.

Can you handle the NHS pension estimate of earnings and the Type 2 form?

Yes. The estimate of pensionable earnings submitted at the start of each year sets your contribution rate; the Type 2 certificate reconciles the actual figures after the year end and is due by the end of February. Both are prepared from the records we keep and submitted on your behalf.

Get locum accountants for a fixed fee

Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.

WhatsApp for a fixed quote