Accounting

Accountants by industry

Small business accountants

An established small business has a predictable compliance cycle: bookkeeping every month, VAT every quarter if registered, payroll every pay period if there are staff, and accounts and tax returns every year, with a confirmation statement for companies. Traditionally each of these was billed separately, often by the hour, so the owner never quite knew what the accountant would cost and tended to avoid asking questions. Our small business packages replace that with one monthly fee covering the cycle the business actually has, a named contact who knows the file, and no charge for the conversations that prevent problems.

from £65/mo · fixed, per month

Next deadlines

  • VAT return and payment for the quarter that ended last month
  • PAYE and National Insurance for last month paid to HMRC (electronic)
  • VAT return and payment for the quarter that ended last month
  • PAYE and National Insurance for last month paid to HMRC (electronic)

Fees

Packages, fixed and published

£65/mo

Core: accounts, tax, bookkeeping

£125/mo

Complete: core + VAT + payroll (up to 5)

£185/mo

Premium: complete + quarterly management accounts

£99

Switching health check (one-off, refunded if you join)

Who this is for

Small Business Accountants

Established owner-managed businesses in the UK with turnover roughly between £50,000 and £1 million: shops and cafes, trades and building firms, agencies and consultancies, workshops and small manufacturers, professional practices, franchisees, and family companies with a handful of staff, trading as sole traders, partnerships or limited companies.

What is included

Inside the fixed fee

  • Monthly bookkeeping with bank feeds and receipt capture, reconciled and summarised each month
  • Annual accounts and Corporation Tax return, or sole trader accounts and Self Assessment, prepared and filed
  • Quarterly VAT returns and payroll for up to five staff in the Complete package
  • Quarterly management accounts with commentary in the Premium package
  • A named contact who knows your business and answers questions without a clock running
  • Switching health check: a one-off review of your current setup, refunded if you join

In detail

How small business accountants works

Core at £65 a month covers bookkeeping, the monthly summary, the annual accounts and tax return and the confirmation statement, for businesses up to around 150 transactions a month that are not VAT registered and have no staff. Complete at £125 adds quarterly VAT returns and payroll for up to five employees at any frequency, with auto-enrolment handled. Premium at £185 adds quarterly management accounts with a written commentary and the KPIs that matter for your business, so the owner sees current numbers four times a year rather than a historic set once. Businesses outside these bands are quoted a fixed monthly fee before joining, and the only extras are Companies House fees at cost, the software subscription in your own name and any separate advisory product you choose.

Switching is the moment most owners hesitate, and the health check exists to make it a decision rather than a leap. For £99, refunded in the first month if you join, we review the current accounts and returns, the VAT position and scheme, the payroll setup, the software and the way records are kept, and report in writing what is right, what is wrong and what it is costing. Common findings are a VAT scheme that stopped suiting the business years ago, capital allowances never claimed, a director's loan account nobody mentioned, and a confirmation statement filed late every year. When you do switch, we request professional clearance and your records from the outgoing accountant, who must provide them, and pick up the work with no gap.

The service is delivered entirely online and works the same for a cafe in one town and a joinery workshop in another. Bank feeds supply the transactions; receipts, invoices and till reports come by WhatsApp or email; payslips go to staff electronically; VAT returns and accounts go to you for approval before filing; and the monthly summary arrives in the first week of each month showing income, costs, cash and what is owed to HMRC so far. Cash businesses get a simple daily routine for takings and bankings, because HMRC looks hardest at them. Partnerships and LLPs are handled under their own rules, with the partnership return in the package and each partner's personal return at the published fee.

What makes the packages work is the absence of a clock. Owners ask about taking on staff, buying a van, changing VAT scheme or paying themselves differently before they do it, because asking costs nothing, and the answer is usually quick. Where a question becomes a piece of work in its own right, a tax planning review, a cash-flow forecast or a full management accounts service, we say so and quote it as a fixed-fee product. The monthly fee stays what it was when you joined unless the business changes shape, in which case we tell you before the price does. Leaving takes one month's notice, with your records and software access handed over promptly.

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

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.

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.

Allowable expenses

Expense claims are where a return is won or lost in an enquiry. The test is wholly and exclusively for the trade; where a cost is mixed, the business proportion can be claimed if it can be identified. Capital items such as equipment and vans are relieved through capital allowances rather than as expenses, except under the cash basis where they are simply deducted when paid.

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

Small side incomes are covered by two £1,000 allowances, one for trading and one for property, which remove the need to register or report income below that level. Once income exceeds £1,000, the allowance can be used in place of expenses, a choice worth making deliberately: a freelancer with £900 of costs is better off with the allowance, one with £3,000 is not.

Questions

Small Business Accountants: your questions answered

What is in the £65 Core package?

Monthly bookkeeping from your bank feeds with receipts captured by phone, a monthly summary, your annual accounts and tax return (Corporation Tax and CT600 for a company, Self Assessment for a sole trader), the confirmation statement for a company (Companies House £50 fee separate), and deadline tracking with reminders. Transaction volume up to around 150 a month.

When do I need Complete?

When you are VAT registered or employ staff. Complete at £125 adds quarterly VAT returns and payroll for up to five employees including auto-enrolment, so the quarterly and monthly cycles are handled alongside the annual ones. Businesses with more staff or higher transaction volumes are quoted a fixed fee before joining.

What do management accounts add?

The Premium package at £185 delivers quarterly profit and loss, balance sheet and a written commentary on what moved and why, with the KPIs agreed for your business. It turns the bookkeeping into decision-making information rather than a filing input. Monthly management accounts are available through our advisory service.

What is the switching health check?

For £99 we review your current accounts, tax returns, VAT position, payroll setup and software, and give you a written report of what is right, what is wrong and what it is costing you. If you then join a package the £99 is refunded in your first month. If you do not, you keep the report.

How does switching from my current accountant work?

You authorise us, we write to your current accountant for professional clearance and your records, and they are obliged to hand over your own documents. Most do within two weeks. We pick up the bookkeeping where they left off and take over the next filing. There is no charge for the switch.

Do you charge for phone calls and questions?

No. The monthly fee covers questions during the year. We would rather you ask before making a decision than pay us to unpick it afterwards. Formal advisory work, such as a tax planning review or a cash-flow forecast, is a separate fixed-fee product and we tell you when something falls into that category.

Can you handle a partnership?

Yes. Partnerships need a partnership tax return showing the profit split and each partner's own Self Assessment. The Core package covers the partnership return and bookkeeping; each partner's personal return is added at the published £129. LLPs follow company-style accounts rules and we handle those too.

What if my transaction volume is higher than the package covers?

We check the volume from your bank statements before quoting and tell you the right band. If the business grows and the volume increases, we review quarterly and adjust from the next month with notice. There is no back-charging for a busy period.

Do I pay extra at year end?

No. The annual accounts and tax return are included in the monthly fee. The only additional costs are Companies House fees passed on at cost, your software subscription billed directly to you, and any separate advisory product you choose to buy.

Can my staff's payroll be weekly?

Yes. The Complete package covers payroll for up to five employees at any frequency, weekly, fortnightly or monthly, with payslips, RTI submissions, pension contributions and the monthly payment note to HMRC. Starters, leavers and statutory payments are included.

How do you work with a business that takes cash?

Cash takings are recorded from your till reports or daily summaries and reconciled to bankings, with the difference explained. HMRC pays particular attention to cash businesses, so clear records matter. We set up a simple daily routine and review it monthly for gaps.

What happens if I want to leave?

One month's notice. We complete any filing already in progress at the agreed fee, hand over your records and software access promptly, and provide professional clearance to your new accountant. Your software subscription is in your name so your data goes with you.

Where

Small Business Accountants across the UK

This service has a local page for the 1,680 larger towns and cities we cover, and is delivered nationally everywhere else. A selection:

England: Central London · East London · East Midlands · East of England · M25 Fringe · North East · North East London · North London · North West · North West London · South East · South East London · South London · South West · South West London · West London · West Midlands · Yorkshire

Scotland: Scotland

Wales: Wales

Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland

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Get small business accountants for a fixed fee

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