Before you call, read this.

We do almost all of it. Once you've told us you'd like to move, we write to your previous accountant for a simple handover (called "professional clearance") and pick up your records from there. You don't need the awkward conversation or the paperwork chase, and there's no gap where nothing's being looked after.

Making Tax Digital (MTD) is HMRC's requirement to keep digital records and file returns through approved software rather than paper or a plain spreadsheet. It already applies to VAT-registered businesses, and is being extended to income tax for self-employed people and landlords above a turnover threshold. If it applies to you, we set the software up and it becomes part of the fixed monthly fee, not an extra project.

At a minimum: the company registered at Companies House, a business bank account kept separate from your personal one, payroll set up if you're taking a salary, and a plan for salary versus dividends. We handle the registration and the ongoing filing, and talk you through the split on the free first call using your real numbers, not a rule of thumb.

It depends which one. Self-assessment carries an automatic £100 penalty the day after 31 January, rising the longer it's outstanding, plus interest on any tax owed. Companies House and VAT deadlines carry their own separate penalties. The deadline rail on the homepage exists so none of that ever becomes a surprise.

One number, agreed before we start, covering the work we've scoped together — bookkeeping, accounts, returns and reasonable ad-hoc questions. It's set from your turnover and complexity on the free first call, reviewed once a year, and doesn't move mid-year just because you rang us more than usual.

For a company owner it's usually a mix of both, and the right split depends on your profit, your other income and what you need to draw. The calculator on the homepage shows the tax and National Insurance either way as a starting illustration — the real answer needs a proper look at your numbers, which is what the free first call is for.