Day-rate and project income tracked
Income properly recorded and reconciled, whichever way you bill, so you know what each engagement actually returned.
Consultants
Accounting for consultants.
Consulting income tends to arrive in lumps — a day-rate engagement here, a fixed-price project there — with expense claims and travel costs mixed in throughout. On top of that sits one decision most consultants face early on: whether to operate as a sole trader or set up a limited company. Buzz works with consultants who want straightforward numbers and a clear answer to that question, not vague advice.
Day rates and projects need to be tracked properly
Whether you're billing by the day or quoting a fixed project fee, it's easy for income to become a blur of invoices with no clear view of what each engagement actually returned once expenses are accounted for. Proper bookkeeping keeps that visible, so you know which clients and which types of work are genuinely worth your time.
What consultants need from an accountant
Support built around how consulting income actually works
Expense claims handled properly
Travel, subsistence and client-related costs claimed correctly, so nothing's missed and nothing's claimed that shouldn't be.
Sole trader vs limited company
Straightforward guidance on which structure suits you at your current income level. See our sole trader vs limited company guide for the full breakdown.
Clear profitability by engagement
Reporting that shows what's actually left once expenses and costs are accounted for, engagement by engagement.
A dedicated accountant
Someone who understands consulting income and can talk it through properly, not a generic small business script.
One fixed monthly fee
No hidden extras and no surprise bills, whatever your billing pattern looks like month to month.
FreeAgent included
One place for day rates, projects and expenses
FreeAgent is included as part of your package, worth up to £330 a year, so invoicing, expense tracking and income all sit in one place — far less admin than spreadsheets and scattered receipts, whichever business structure you operate under.
Who this is for
Built for consultants who want a straight answer
- Consultants and management consultants working day-rate or project engagements
- Anyone deciding between sole trader and limited company status
- Consultants who want expense claims handled properly and correctly
- Independent consultants who want to know which clients are genuinely profitable
- Anyone who wants fixed monthly fees instead of a bill that varies with workload
Frequently asked questions
Common questions from consultants
How much does it cost?
A fixed monthly figure agreed in writing after a 30-minute discovery call. Consulting is usually one of the simpler engagements — modest transaction volume, few or no staff — so the quote is straightforward, and the variables are whether you are VAT registered, whether you run a company or trade as a sole trader, and whether there is any payroll. FreeAgent is included, worth up to £330 a year. There is no hourly charge for questions, which matters when a structure decision comes up mid-year.
Sole trader or limited company — which should I be?
Start as a sole trader unless something specific points the other way, and revisit it annually. The tax gap is narrower than it used to be once Corporation Tax at 19% to 25% and dividend rates are counted, and a company adds public accounts, payroll, filings and cost. What genuinely pushes towards incorporation: profits consistently above what you need to draw, clients who will only contract with a company, and liability you want ring-fenced. What does not: the assumption that it automatically saves tax. See the comparison guide.
Is my income lumpy enough to be a problem?
Almost certainly, and the fix is a reserve rather than a forecast. Consulting income arrives in blocks — a three-month engagement, then a gap — while tax, VAT and drawings arrive on a schedule that does not care. The discipline that works is moving a fixed percentage of every payment received into a separate tax account the day it lands, plus a buffer of two to three months of personal costs. That single habit prevents most of the cash crises we see in one-person consultancies, and it costs nothing to implement.
What expenses can I actually claim?
Professional subscriptions and indemnity insurance, equipment and software, training that maintains existing skills, accountancy fees, and the business proportion of home working and phone. The two that get challenged most are travel and subsistence, where journeys to a client that has become your normal place of work are commuting rather than business travel, and training that develops a genuinely new skill rather than maintaining an existing one — the latter is often treated as capital and disallowed. Keep the records digitally as you go.
Should I register for VAT?
Compulsory over £90,000 of rolling twelve-month turnover, which most full-time consultants cross. Below that, voluntary registration makes sense when your clients are VAT-registered businesses that reclaim it anyway, because you then recover VAT on your own costs. If you advise charities, small unregistered businesses or individuals, it makes you 20% more expensive. Check the Flat Rate Scheme carefully rather than assuming it saves money — consultants usually fall foul of the limited cost trader rule and end up on 16.5%, which removes most of the benefit.
What if I am working through my own company for one main client?
Then IR35 needs looking at properly, because a single long-term client with fixed hours and integration into their organisation is the pattern that attracts scrutiny. Status depends on control, substitution, mutuality of obligation and financial risk rather than on your job title or the fact you invoice. For medium and large private-sector clients and all public-sector bodies, they issue a Status Determination Statement, which you can challenge. Get the contract and the working practices reviewed before signing rather than after the determination arrives.
Accreditations & Partnerships
