Accountants for independent professionals and freelance creatives
Your income depends on your day rate and how many days somebody pays for. We track both, work out what to set aside for tax, chase your invoices and finish your return months before January.
Call or WhatsApp 07476 989568
Effective day rate after non-billable days
When the business is one person’s time and judgement, capacity is fixed and income varies. A quiet month cannot be made up later, and the two things you can change are your price and how much of your time reaches a paying client.
A £600 day rate across a working year
Two hundred and thirty working days in the year after weekends, holiday and bank holidays. The question is how many of them somebody pays for.
158 days billable72 days lost to sales, admin, invoicing, proposals and training
- Working days available
- 230
- Days lost to sales, admin, invoicing, proposals and training
- −72
- Days actually billable
- 158
- At £600 a day
- £94,800
- Utilisation, 158 of 230
- 69%
Your income is built on the £412 figure. Ten more billable days add £6,000, and a £50 rate rise on the same utilisation adds £7,900.
Most independents discover they are at 55–65% and had assumed 80%, which explains the gap between the day rate they quote and the income they see.
Worked through at 2026/27 rates from our own calculators, which follow gov.uk guidance checked in July 2026. This is an example and your figures will differ.
Payments on account in year two
The first profitable year produces a tax bill and then, in the same January, the first payment on account of the next year. That is 150% of the tax in one go. We tell you the figure a year ahead so you can set the money aside.
It is timing rather than a penalty. If income has genuinely fallen you can apply to reduce the payments, within limits.
Of turnover, typically, to keep back for tax. Move a fixed percentage of every receipt into a separate tax account the day it lands, and the January bill is already covered when it arrives.
Tax dates for independents
- 6 AprilNew tax year. Everything invoiced from here belongs to the next return.
- Every monthBillable days counted.
- 5 OctoberRegister for Self Assessment in your first year.
- 31 JanuaryReturn, balancing payment and first payment on account.
- 31 JulySecond payment on account.
- April 2026 onwardsQuarterly MTD updates once qualifying income is over £50,000.
Source: gov.uk Self Assessment and Making Tax Digital guidance, checked July 2026. See key tax dates.
Making Tax Digital for sole traders
Sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over these figures move to quarterly digital reporting.
Sole trader or limited company
There is a level of profit above which a company is usually better, and it is lower than most people assume once you account for what you actually need to draw. Against that: more filing, more scrutiny, money that is no longer yours to take freely, and a cost to unwind it.
We model both on what you need to draw, and the tax side is mostly about timing: money that arrives in lumps against bills that arrive monthly, the first payment on account, and from April 2026 quarterly reporting under Making Tax Digital.
What we do for independents
Utilisation and effective rate
Billable days and your effective day rate tracked each month.
A set-aside percentage
Worked from your own figures, so the January bill is covered.
Invoices raised and chased
From the same place the bookkeeping lives, with automatic reminders.
The return, finished early
With the figure and both payment dates in writing, months before January.
Sole trader or limited company
Modelled on what you need to draw.
Making Tax Digital
Digital records and quarterly updates from the year it applies to you.
Questions from freelancers and independents
How much does it cost?
Accounts and tax start at £29 + VAT a month for a sole trader and £49 + VAT for a limited company, the fee rises with turnover, and the instant quote shows yours in four questions. For most freelance creatives the engagement is straightforward (bookkeeping, the self assessment return, VAT if you are registered), so the quote is simple and the drivers are transaction volume and whether you operate as a sole trader or through a company. FreeAgent is included, worth up to £330 a year. Questions are covered by the monthly fee.
How do I handle income that swings wildly month to month?
Move a fixed percentage of every payment received into a separate tax account on the day it lands, and hold a buffer of two to three months of personal costs on top. Tax, VAT and rent fall due on fixed dates whatever your income was that month.
What can I claim for kit, software and workspace?
Equipment such as cameras, computers and instruments, software subscriptions, professional insurance, portfolio and website costs, and the business proportion of home working. Where kit is used privately as well, claim the business proportion on a defensible basis rather than a round number. Co-working memberships and studio hire are allowable. Everyday clothing is not, even for on-camera work. Training that maintains an existing skill is generally allowable; training that qualifies you in something new is often treated as capital and disallowed.
Who owns the copyright in work I deliver?
You do, by default, unless you have assigned it in writing. A licence and an assignment are different things: a licence lets the client use the work on agreed terms, an assignment hands ownership over permanently. Decide deliberately which you are selling and price accordingly, because a full assignment is worth more than a limited licence. Get it in your terms rather than arguing about it after delivery. See legal services.
What do I do about clients who pay late?
Put terms in writing before you start, invoice the day the work is delivered, and chase on a schedule rather than when you notice. You are entitled to statutory interest and fixed compensation on late commercial payments, and stating that on the invoice often gets invoices paid sooner. For clients who are repeatedly late, ask for a deposit up front or staged payments.
Get a quote
Sole traderFrom £29+ VAT a month
Limited companyFrom £49+ VAT a month
Accounts and tax. Answer four questions to see the monthly fee. The full proposal is emailed to you.
Call or WhatsApp 07476 989568 or email hello@buzzaccounting.co.uk
When the work grows
Business PulseAn annual budget, a rolling 12-month cash flow forecast, management accounts and a review meeting every month or quarter. From £375 + VAT a month, on top of your accounts fee. Outsourced finance teamBookkeeping, payroll, VAT, customer invoicing and month-end, done for you in Xero. From £750 + VAT a month. Part-time finance directorPeter Allen as your fractional finance director: an annual plan, a cash flow forecast, a KPI dashboard and a quarterly board meeting. From £2,000 + VAT a month.Accreditations and partnerships
