Accountants for small businesses
We run your payroll and pensions, watch the VAT threshold, produce monthly management figures and track every filing, for businesses taking on staff or approaching VAT registration.
Call or WhatsApp 07476 989568
What a new hire costs before their first day
Once somebody else depends on being paid on the 25th, you have a payroll, a pension scheme, employment law and a fixed cost every month.
- Employer’s National Insurance, 15% above £5,000
- £3,750
- Employer pension, 3% of qualifying earnings
- £713
- Cash cost before anything else
- £34,463
About 15% on top of the salary before you count a laptop or a single unproductive week. Equipment, a phone, software, workspace and the recruitment itself all come on top.
Where the employment allowance is still available it can wipe out up to £10,500 of the National Insurance across the whole payroll, but never for a company whose only employee is its sole director.
A business that already employs people, so the employment allowance is already used up against the existing payroll. 2026/27 rates.
Crossing the VAT threshold
Crossing £90,000 of rolling turnover means nine filings a year instead of one, and a decision about whether the price goes up by a fifth or your margin comes down by a fifth. Make that decision before you cross the threshold.
The test runs on any rolling twelve-month period, so your financial year does not come into it. Registration is due within 30 days. Cross it unknowingly and you owe VAT on sales you never charged it on.
£10,000 below the threshold.
Tax dates for a business with staff
Payroll deadlines fall on every payday, all year round.
Every month
Every payday
Full Payment Submission to HMRC, on or before the day people are paid.
22nd
PAYE and National Insurance paid over to HMRC.
22nd
Pension contributions taken from last month’s pay reach the scheme.
Every quarter
VAT
Return and payment, one month and seven days after the period ends.
PAYE, for a small payroll
If the PAYE bill averages under £1,500 a month, HMRC lets you pay quarterly instead, on 22 July, 22 October, 22 January and 22 April.
Every year
31 May
P60s to everyone employed at 5 April.
6 July
P11D for expenses and benefits, with the Class 1A NI due on 22 July.
Your year end
Accounts, corporation tax and the confirmation statement, all measured from it.
Source: gov.uk PAYE, VAT and Corporation Tax deadline guidance, checked July 2026.
Four common small business mistakes
The first hire costed on salary alone
Employer’s National Insurance, the pension, holiday, sick cover, equipment and the recruitment itself are all real costs on top of the salary.
Holiday pay for irregular hours
Getting it wrong across a team of ten is an expensive mistake that usually surfaces when somebody leaves and adds up what they were owed.
Pricing set once and never revisited
Wage costs, materials and overheads have all moved. A day rate or a price list from three years ago erodes margin, and the annual accounts show it only after a full year.
Nobody looking at the debtors
The list of who owes you is the fastest source of cash in most small businesses. It is only accurate if the books are current.
What we do for small businesses
We set up payroll and pensions before the first payday, and plan VAT registration before you cross the threshold.
Payroll and pensions run
Weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly or monthly. RTI filed on or before payday, auto-enrolment handled, P60s and P11Ds done.
VAT, before you cross it
The rolling twelve months watched, the scheme chosen deliberately, and the returns reconciled rather than estimated.
Monthly management figures
Margin, cash and who owes you what, current enough to act on. See management accounts.
A hire costed properly
What it really costs and what the business has to bill to carry it, worked out before you advertise.
Pricing looked at
Margin by product, service or job, so a price rise is a decision with a number attached.
Every filing tracked
Accounts, corporation tax, VAT, payroll and the confirmation statement, all in one place with your deadlines on it.
Finance help as the business grows
Business Pulse
From £375
+ VAT a month, on top of your accounts fee
An annual budget, a rolling 12-month cash flow forecast, management accounts and a review meeting every month or quarter.
How Business Pulse worksOutsourced finance team
From £750
+ VAT a month
Bookkeeping, payroll, VAT, customer invoicing and month-end, done for you in Xero.
How the finance team worksPart-time finance director
From £2,000
+ VAT a month
Peter Allen as your fractional finance director: an annual plan, a cash flow forecast, a KPI dashboard and a quarterly board meeting.
How the finance director worksWhat people ask us
Anything else, book a free call.
How much does it cost for a small business?
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, payroll is added from £25 + VAT a month and CIS from £30 + VAT, and each extra company is priced on its own. The instant quote shows your monthly fee in four questions, and the fee is fixed once agreed. FreeAgent is included, worth up to £330 a year, and questions are covered by the fee.
At what point does a small business need more than year-end accounts?
When you start making decisions that cannot wait for the annual accounts: hiring, pricing, borrowing, taking on premises or stock. Year-end accounts arrive months after the period they describe and are built for HMRC and Companies House. Once there are people to pay and cash to time, you want monthly or quarterly management accounts and a rolling cash forecast. If you are a one-person business with predictable income and no staff, monthly reporting is usually not worth the cost.
Do we get one accountant, or whoever picks up the phone?
A named accountant who knows the business, with a team behind them so the work carries on when one person is on holiday. Production runs in small pods where a senior reviews what a producer prepares, so errors are caught before the work reaches you or HMRC. See the team.
What is included, and where does the fee stop?
The recurring compliance work: bookkeeping, VAT, payroll at the agreed headcount, year-end accounts, the tax return and Companies House filings, all listed line by line in your proposal. Outside it: catch-up work on unfiled years, HMRC enquiries, restructures, valuations, audits, and regulated financial or legal advice. Those are quoted when they arise, so the monthly fee covers only the work you need every month. Advisory work, such as management accounts, forecasting, planning and coaching, is priced separately too, so you pay for it only when you need it.
Can you handle VAT and payroll as we grow?
Yes, and the growth points are the parts worth planning for. VAT registration is compulsory once taxable turnover passes £90,000 on a rolling twelve-month basis, or when you expect to pass it within thirty days. The rolling test catches people because it ignores your accounting year. Payroll brings RTI submissions every pay run, auto-enrolment assessment, and pension duties that carry their own penalties. Both are cheaper to set up before you need them than to backdate afterwards, and registering for VAT late can mean paying HMRC tax you never charged your customers.
Will you tell us if we have outgrown the package?
Yes. The usual signs are a finance job that has quietly become someone’s second full-time role, a bank balance nobody trusts as a guide to what is spendable, or decisions being made on last year’s figures. At that point the answer is either an outsourced finance team level or your own bookkeeper with us handling month-end and compliance on top. For most businesses under about £2m of turnover, outsourcing is cheaper for the same output; above that it becomes a genuine judgement call and we will say so.
How do we switch without disrupting VAT and payroll?
We time the handover around your VAT and payroll cycles. Practically: professional clearance and records requested from your current accountant, HMRC agent authorisation put in place, software and bank feeds set up, then a switch-over date chosen so no VAT return or pay run falls in the gap. Year-to-date payroll figures come across so nothing is double-counted or lost. Most handovers complete within a couple of weeks, and the hold-up is nearly always the outgoing firm’s reply. We send the clearance letter to your current accountant.
What if we have several companies, or a group?
Yes, we work with groups. Several companies change the pricing and the tax position, and the service is the same. Each entity needs its own accounts, return and filings, so the fee reflects the number of entities. On tax, the point people miss is associated companies: the £50,000 and £250,000 Corporation Tax thresholds are divided between them, so two companies each making £40,000 do not both get the small profits rate. Intercompany balances, recharges and any group VAT registration all need deliberate treatment. Bring the whole structure to the free call, including every company in it.
See what it would cost you
Answer four questions to see the monthly fee, and we email you the full proposal.
Call or WhatsApp 07476 989568 or email hello@buzzaccounting.co.uk
Accreditations and partnerships
