The questions we get most often about how the practice works — fees, notice periods, software, what tax we do and don't do, security, and where our scope starts and ends. If your question isn't here, ask.
Many clients keep them, and that works perfectly well. We handle the ongoing monthly financial management — bookkeeping, VAT, management accounts, cash flow, Virtual FD — and we can also prepare statutory accounts and Corporation Tax returns for small and micro-entity companies.
If you would rather your existing accountant kept the year-end work, we simply work alongside them. If you would rather consolidate, we can take both.
Yes, within a defined scope. We prepare VAT returns and file under Making Tax Digital, calculate PAYE, and prepare statutory accounts and Corporation Tax returns for small and micro-entity companies.
Outside that scope — personal Self Assessment, groups, R&D claims, capital gains, and tax planning or structuring — we refer to a specialist firm rather than attempt it. Knowing where that line falls is part of the service.
Xero is the default, and we work as a Xero Partner practice, so most engagements run on your existing Xero connection.
We also work on Sage 50 and Sage 200 — ten years of running both in industry — so if your business is already on Sage, there is nothing to migrate. And where a business genuinely needs stock, bills of materials, project accounting or multi-company handling, staying on Sage 200 is often the better answer, and we will tell you so rather than sell you a migration. See Sage 200 and Sage 50 support.
You keep control of your own file at all times, and if you ever leave, you keep your data.
Payroll runs alongside a bookkeeping engagement rather than as a standalone bureau service. That covers processing, RTI submissions to HMRC on or before payday, auto-enrolment assessment and pension uploads, statutory sick, maternity and paternity pay, starters and leavers, and year-end P60s — on Sage Payroll or Xero Payroll, depending on what you already run.
P11D benefits reporting, PAYE settlement agreements and employment status or IR35 determinations sit outside our scope and are referred out.
No — and that is deliberate. We work remotely and do not run a public office, which keeps overheads out of the fee rather than in it.
Where meeting in person matters — a first conversation, a difficult year end, or a decision that should not happen over email — we come to you. Everything else runs on your existing accounting software, so nobody needs to drive anywhere.
Yes. Our named focus — Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Rutland, Lincolnshire and Hertfordshire — reflects where we can meet in person; see where we work for the towns we cover. The actual work runs remotely, so we can serve UK SMEs anywhere. The sector specialisms apply nationally.
One calendar month, either side. Fixed monthly fees are billed monthly in advance via GoCardless. If you decide to leave, you give us a month's notice and pay for the notice period — no exit fees, no data lock-in, no penalty. If we ever need to end the engagement, we give you the same.
MTD for Income Tax quarterly submissions are not what our managed bookkeeping service is built for — those clients typically need a much lighter-touch software product rather than full CIMA-supervised bookkeeping. We built SheetMTD for exactly that use case: a Google Sheets add-on for MTD for Income Tax. Free record-keeping template with HMRC-matched categories, plus £24.99 a year for quarterly HMRC filing. If you are a limited company or want managed bookkeeping, our main practice service is the right fit.
Bookkeeping is the foundation — every transaction coded correctly, bank accounts reconciled, VAT return prepared and filed, monthly trial balance. That starts at £195 + VAT per month. Management Accounts add a monthly P&L, balance sheet, KPI dashboard and plain English commentary. Virtual Finance Director adds 13-week cash flow forecasting, budgeting, board or lender reporting, a monthly review call and strategic input. Each tier includes everything below it, and everything above bookkeeping is quoted after the free initial review.
Fixed monthly fee, agreed upfront, billed via GoCardless direct debit. No timesheets. No hourly rate. No "we spent an extra three hours this month" invoices. Bookkeeping carries a published starting fee because the scope is defined. Everything else is quoted after the initial review, then fixed — quoting it blind would either overcharge you or commit us to work we have not seen. If the scope changes materially, the fee changes and you sign off before anything happens. For context on the market, see what bookkeeping costs in the UK.
Peter Edwards personally. Every piece of accounting work — transaction coding, reconciliations, VAT, management accounts, statutory accounts — is done by the CIMA-qualified accountant. Not delegated to a junior, not offshored.
Tamara Edwards handles the commercial side of the practice: engagement terms, contracts, onboarding and administration. She does not work on client accounts. The division is deliberate — it is what allows a one-accountant practice to promise that the person preparing your numbers is the one who explains them.
You get a written view in plain English and a walkthrough call. That is yours to act on however you wish — take it to your existing accountant, keep it for reference, or engage us. There is no obligation. If there is a clear case for engagement, we will say so; if there is not, we will also say so.
We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO ZC108683). Every client signs a Data Processing Agreement before work commences. Anti-Money Laundering checks are carried out electronically through a regulated identity verification provider before any engagement begins. All client working papers and communications are held in an access-controlled environment with two-factor authentication. Peter is CIMA-supervised, which means every decision made on your accounts is auditable and traceable to a published accounting standard.
The fastest way to get a specific question answered is the free 30-minute discovery call. Bring anything — pricing, scope, whether you are a fit, what to prepare.