The questions we get most often about how the practice works — fees, notice periods, tax handling, MTD for landlords, security, and where our scope starts and ends. If your question isn't here, ask.
You keep them. We are not a general accountancy practice — we handle the ongoing monthly financial management (bookkeeping, management accounts, cash flow, Virtual FD). Your existing accountant continues to handle tax returns, statutory accounts, and any specialist compliance. Every tax question we hit gets referred back to them. The two roles are complementary, not competing.
Only the parts covered by CIMA's scope — VAT return preparation, HMRC digital filing, PAYE calculation, monthly tax deadline tracking. Anything beyond that (Corporation Tax, personal Self Assessment, R&D claims, capital gains, structuring) is referred to a UK Chartered Accountancy firm we work with. That firm is regulated separately and picks up where our CIMA-supervised scope ends.
Xero. Every engagement runs on your existing (or newly set up) Xero connection. We are Xero Certified Advisors. Internally, we use our own practice management tools to run supervision, audit trails, and monthly assurance workflow — but that is invisible to you as a client. You keep control of your Xero at all times, and if you ever leave, you keep your data.
Yes. Our named geographic focus (Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire, Rutland) reflects where our in-person specialism sits. The actual bookkeeping and Virtual FD work runs on your Xero remotely, so we can serve UK SMEs anywhere. The sector specialisms (dental practices, solicitor firms, community pharmacies) 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 (£500/month) is the foundation — every transaction coded correctly, bank accounts reconciled, VAT return prepared and filed, monthly trial balance. Management Accounts (£750/month) add monthly P&L, balance sheet, KPI dashboard, and plain English commentary. Virtual Finance Director (£1,500/month) adds 13-week cash flow forecasting, tax calendar, monthly review call with Peter directly, and strategic input. Each tier includes everything below it.
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. If the scope changes materially, the fee changes and you sign off before anything happens. What you agree at engagement is what you pay for the year.
You get a written report in plain English, plus a 45-minute walkthrough call. That is yours to act on however you wish — take it to your existing accountant, keep it for reference, or engage us for ongoing support. 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. Roughly half the Health Checks we do result in no ongoing engagement — and that is fine.
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 run via SmartSearch. 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 for a Health Check.