Accounts and Audit Services

Every business needs to prepare a set of accounts whether to file at Companies House, or report to HMRC. This is a compliance cost that every business has to suffer. Most accounting firms strive to do this as quickly and cheaply as possible, and see clients only once a year to sign them off.

Our approach is different. We use the process of doing your accounts as an opportunity to find ideas that will save you money, improve profitability, grow the business value and ultimately help us to pay for ourselves.

FCA Audits and Reporting

The companies act requires some companies to undertake a statutory audit based on certain size criteria. However there are many other organisations that also need an audit of some kind. Solicitors, financial advisors, letting agents and insurance brokers for example must provide annual reports to confirm compliance with their specific regulations.

SRA Audits

All Solicitors and Law firms who hold client money as part of their conveyancing or wills and probate service for example must complete a SRA Audit under the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

IBRC Audits

Some specific businesses will be required to report under the Insurance Brokers Registration Council. This specialised form of a financial audit must be done to strict guidelines and deadlines.

Accounts Review Meeting

In this review, we will not only identify any opportunities to add value within your accounts, but also plan any necessary adjustments for tax or commercial reasons. It is not just about the past, but also importantly the future so we will review with you the year ahead giving input and ideas on areas where improvements or savings can be made.

Pre year-end planning

Between 4 and 8 weeks before the end of your tax year, you will decide on whether we have a call, meet or virtually meet to provide an estimate of the tax liability and consider any planning opportunities in time to implement them before the year end. i.e. should you replace cars or machinery before or after the year end?

Annual Accounts Production

Whether a sole trader, Partnership, LLP or Company the annual accounts are usually prepared to a format required by law or to report effectively to HMRC. Our experienced team take your numbers and make sure they are correctly reported in the right format.

Statutory Audit

Some companies are required to undertake a statutory audit based on certain size criteria of assets, revenues and employee numbers. The rules determining whether an audit is required or not are complex, so if in any doubt, check with us.

Understanding of key issues within your financial accounts

Very few clients have been trained to read a set of financial accounts and to understand all of the key data they contain. Some ratios can be very misleading out of context, and it is critical for businesses to know what is really going on in order to make the right decisions.

Statutory Records

We will hold and maintain your statutory books and records and update them when necessary. This includes receiving all statutory notices from Companies House and acting on them on your behalf including the annual confirmation statement.

Bank Borrowing and Reporting

Many clients have some element of Bank borrowing and as a result they have an agreement with the bank on the terms of the loans or overdrafts. These can include covenants (conditions) regarding profitability, owners spending or other key data. We will prepare reports that calculate the covenants and manage any issues with the bank where these may not be being met.

Tailored ‘assurance reviews’ on key business areas

Many clients may be familiar with the audits that we perform on companies and other regulated bodies such as Law firms or Insurance brokers. These follow a prescribed process of checking work, looking at sample transactions to assess whether the reported information is likely to be correct or not.