Limited Company Accountants in London

The cost of an accountant for a limited company in London varies significantly depending on the firm type, services included, and billing model. A traditional high-street London accounting firm typically charges £200–£400 per month for a standard limited company engagement, with additional hourly charges for queries, VAT returns, and payroll. Generic online accounting services offer lower prices but often with minimal human support. AccFirm provides a fully inclusive limited company accounting service at £100–£280 per month depending on your turnover, employee count, and services required with all services included, no hourly charges, and a dedicated named accountant. Contact us for a free, written quote based on your company’s specific requirements.

A specialist limited company accountant manages the complete compliance and tax position of your company including preparing and filing your annual statutory accounts with Companies House, filing your Corporation Tax return (CT600) with HMRC, managing your quarterly VAT returns, running monthly payroll and RTI submissions, maintaining your bookkeeping records, advising on salary and dividend structure, filing your director’s Self-Assessment tax return, and handling all HMRC and Companies House correspondence on your behalf. AccFirm limited company accountants go beyond compliance by proactively planning your tax position throughout the year not just at year end.

The UK Corporation Tax rate for the 2025/26 financial year is 19% for companies with annual profits up to £50,000 (the small profits rate) and 25% for companies with profits above £250,000 (the main rate). Companies with profits between £50,000 and £250,000 benefit from marginal relief, which tapers the effective rate between 19% and 25%. For a company with £100,000 of profit, the effective rate with marginal relief is approximately 22.75%. AccFirm calculates the exact Corporation Tax position for every client and identifies every legitimate deduction to minimise the amount payable.

The most tax-efficient approach for most limited company directors is to pay a salary at or around the National Insurance secondary threshold (£9,100 for 2025/26) which maintains your state pension entitlement without triggering employer National Insurance and then extract the remainder of your required income as dividends from company profits after Corporation Tax. Dividends are taxed at lower rates than salary income (8.75% at basic rate vs 20% Income Tax) and are not subject to National Insurance contributions. AccFirm limited company accountant reviews and optimises this structure annually for every client, saving most directors between £3,000 and £11,000 per year compared to taking equivalent income as salary.

UK limited companies can deduct a wide range of allowable expenses from their taxable profits reducing the amount of Corporation Tax payable. Key categories include director and employee salaries and wages, employer pension contributions (fully deductible), equipment and technology (via Annual Investment Allowance for 100% deduction in year of purchase), home office expenses for directors working from home, professional subscriptions and memberships, accountancy and legal fees, motor expenses (business proportion), marketing and advertising, and professional indemnity insurance. AccFirm limited company accounting services include a thorough review of all expense categories to ensure nothing legitimate is missed.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD for ITSA) requires individuals with total income above £50,000 including limited company directors receiving salary and dividends to maintain digital financial records and submit quarterly updates to HMRC from April 2026, in addition to their annual Self-Assessment return. This affects the personal tax obligations of most full-time London limited company directors, not the company’s own Corporation Tax filings. AccFirm is already preparing all limited company director clients for MTD for ITSA ensuring their bookkeeping is digitally structured and their quarterly submissions will be seamless when the mandate takes effect.

Yes. R&D Tax Credits are one of the most valuable and most underused reliefs available to UK limited companies. If your company is carrying out qualifying research and development developing new products, software, processes, or making meaningful improvements to existing technology you may be entitled to claim an enhanced Corporation Tax deduction of up to 186% of qualifying expenditure (under the SME scheme) or a cash payment from HMRC. AccFirm assesses R&D eligibility for all technology, engineering, software, and innovation-focused limited company clients and prepares claims where appropriate. Many London limited companies that would benefit from R&D Tax Credits have never been told by their previous limited company accountant that they qualify.

UK limited companies have several key annual deadlines: statutory accounts must be filed with Companies House within 9 months of the accounting year end; the Corporation Tax return (CT600) must be filed with HMRC within 12 months of the year end; Corporation Tax must be paid within 9 months and 1 day of the year end; the annual confirmation statement must be filed with Companies House within 14 days of the anniversary of incorporation (or last filing); the director’s Self-Assessment tax return is due by 31 January each year; and VAT returns are due quarterly (1 month and 7 days after each VAT period end). AccFirm monitors every deadline for every limited company client and files all returns well in advance ensuring no late filing penalty is ever incurred.