Individuals setting up a business as a consultant face a challenge in getting good advice. They are well aware that their accountancy requirements are very simple but their tax planning is more challenging because they are high earners. The better traditional firms of accountants usually delegate such simple accounting to the trainees in their team - so you do not get proper advice but pay a high fee. However, if you go to a much cheaper firm then they don't usually have the expertise to deal with your more complicated tax affairs.
Our team has unrivalled expertise in dealing with consultants of many kinds. Typically they are clients with relatively high earnings who understand that their accounting may be very simple, but they want to get the quality tax advice that they need. We have built a team with unrivalled expertise in dealing with consultants e.g. management consultants, biotech and scientific advisers etc. Many have been linked directly or indirectly to Cambridge University which has a very open attitude to its academics undertaking outside commercial work. Central to our strategy is that we help you keep the costs for routine accountancy work to a minimum with our online accounting software. Launched in 2003 it was a UK leader in web based accounting and has recently been updated to be fully compliant with Making Tax Digital. We then supplement this accountancy service with regular advice on tax and finance.
These days almost all consultants operate through a limited company - and they need to be very aware of the risks associated with IR35 if they do significant work for one client. Full time tax specialists work alongside accountants to ensure that you get the best advice so that you don't need to pay any more tax liability than you are supposed to.