A small limited company faces the same deadlines as a large one, with far fewer hands to manage them. Accounts at Companies House, corporation tax, payroll, VAT and your personal return all arrive every year without fail.
We act as the finance team for small companies across the UK, handling the whole cycle, keeping you compliant and making sure your pay is structured efficiently.
The tax challenges small limited companies face
- Several deadlines across Companies House and HMRC
- Structuring director salary and dividends efficiently
- Keeping bookkeeping, VAT and payroll all in order
- Understanding what you can take out of the company
- Staying compliant without a finance team
What we help with
- Year end accounts and corporation tax (CT600)
- Filing with Companies House and HMRC
- Director Self Assessment and pay planning
- Payroll and VAT where needed
- Bookkeeping kept current
- Reminders for every deadline and payment
Common mistakes to avoid
Useful tax tips
- Keep company and personal money completely separate
- Review your salary and dividend mix every year
- Set aside corporation tax as you go
- Use cloud software so your figures are always current
A one person company finally organised
A director running a small company was juggling deadlines and unsure what they could take out. We took on the whole cycle, set an efficient salary and dividend plan, kept the books current and put every deadline on a reminder. The company became calm and predictable to run.
Fixed fees from £19.99 a month for sole traders, and from £30 a month for limited companies. Your exact quote is agreed up front, and takes about 2 minutes to get.
The £8,000 sitting in the wrong column
A director came to us drawing money as needed and sorting the paperwork later. Later never came. By year end the director loan account was overdrawn and heading for an avoidable tax charge, with dividends that had no minutes or vouchers behind them. We tidied the year properly: dividends documented where profit supported them, the remaining balance cleared before the charge date, and a monthly drawing pattern set that stays inside the paperwork automatically. The charge never landed, and the director now takes the same money with none of the risk, which is what the paperwork is actually for.
Your first month with us
- Week 1: Companies House and HMRC positions checked so every upcoming deadline is on our calendar, not yours
- Week 2: payroll for your director salary set up or moved across without a missed run
- Week 3: dividend paperwork brought up to date and the loan account position established
- Week 4: the salary and dividend mix for the year agreed on a short call, with the reasoning in plain English
Everything a small company must file, on one calendar
A limited company comes with a fixed set of obligations that never stops rotating: year end accounts to Companies House, the corporation tax return to HMRC nine months later, the confirmation statement, VAT if registered, payroll every month you pay yourself, and your own Self Assessment on top. Miss any of them and the penalties arrive automatically. Our job is that none of them is ever your problem: we hold the calendar, prepare everything, and send it to you for approval before anything is filed.
- Year end accounts and the CT600 corporation tax return prepared and filed from clean monthly records, not a January shoebox
- Director payroll run properly so your salary uses the thresholds efficiently and stays reported under RTI
- Dividend paperwork done correctly, with minutes and vouchers, and drawings checked against available profit before you take them
- The director loan account watched through the year, because an overdrawn balance at the wrong date triggers extra tax that is entirely avoidable
- Confirmation statement and Companies House details kept current, including the identity verification requirements being phased in for directors
Paying yourself from a small company, done properly
The standard pattern of a small salary topped up with dividends still works, but it is not automatic. Dividends need distributable profit, the paperwork has to exist when the money moves, and the right split shifts with corporation tax rates, your other income and whether your spouse holds shares. We review the mix every year as part of the fee, and we flag the moment retained profit, pension contributions through the company, or a different share structure would serve you better. That yearly conversation is routinely worth more than the accounts themselves.