Choosing a contractor accountant
Last updated:
Contractor accountancy is commoditised — that's good for price, bad for quality spread. The market splits into generalist SME firms (from ~£60/month) and contractor specialists (~£90–£180/month) who handle IR35 opinions, deemed payments and scaffolding without blinking.
What a proper package includes
- Company formation + registered office; PSBs and dull-but-vital bits.
- Monthly payroll for your £12,570 salary (the tax-free floor — see the 2026/27 tables).
- Quarterly VAT (MTD-compliant software), annual accounts, CT600, self-assessment.
- IR35 support: contract reviews and, ideally, a view on each engagement.
- Unlimited advice — ask them a dumb question before signing to test this.
Red flags
- Year-end "additional fees" for Companies House filings that should be included.
- Refusal to advise on IR35 in writing ("we can't advise" from a contractor specialist = wrong specialist).
- Bundle deals with specific umbrella or insurance providers they won't explain.
Referral note: we list partner accountants on our disclosure page where a commercial link exists — the calculator already assumes a £900/year specialist fee.
The fee bands, honestly
Budget-tier (~£50–£80/month) covers compliance filing with email support. Mid-market specialists (~£90–£150/month) add same-day answers, IR35 contract reviews included, and quarterly tax-planning check-ins. Premium (some £200+) buys little extra for single-director companies — you're paying for their brand in an audit. What changes outcomes is responsiveness in your first year and at each contract change, not the logo.
Questions that separate specialists from generalists
- "How do you handle a mixed inside/outside portfolio?" — they should describe deemed payments without checking.
- "What's your IR35 review turnaround?" — days, not weeks.
- "Do you include P11Ds and the CIS trap?" — if they ask 'what CIS?', keep looking.
Switching accountants is a 10-minute job
Professional clearance is routine; the new firm handles handover. The only real cost of a wrong choice is the months of bad advice, so switch the moment support goes quiet. Fee benchmarking assumes a standard single-director company on the £12,570 salary + dividends structure.
The first-year calendar
What you'll actually file, in order: company incorporation + PAYE scheme (week 0), payroll RTI each pay-run, VAT returns quarterly (MTD software), CT600 nine months + 1 day after year-end, accounts at the same deadline, your self-assessment each January. A specialist runs this calendar for you; a generalist asks you for numbers you don't know you have. Ask a prospective accountant to walk the calendar — the answer quality is the product demo.
What your accountant should have flagged by month three
The £12,570 salary setup (why not £9,100, why not £20k), the VAT flat-rate decision with your actual numbers, expense policy boundaries (what survives an enquiry), and the dividend-band plan for the year. If none of these came up unsolicited, the "specialist" premium isn't being spent on you.
Get new outside-IR35 roles by email
Free vs Pro alerts — instant Telegram on Pro.
Hub: back to the hub · all guides