Accountants in Bath for Expert Tax and Accountancy Advice

It depends on how your business is set up and how much help you need through the year. A sole trader who just needs a Self Assessment return will pay a lot less than a limited company that needs bookkeeping, VAT, payroll and year end accounts.

At Phinch we agree a fixed fee before any work starts. There are no hourly surprises, and we do not charge you for asking a quick question. Get in touch for a quote based on your actual setup.

A bookkeeper records your transactions and keeps your day to day records accurate and up to date.

An accountant takes those records and uses them. They prepare your statutory accounts, handle your tax filings, and tell you what the numbers mean for the decisions you are about to make.

Most small businesses in Bath need both jobs done, but not always by two different people. We handle bookkeeping and accountancy together, which removes the year end gap where records have to be reconciled and everything slows down.

Yes, and it is easier than most people think.

You tell your current accountant you are leaving. Your new firm then writes to them asking for professional clearance and your records. This is normal practice and they are expected to cooperate.

You can switch at any point in the year, though just after your year end filing is usually cleanest. Check your engagement letter for a notice period first, and make sure nothing is halfway through being submitted. Most handovers finish within two to four weeks.

The VAT registration threshold for 2026/27 is £90,000 of taxable turnover in any rolling 12 month period. That is not your financial year. Check it at the end of every month, looking back over the last twelve.

If you go over it, you have 30 days from the end of that month to tell HMRC. Your registration usually starts on the first day of the second month after you crossed the line.

The deregistration threshold is £88,000. Zero rated sales count towards the threshold. Exempt sales do not. You can also register voluntarily below £90,000, which is sometimes worth doing if your customers are VAT registered themselves.

More detail here: VAT accounting for small businesses and VAT compliance services.

If your gross income from self employment or property was over £50,000 in the 2024/25 tax year, then yes. It started on 6 April 2026.

You need to keep digital records and send HMRC four updates a year, plus a final declaration.

The threshold drops to £30,000 in April 2027 and £20,000 in April 2028.

HMRC worked out who was in the first group from 2024/25 Self Assessment returns and wrote to them. But it is still your responsibility to check whether it applies to you. Limited companies are not affected and carry on under corporation tax rules.

Usually not. Most HMRC letters are routine. A tax code notice, a reminder, or a request for information.

Read it properly and note any deadline. If it asks for personal details or a payment and you are not sure it is genuine, do not reply to it directly. Look up HMRC's contact details on GOV.UK and check that way, or send the letter to a tax adviser.

If the letter opens a compliance check or an enquiry, get advice before you reply. What you say first shapes everything that follows.

The minimum depends on how you are set up:

• Self employed, partnerships and landlords: at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline for that tax year. So records for 2025/26 need keeping until at least 31 January 2032.
• Limited companies: at least 6 years from the end of the accounting period.
• VAT records: at least 6 years.
• PAYE and payroll records: at least 3 years from the end of the tax year.
• Individuals who are not self employed: 22 months from the end of the tax year.

These are minimums, not targets. If HMRC opens an enquiry, you have to keep everything until it closes. And where HMRC suspects something deliberate, they can go back 20 years. A lot of accountants suggest just keeping everything for six or seven years to keep it simple.

HMRC charges an automatic £100 penalty the moment you miss 31 January. That applies even if you are one day late and even if you owe no tax.

After three months, daily penalties of £10 kick in and run for up to 90 days. That is up to £900 on top of the original £100. There are further penalties at six months and twelve months, and interest on late payments is charged separately from late filing penalties.

You can appeal if you have a reasonable excuse, but filing early is the safer route. More detail here: what happens if you miss the Self Assessment deadline.

Almost none of this work needs you and your accountant in the same room.

Records are shared securely online. Meetings happen over video. And under Making Tax Digital, filings have to be digital anyway.

What matters far more is whether your accountant replies when you need them, understands your situation, and offers the services you actually use.

We are 30 minutes away in Weston-super-Mare and we work with clients right across Bath. If you would rather meet face to face, we can arrange that. Most of our Bath clients find they would rather not give up a morning to the park and ride.