The starting figures above are where each package begins. Seven things move the number from there, and it is better you know what they are before you ask us for a quote. None of them is a surprise at the year end — we work them out up front, quote a fixed monthly fee, and tell you before anything changes.
Transaction volume
Fifty bank lines a month is not five hundred, and this is the biggest single driver. It is not just the count either — a business paying twenty suppliers on account takes longer than one taking card payments from the public, because there is more to match and more to chase. If most of it flows through feeds and rules rather than being typed in, that pulls the number down.
Payroll size
How many people, how often they are paid, and how much movement there is. Ten salaried staff on the same figure every month is straightforward. Ten on variable hours with starters and leavers, statutory pay, and a pension re-enrolment due is a different job. Weekly payroll costs more than monthly because it happens four times as often.
VAT complexity
Standard quarterly returns on a single rate are the easy case. Margin schemes, partial exemption, imports and postponed VAT accounting, the domestic reverse charge in construction, or sales into more than one country all take longer and carry more risk of getting it wrong. If you are not registered yet but heading that way, we would rather plan the timing than react to it.
The state of the records
A clean Xero file costs less to work with than two years of catching up. Bank reconciled, receipts attached, the chart of accounts making sense, and nothing sitting in suspense. If there is a catch-up job we quote it separately rather than burying it in the monthly fee, so you can see what is the ongoing cost and what is a one-off.
Sector and how you get paid
Some trades simply carry more work. Construction brings CIS returns and the reverse charge. Stock means cost of sales and margin have to be built up properly rather than read off the bank. E-commerce means platform fees, returns and multiple payment processors to reconcile. Property brings its own rules again. We price the work the sector actually creates rather than applying a flat uplift because of what it says on your SIC code.
How many entities there are
One trading company is one set of accounts. A holding company with two subsidiaries, or a company alongside a partnership and some personal rental income, means separate filings, intercompany balances to agree and more moving parts to keep straight. Each entity is priced on its own so you can see where the cost sits rather than getting one number for everything.
How much you want us involved
The packages set a rhythm, but some owners want a conversation every month and others are happy with the year-end meeting and the phone when something comes up. Ad hoc questions are not billed — picking up the phone costs you nothing. What moves the fee is standing commitments: a monthly meeting in the diary, board reporting to a deadline, or sitting in on something like a funding application or a sale.
