Plain-English bookkeeping for small UK businesses

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Bookkeeper and accountant in Camden

Bookkeeping, tax returns, year-end accounts and Corporation Tax for Camden's traders, cafés, venues and studios, from a small accountancy practice based in Camden, London.

Camden is not a quiet place to run a business. Between the stalls at Stables Market and Buck Street Market, the cafés along Camden High Street and the venues from the Roundhouse at Chalk Farm to KOKO and the Electric Ballroom, money moves in lots of small amounts on lots of different days. That kind of trading makes the paperwork pile up fast.

We are a small accountancy practice based in Camden, London. We keep your books each month, and we prepare and file the returns that follow from them: your Self Assessment tax return, VAT returns, and for limited companies the year-end accounts and Corporation Tax return. Year-end and statutory work is completed by the Chartered Accountant on our team.

Why Camden books get messy

A stall or a small venue rarely takes money in one neat way. A single weekend might bring card payments through a reader, some cash, a few online orders and a supplier bill paid from a personal card by mistake. Each of those needs to land in the right place before any return can be right.

Trade around the market and the canal also swings with the weather, the season and the tourist calendar. A quiet January after a busy December is normal, but it is far easier to plan for when you can see your figures month by month rather than once a year.

  • Card takings that reach your bank as one batched payout, with fees taken off
  • Cash takings that need recording before they are spent
  • Stock, packaging and pitch costs
  • Business costs paid from a personal account

We sort these into the right accounts every month, so nothing is left to rebuild in January. Read more about how our bookkeeping works.

Tax returns, accounts and books, all in one place

Self Assessment tax returns

For sole traders and partners, prepared from books that are already up to date.

What's included

  • Profit worked out from your records
  • Return sent to you to approve before filing
  • Filed by the 31 January deadline

Year-end accounts and Corporation Tax

For limited companies, completed by our Chartered Accountant.

What's included

  • Annual accounts prepared from your books
  • Company tax return (CT600) filed with HMRC
  • Companies House accounts filed on time

Bookkeeping

The monthly routine that every return depends on.

What's included

  • Transactions recorded and matched to your bank
  • Card payouts split into sales and fees
  • A short list of queries instead of a pile of questions

VAT returns

For businesses over the threshold or registered voluntarily.

What's included

  • Turnover watched against the £90,000 threshold
  • Returns prepared from reconciled books
  • Figures sent to you before anything is filed

If you run a café or venue with staff on the rota, we can also run your payroll, with submissions to HMRC on or before each payday.

Your books are kept in IQ Books or the software you already use, such as Xero, QuickBooks or Sage, and you have live access to them at any time.

Who it suits

Who it's forMarket traders, street food stalls, cafés, small venues, shops and creative studios in Camden Town, Chalk Farm and along the Regent's Canal, whether you trade as a sole trader or a limited company.

If you freelance from a Camden studio rather than trading from a stall, our page for freelancers goes into more detail. If you also let out a flat, see our page for landlords.

How it works

  1. Free 20-minute call

    We talk through how you trade and where your records are now, by phone or video.

  2. Catch up

    If your books are behind, we bring them up to date first.

  3. Every month

    Your transactions are recorded, reconciled and summarised for you.

  4. Every deadline

    VAT, Self Assessment and year-end returns are prepared early and sent to you to approve.

Questions from Camden businesses

Are you a bookkeeper or an accountant?

Both. An AAT-qualified bookkeeper keeps your books, and we prepare and file your tax returns. Year-end accounts, Corporation Tax and other statutory work are completed by the Chartered Accountant on our team.

Do you only take on businesses in Camden?

No. We are based in Camden, London, but we take on businesses across North London and the rest of the UK. Your free call is by phone or video, so where you trade makes little difference.

I mostly take cash at my stall. Is that a problem?

No. Cash just needs recording consistently, ideally each trading day. We will agree a simple way to do it and then record it in your books each month.

My books are behind and my tax return is due. Can you still help?

Yes. We bring the books up to date first, then prepare the return. If the deadline has already passed, read our guide on what to do if you missed the Self Assessment deadline.

How much does it cost?

You get a fixed monthly fee, agreed up front after your free call. For a sense of typical London prices, see our guides to what an accountant costs and what a bookkeeper costs.

Trading a little further north? See our page for Kentish Town, or browse all the areas we cover.

Keep reading

Talk to us about your business

Book a free 20-minute call, tell us how you trade and we will explain what would help, with a fixed monthly fee agreed up front.

Book a free call