UK accounting for a company that sells more than the UK.
Your UK company keeps its UK obligations: statutory accounts at Companies House, the corporation tax return, VAT, payroll and director self assessment. We file all of it under one monthly fee — and where you sell outside the UK, we file there too, without moving the company anywhere.
What a UK company files, and when
Four obligations run in parallel, and only one of them is the tax return. Most of the cost of getting this wrong is a penalty for something that was filed late rather than something that was filed badly.
Statutory accounts
Due at Companies House nine months after the accounting period ends, in the prescribed format rather than management accounts.
Corporation tax return
The CT600 and computation are due twelve months after the period ends, but the tax is payable nine months and one day after it. Filing early does not move the payment date.
Confirmation statement
At least once every twelve months, confirming directors, shareholders, people with significant control and the registered office.
Director self assessment
Due 31 January following the end of the tax year, wherever dividends, benefits or other income take the director past the filing requirement.
One fee for the UK side
The Standard plan is one monthly figure for the work a UK company cannot avoid. Where your volume changes materially we tell you before the fee does, not after. The statutory side on its own — accounts, the CT600 and the confirmation statement — is set out on limited company accounting.
- Bookkeeping kept current, with marketplace settlements reconciled to the bank account
- Statutory accounts prepared and filed at Companies House
- Corporation tax computation and CT600, with the payment date diarised
- VAT registration and quarterly returns under Making Tax Digital
- Confirmation statement filed, and the PSC register kept straight
- Director self assessment, and payroll for up to two people with the RTI filings
- A named account manager who answers directly rather than a ticket queue
Selling online breaks the assumptions
The work is not harder than a traditional company's. It is less forgiving, because the records arrive in pieces and the deadlines do not line up with the year end. The platform-by-platform detail — Amazon, eBay, Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce — sits on ecommerce accountants.
Revenue is a settlement, not an invoice
A marketplace pays net of fees, so the payout is not turnover. Gross sales, fees and refunds are rebuilt from the settlement report before anything is posted.
Stock crosses borders
Stock held in another country is usually a registration there, whatever the size of the UK company holding it.
VAT follows the customer
A UK VAT return says nothing about a German or Irish customer, so the two sets of figures have to be kept separately and reconciled.
Several authorities, one calendar
Companies House, HMRC, a marketplace and a foreign tax office all keep their own dates. One diary is the difference between filed and late.
Trading outside the UK, with a UK entity
None of this needs a company in another country. The UK company stays the UK company, and its UK accounts stay with us; what changes is who you file with and from when.
United States
State sales tax follows economic nexus, and carrying on a US trade or business brings a federal return. The American side is filed on its own basis, while the UK accounts stay where they are.
| Cross-border filing, from | £1,478 a year |
European Union
OSS returns once cross-border EU sales pass €10,000 a year, or local registration in each country where stock is held.
| Registration, per country | £280 one-off |
| Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Czechia | £1,695 + VAT |
| Austria, Belgium, Spain, Cyprus | £1,944 + VAT |
| OSS filing, instead of local registrations | £1,695 + VAT |
Australia
GST registration follows A$75,000 of Australian sales a year, with Business Activity Statements filed after it.
| Yearly compliance | £1,944 + VAT |
Canada
GST/HST registration follows C$30,000 of taxable supplies over four consecutive calendar quarters, with returns on the frequency the agency assigns.
| Yearly compliance, no VAT | £1,695 |
Where a US entity changes the picture
A UK company selling into America and a UK-owned American LLC are different engagements, and only the second one files American accounts every year whether or not it traded. If the LLC exists, its own filings sit alongside the UK ones, and the two are kept reconciled rather than prepared years apart by two firms that never speak.
- A US LLC owned from Britain files Form 5472 with a pro-forma 1120, even in a year with no income
- The UK treats the same LLC differently from the US, so the profit is not automatically taxed once
- Intercompany charges between the two entities need documentation both sides will accept
- Sales tax registration is decided by state thresholds, not by owning the LLC
What the monthly fee does not cover
- Company formation, £180 + VAT one-off, where the company has not been incorporated yet
- Registered office and HMRC address at £24 + VAT a month — or use your own address at no charge
- Payroll beyond two employees, at £10 per additional employee per month
- Audit, where a lender, investor or regulator requires a signed opinion
- R&D claims and one-off advisory work, quoted before any charge is raised
- Filings in another country, each priced on its own page and never folded into the UK fee
- Correcting records an earlier adviser left incomplete, quoted once we have seen them
What it costs.
Published starting rates, not a quote form. Where a number depends on the size or complexity of the accounts we say so plainly, and the figure below is where your quote starts rather than a flat fee.
Standard plan, turnover up to £250,000. A UK company, so VAT is added.
Get this priceWhat is included
- Bookkeeping with marketplace settlements reconciled
- Statutory accounts prepared and filed at Companies House
- Corporation tax computation and CT600
- VAT registration and quarterly returns under Making Tax Digital
- Confirmation statement and the PSC register
- Director self assessment, and payroll for up to two people
- A named account manager
Charged separately
- Standard Plus turnover up to £500,000
- £239+ VAT a month
- Company formation
- £180+ VAT, one-off
- Registered office and HMRC address if you need our address
- £24+ VAT a month
Above £500,000 turnover, plans follow the turnover band and we give you the exact figure. Filings outside the UK — US, EU, Australian or Canadian — are separate engagements, priced on their own pages and never folded into the UK fee.
The things people ask before they commit.
If yours is not here, ask it directly — the answer comes from the person who would do the work.
One working day, no sales sequence afterwards.
Ask your questionCan we keep our overseas filings separate from the UK work?
Yes, and most clients do. The UK plan covers the UK company; the American, EU, Australian and Canadian work is priced and engaged on its own basis, so nothing is bundled that you did not ask for.
Do we need a company in America to sell there?
No. State sales tax thresholds are about sales into a state, not about owning a company there. A US trade or business can also bring a federal return with no American entity at all, so the trigger is worth checking before paying for a structure.
Is VAT included in the monthly fee?
UK VAT registration and the quarterly returns are included. VAT in another country is a separate engagement at that country's own price, because it is a separate registration with a separate authority.
What happens when turnover grows past the plan?
The Standard plan covers turnover up to £250,000. Standard Plus is £239 + VAT a month up to £500,000, and above that plans follow the turnover band. We discuss the change with you before it applies.
Can you take over part-way through a year?
Yes, normally at a year end so a period is not split between two firms. We ask for the last statutory accounts, the last VAT return and the company's filing history first, because those tell us what is already late.
Do you act for sole traders and partnerships as well?
Yes, on different plans. A sole trader is usually a self assessment engagement, and a partnership is priced by partner count and turnover rather than by a fixed band.
One fee, one calendar, and no surprise at the year end.
The UK plan starts at £139 + VAT a month for turnover up to £250,000, with the accounts, CT600, VAT and payroll inside it. Anything outside the UK is quoted on its own page before it starts.