The typical duties and responsibilities of an accountant

When you sign up to an accountancy service, you will typically pay a monthly fee which will cover a number of taxation, compliance and administrative duties which will be performed on behalf of your limited company.

Although the core duties are common across service providers, what’s included in your accountancy package will vary (sometimes significantly) between providers, so make sure you know exactly what is included before signing up.

Typical limited company accountant duties

Formation of your limited company (if you don’t have one). They may charge for this service
Setting up a business bank account (optional)
Registering your limited company for VAT
PAYE (Pay-as-you-earn) registration
Monthly book-keeping
Payroll administration
Calculating your quarterly VAT liabilities
Quarterly management accounts
Year end company accounts
Completing PAYE returns (P35, P14, P11d)
Filing your company Annual Return (AR01) with Companies House
Filling your company Corporation Tax return (CT600)
Dealing with the authorities on an ongoing basis (HMRC, Companies House)
Dividend planning advice
Provide references for mortgages, lettings, other services.

Your accountant may also complete your annual self assessment (personal tax), although this is often a chargeable extra.

If you have more than one employee (yourself) in your limited company, or have additional tax issues to deal with, you should ask any prospective accountancy provider for a quote.

The amount of transactions you record, the type of industry you are in, the size of your business, and the complexity of your accounts will all influence the complexity of accounting you need, and therefore the cost.

Given the rapid growth in online accountancy services, you may decide to undertake many aspects of your accounts yourself, such recording details of all transactions, and working out your quarterly VAT liabilities. This is more likely to be an option if you are running a small limited company, and you don’t have very complex accounts.

Make sure you have a written statement containing all the tasks your accountant has agreed to undertake, the tasks you are obliged to undertake each month/annually, and the cost for the service.