What Should an Accountant Cost in 2026/27?
Two businesses can ask the same accountant for a quote and get numbers five times apart, and both quotes can be fair. An accounting fee is a price for a bundle of work, and the bundle varies more than the hourly rate ever does. A sole trader with one income stream needs a few hours a year. A VAT-registered company with staff needs attention every month.
The ranges below are typical advertised prices from UK firms, checked in August 2026. They are a sanity check for quotes, not a survey statistic. Online-first firms advertise from around £10 to £30 per month at the bottom of the market, while traditional practices quote annually and land higher. Both models are covered here.
Typical Accountant Fees by Service
Most quotes are built from the same components. Here is what each typically costs on its own, based on advertised UK pricing as at August 2026:
| Service | Typical advertised range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Self assessment return (simple) | £150 to £400 one-off | SA100 plus employment or self-employment pages; rental or capital gains pages add more |
| Limited company year-end (accounts + CT600) | £600 to £1,200 per year | Statutory accounts, corporation tax return, usually the confirmation statement and one director's return |
| Bookkeeping | £100 to £500+ per month | Depends on transaction volume; see the dedicated bookkeeping cost guide below |
| Payroll | £20 to £50 per month for 1 employee, roughly £4 to £10 per extra payslip | RTI submissions, payslips, pension filings |
| VAT returns | £40 to £100 per quarterly return | More if the accountant also does the bookkeeping behind it |
| One-off tax advice | £150 to £350 per hour, or a fixed project quote | Incorporation, share structures, exit planning, HMRC enquiries |
Bookkeeping is its own market with its own pricing logic, from hourly freelancers to per-transaction software bundles. We cover it properly in how much a bookkeeper costs for a UK small business, so this page keeps to the accountancy side.
Typical Packages by Business Type
Sole Trader and Freelancer
A sole trader with straightforward income, no employees and no VAT typically pays £300 to £600 per year for a package covering the self assessment return plus records support. A bare return with tidy figures supplied sits at the £150 to £400 one-off level. Since April 2026, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has applied to self-employed and property income over £50,000, which means quarterly digital updates as well as the year-end return, and many firms have repriced sole trader packages upwards to reflect the extra filings. The £30,000 threshold follows in April 2027.
Limited Company (Single Director, No Employees)
A company with one director, no staff, no VAT and clean records typically pays £600 to £1,200 per year. That normally includes year-end accounts, the CT600, the director's personal return, dividend paperwork and the confirmation statement. Contractors whose accountant also handles IR35 reviews and regular dividend planning tend to sit at the top of the range.
Limited Company with VAT and Payroll
Add quarterly VAT returns and a payroll of two or three employees and the annual total typically runs £1,200 to £2,400. Each VAT quarter and each payroll month is recurring work, so the fee shifts from a yearly job to a standing relationship, which is why most firms price this tier as a monthly direct debit.
Larger or More Complex Companies
Multiple directors, several employees, a pension scheme, stock, or overseas income typically starts at £2,400 and runs to £5,000+ per year, and at this level you should be getting proactive planning, not just filings. R&D claims are usually priced separately, either a flat fee or a percentage of the claim; we prefer flat fees because they keep the incentive aligned with genuine eligibility.
Partnership
A partnership files an SA800 plus a return for each partner. Typical fees run £500 to £1,500 depending on partner count and whether the firm has property or investment income.
What Actually Drives the Price
Transaction Volume
The biggest single factor. A consultant in Nottingham raising 40 invoices a year is quick to process. An online retailer with 3,000 transactions a month is not. Accountants price time, and transactions are time.
How Clean Your Records Are
The same business can be a cheap client or an expensive one depending on what lands on the accountant's desk. Reconciled software with receipts attached is the cheap version. A carrier bag of statements and a year of unexplained transfers is the expensive one, and most firms now either surcharge for it or decline it. If your quote seems high, ask what it assumes about your records.
Deadlines
Work handed over in good time is scheduled work. Records delivered three weeks before a filing deadline are a rush job, and January self assessment rescue work routinely carries a premium of 25 to 50 percent. The cheapest fee you will ever get is the one quoted in the quiet months for records delivered early.
Recurring Obligations
VAT registration, payroll, CIS returns for construction businesses and MTD quarterly updates each convert the relationship from annual to monthly. Every recurring filing adds recurring cost, which is why crossing the £90,000 VAT registration threshold is usually the point where a fee steps up meaningfully.
Fixed Fee vs Hourly vs Percentage Pricing
Fixed fee is now the dominant model for ongoing work: a set monthly or annual price for a written scope. You can budget it, and routine questions do not generate invoices. The catch is the scope boundary, so read what is excluded. Our comparison of fixed fee vs hourly accountants works through the numbers in detail.
Hourly billing runs roughly £100 to £250 per hour for qualified accountants, and can be the cheaper option for genuinely one-off work: a single simple return, a piece of advice, a valuation. It punishes contact, since many firms bill in six-minute units, so a chatty client on hourly rates pays for every call.
Percentage pricing survives mainly in recovery-style work, R&D claims and fee structures tied to a refund or a claim value. It aligns the adviser with the size of the claim rather than its accuracy, which is exactly why HMRC has tightened R&D agent rules and why we recommend flat fees for claims work.
The £99 Year-End: What Cheap Actually Buys
Ultra-low advertised prices are real, and for the right client they are not a trick. But it is worth being precise about what a £99 or from-£10-per-month service typically includes:
- Filing from your figures. You supply a completed trial balance or software file; the firm formats and files it. Nobody checks whether your bookkeeping is right.
- Software-driven, minimal contact. The margin only works if you never speak to anyone. Questions are chargeable extras or answered from a help desk.
- No tax planning. Salary and dividend mix, timing of spend, capital allowances claims: not in scope. For many companies the planning is worth more than the fee difference.
- No HMRC enquiry support. If HMRC asks questions, defending the return is a new engagement at a new price.
- Per-item extras. Confirmation statement, director's personal return, dividend vouchers and references are often priced separately, so compare the total, not the headline.
If you are a dormant or very simple company and you genuinely need filing only, a budget service can be rational. The mistake is buying filing-only while believing you bought an accountant.
When and How to Switch Accountants
Switching is easier than most owners expect, and fear of the process keeps too many businesses overpaying or under-served. The mechanics:
- Pick the moment. The cleanest handover is just after a year-end or a filed return, so one firm owns one complete year. Mid-year switches work but mean splitting a year's records.
- Settle up and give notice. Check your engagement letter for a notice period and clear any outstanding fees; a firm can hold work-in-progress until paid.
- Professional clearance. Your new accountant writes to the old one asking whether there is any professional reason not to act, and requests your records: accounts, tax computations, capital allowances pools. This is standard etiquette under professional body rules; a reputable outgoing firm cooperates.
- Re-authorise HMRC. New 64-8 agent authorisations for each tax, and a transfer of your software subscriptions if the old firm held them.
Most transfers complete within two to three weeks. Good times to start the conversation are March to May and August to October, well clear of the January rush.
Check if and when MTD applies to you
Skip the spreadsheet. Tell us about your situation and a specialist will review your position and the next sensible step, with no obligation.
A Worked Year: What a Typical Company Actually Spends
Take a VAT-registered limited company in Glasgow with one director, two employees and tidy software records:
| Item | Basis | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|
| Year-end accounts + CT600 + confirmation statement | Fixed annual fee | £850 |
| Director's self assessment return | Fixed annual fee | £200 |
| VAT returns | 4 quarters at £75 | £300 |
| Payroll (3 people) | 12 months at £40 | £480 |
| Total | £1,830 |
That is just over £150 per month, squarely inside the £1,200 to £2,400 band for this profile, and the whole amount is deductible against corporation tax as a business expense. Add bookkeeping if nobody in the business does it, and add one-off advice as projects arise.
How Fees Have Moved Since 2025
If you searched for accountant fees 2025 and are re-checking the market now, the bands themselves have moved less than the scope behind them. The visible shifts from 2025/26 into 2026/27: sole trader packages have risen where MTD quarterly filing now applies, payroll pricing has firmed as employer NIC changes made payroll advice more valuable, and online-first firms have pushed entry pricing lower while moving more items to per-item extras. The comparison discipline is unchanged: same scope, same year, line by line.
How to Pay Less Without Buying Less
- Keep digital records and reconcile monthly. Clean data is the single biggest discount you control.
- Capture receipts as you go with an app rather than in a year-end scramble.
- Deliver early. Records in well before the deadline get scheduled rates, not rush rates.
- Separate business and personal banking. Untangling mixed accounts is billable time.
- Review scope annually. If the business has simplified, ask for the fee to follow; if it has grown, expect the reverse and budget for it.
Red Flags in Any Quote
- No written scope. "Accounts and tax return" is not a scope. Ask exactly what is included, how many personal returns, and what an HMRC enquiry would cost.
- No qualification or supervision. Anyone can trade as an accountant. Membership of a professional body (ICAEW, ACCA, CIMA, AAT) brings professional indemnity insurance, ethical rules and a complaints route.
- Silence on MTD. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is live for the £50,000 tier and extends to £30,000 in April 2027. A firm with no MTD plan for its sole trader clients is behind.
- Only hourly, no estimate. Hourly billing is legitimate, but a refusal to estimate the total is a budgeting risk you do not need to take.
How We Price at Holloway Davies
We work on transparent fixed fees with a written scope: what is included, what is not, and what a change in your circumstances would do to the price. Whether you are a sole trader in Swansea or a limited company in Leicester, the fee follows the work, and you see the workings.
If you want a like-for-like quote against what you pay now, get in touch and bring your current engagement letter. We will tell you honestly if your existing fee is fair.
Final Thoughts
The right question is not "what is the cheapest accountant" but "what does my business need, and what is a fair price for exactly that". Simple business, simple needs: do not overpay for planning you will never use. Growing business with VAT, payroll and decisions to make: do not buy filing-only and call it an accountant. Get the scope in writing, compare like for like, and the fee usually takes care of itself.