West Sussex
Accountant in Worthing
Worthing's economy is anchored by a strong public sector presence and a growing professional services base, from HMRC's regional hub to GSK's pharmaceutical plant.
- Experienced team
- Fixed fees
- National coverage
Why we work with Worthing businesses
Limited company directors, contractors, and small business owners in Worthing benefit from a mix of public sector contracts and private enterprise. We work with clients across the Town Centre and Goring-by-Sea, offering remote-first support with in-person meetings in Tarring or Findon when needed. The local economy demands specialists who understand both the compliance needs of regulated sectors and the tax planning opportunities for growing service businesses.
The Worthing business scene
Worthing's business scene is shaped by a few large anchors. GlaxoSmithKline's manufacturing site in the north of the town employs several hundred people in pharmaceutical production and research. HMRC's Worthing office, one of the largest government employer hubs in the South East, sits in the Town Centre alongside Southern Water's headquarters. Worthing Hospital and the Borough Council add further public sector weight. This institutional base supports a professional services ecosystem of solicitors, accountants, and IT consultants who serve both the public sector and a growing community of contractors and sole traders. Retail and hospitality cluster along Montague Street and the seafront, while light manufacturing and distribution businesses operate from industrial estates near the A24 and A27 corridors. The mix is distinctive: a stable public sector floor with an entrepreneurial private sector overlay.
Business hubs in Worthing
Town Centre · Goring-by-Sea · Tarring · Findon
How Worthing’s economic mix shapes our service emphasis
Worthing's sector mix means our work splits roughly three ways. For insurance and financial services firms in the Town Centre, we handle corporation tax compliance, VAT on cross border transactions, and payroll for teams of 10 to 50. The public sector presence at HMRC and the Borough Council creates a steady flow of contractors and interim managers who need IR35 reviews, personal service company accounts, and dividend planning. GSK Worthing and other pharmaceutical suppliers bring R&D claims for process innovation and capital allowances on laboratory equipment. Manufacturers of medical consumables come to us for R&D claim preparation on new production lines, where the qualifying work sits in the process development rather than the running of the line. For retailers along Montague Street, we focus on VAT registration thresholds, margin schemes, and exit planning for family run shops. The local mix means we see more R&D claims and capital allowances work than a typical general practice, and less pure investment work.
Anchor employers in Worthing
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK Worthing) · HMRC Worthing · Southern Water HQ · Worthing Hospital · Worthing Borough Council
What we do
What we do for Worthing businesses
Year-end accounts & corporation tax
Statutory accounts to FRS 102 / FRS 105, CT600 filings, marginal relief modelling between £50,000 and £250,000, group relief where it applies. Filed accurately, filed on time.
Director pay and tax planning
Optimal salary-and-dividend split for each director’s personal tax position, modelled annually and recalibrated when thresholds move. Pension contributions, BIK strategy, P11D where relevant.
VAT and Making Tax Digital
Registration timing against the £90,000 threshold, scheme selection (Standard, Flat Rate, Cash, Annual), partial-exemption handling, quarterly returns, MTD-compliant software setup.
Payroll, PAYE and pensions
Monthly payroll runs, RTI submissions, Employment Allowance claims (up to £10,500), salary-sacrifice schemes, workplace pension administration and auto-enrolment.
R&D tax credits
Merged-scheme claims under the post-April-2024 regime, qualifying-activity narrative written by qualified staff, costs eligibility review, ERIS where the loss-making intensive route applies.
Incorporation and structure
When to move from sole trader to Ltd, the real cost of incorporation (SDLT, CGT where property is involved), holding-company design, alphabet shares, group restructures.
Worthing worked example
Worked example: £33,260 of VAT recovered on cross border premium handling
15-employee insurance broker
Take a Worthing insurance broker of around 15 staff in the town centre, writing policies for UK and European clients, charging VAT across the board and paying output tax without reclaiming input VAT on the EU related costs. Intermediary services supplied to business customers outside the UK are generally outside the scope of UK VAT, and outside the scope does not mean input tax is blocked. On a four year review, suppose £166,300 of standard rated costs are attributable to those supplies, which at the 20 per cent standard rate is £33,260 of input tax recoverable and never recovered. Once the invoicing distinguishes the two client groups at source, each later quarter follows the same attribution instead of being reconstructed. The four year cap is the practical limit, so the delay itself costs money.
Illustrative example. It is not a record of a client engagement and the figures are worked through to show how the rules apply, not taken from a real return.
Want the same read on your own figures?
What it costs depends on the size and structure of the business, so we will talk that through rather than quote blind.
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Frequently asked questions from Worthing
Related reading
Guides for limited company owners
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Speak to an accountant in Worthing
Book a free 30-minute call. We will talk through your situation and give you clear, practical recommendations. No jargon, no obligation.
- 24-hour response, usually same dayYou hear back from a person, not an autoresponder
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- One named accountant, not a team inboxThe same person every time you call