How much does an accountant cost in the UK?
Accountant fees in the UK vary more than most people expect, partly because "an accountant" can mean anything from a one-off tax return prepared by a sole practitioner to a full monthly service covering bookkeeping, payroll, VAT and year-end accounts for a growing limited company. Knowing roughly what different pieces of work tend to cost makes it much easier to judge whether a quote you have been given is reasonable.
For a standard Self Assessment tax return, fees commonly sit somewhere between £150 and £400 plus VAT. A simple return covering one extra income source alongside PAYE employment tends to sit toward the lower end of that range, while returns involving self-employment income, rental property, dividends, or foreign income typically push the fee toward £400 or beyond, reflecting the extra time needed to gather and check the figures.
Limited companies cost more to service than an individual Self Assessment return, largely because there is simply more statutory work involved — annual accounts prepared to the required format, a CT600 Corporation Tax return, a confirmation statement filed with Companies House, and often payroll for directors. Taken together, a full annual compliance package for a limited company commonly runs to somewhere between £1,000 and £3,000 a year, frequently billed monthly at somewhere between £80 and £250 a month rather than as a single annual invoice. A straightforward trading company with clean, simple records and no VAT or payroll complications can sometimes sit toward the lower half of that range, closer to £800 to £1,500 a year. Some accountants bundle a director's own personal Self Assessment return into this package as standard; others price it separately, commonly adding somewhere between £200 and £500 depending on complexity, so it is always worth confirming exactly what a quoted monthly fee actually includes rather than assuming.
Bookkeeping is usually priced separately from tax return and accounts preparation, and it is charged either by the hour or as part of a monthly package. Hourly bookkeeping rates commonly range from around £20 to £45 an hour, with individual freelance bookkeepers often toward the lower end and established firms, particularly in London and other major cities, charging toward the upper end or beyond. Where bookkeeping is bundled into a monthly package instead, entry-level packages for a small business with light transaction volume often start from around £80 to £150 a month, rising to somewhere between £300 and £900 or more a month for a growing business with higher transaction volume, VAT returns, and payroll to manage.
Several extras are worth budgeting for separately, since they are not always included in a headline quote. VAT returns, where applicable, commonly add somewhere in the region of £70 to £100 per quarter on top of a base package. Payroll is typically charged per payslip or per employee — figures in the region of £5 to £10 per payslip, or roughly £25 to £50 a month for a small team of around five employees, turn up regularly in fee surveys, though this varies by provider and by how automated the payroll process is. It is not unusual for a headline monthly fee of £150 to grow to £300 or more once VAT, payroll and any specific software subscriptions are added on top, so asking for a full breakdown of what is and is not included is a reasonable and normal question to put to any firm before you sign up.
A handful of factors consistently move fees up or down across all of these categories. Location matters — accountants based in London and other major cities commonly charge more than those in smaller towns, partly reflecting local overheads and partly reflecting demand. The messiness of your records matters just as much, if not more — a business with well-organised digital records using accounting software is generally quicker, and therefore cheaper, to work with than one handing over a shoebox of receipts at year end. And the qualifications and experience of the accountant or firm you choose also factor in, though a higher fee does not automatically guarantee a better outcome, and a lower one does not automatically signal poor quality — it is worth weighing cost against the specific expertise and service level you actually need, covered in more detail in our separate article on accountant qualifications and titles.
None of the figures above are a quote, and actual fees for any specific business will depend on its own circumstances, record-keeping, and the particular firm involved. This article is general information, not tax or accounting advice. The most reliable way to know what something will actually cost is to get a written quote from a few firms, ask exactly what is included, and compare on that basis rather than on a headline monthly figure alone — our directory lists UK accountants by area if you are starting that comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Fees commonly range from around £150 to £400 plus VAT, depending on complexity. A simple return with one extra income source alongside PAYE employment tends to sit toward the lower end, while self-employment, rental income or foreign income push the fee higher.
A full annual compliance package, covering statutory accounts, the CT600 return and a confirmation statement, commonly costs somewhere between £1,000 and £3,000 a year, often billed monthly at roughly £80 to £250. A director's personal Self Assessment return may be included or charged separately.
Hourly rates commonly range from around £20 to £45 an hour, with individual freelance bookkeepers often toward the lower end and established firms, particularly in major cities, charging toward the upper end or beyond.
Not always. VAT returns commonly add roughly £70 to £100 per quarter, and payroll is often charged separately at around £5 to £10 per payslip. It is worth asking any firm for a full breakdown of what a quoted monthly fee actually covers.