Preparing for your accountant

The less time your accountant spends chasing paperwork, the more time goes into advice that’s actually worth paying for. Here’s what makes the difference.

Before your first meeting

Bring (or send) the basics:

• Last filed accounts and tax return, if you have them
• Letters from HMRC — UTR, VAT, PAYE references
• Companies House details if you’re incorporated
• Bank statements for the business
• A picture of how you invoice, get paid, and pay suppliers

Nothing needs to be tidy. We’d rather see the real state of things than a curated version.

During the year

Three habits cover most of it:

1. Keep business and personal money separate. One dedicated business account saves hours of untangling later.
2. Capture receipts as they happen. Photograph them into Xero when they land — a thirty-second habit that ends the shoebox era permanently.
3. Raise invoices from the system, not from Word. Then your sales ledger reconciles itself.

At year end

If your books live in Xero and the bank feed has been reconciled, year end is mostly done already. What we’ll still need from you:

• Statements for any loans or finance agreements
• Details of anything bought or sold that lasts more than a year (equipment, vehicles, property)
• Stock count if you carry stock
• Anything unusual — grants, insurance claims, disputes — flagged early

Deadlines to respect

Send records well before the filing deadline, not the week of it. January-filed tax returns booked in October get planning conversations; ones sent in mid-January get filed, and nothing more. Under Making Tax Digital, quarterly updates make “little and often” the default rhythm anyway — which suits everyone.

The quiet payoff

Fixed fees reward tidy records twice: the work costs less to quote, and the conversation moves from “what happened last year” to “what should happen next year” — which is where an accountant earns their keep.