For a straightforward UK limited company, expect £299 to £1,500 a year plus VAT for annual accounts and a Corporation Tax return. Monthly subscription packages that bundle bookkeeping, payroll and VAT sit at roughly £474 to £1,644 a year plus VAT. A quote of £1,800 for a micro-entity with one director and forty transactions a month is not a market rate — it is an hourly-billing practice pricing a job it does not want.
All figures below were checked against provider pricing pages on 20 August 2026. Most UK providers quote plus VAT; a few quote inclusive. Those are kept in separate tables, because mixing them is how comparison articles mislead people.
What you are actually buying
“Accountant” covers several different jobs. Price only means something once you know which you are buying.
| Service | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Annual accounts | Statutory accounts filed at Companies House |
| Corporation Tax return | The CT600 and computations filed with HMRC |
| Self Assessment | The director’s or sole trader’s personal return |
| Bookkeeping | Recording transactions through the year |
| VAT returns | Quarterly MTD filings |
| Payroll | RTI submissions, payslips, auto-enrolment, P60s |
A “£350 accounts” quote and a “£95 a month” quote are not comparable. The first is one filing; the second is usually four services.
Fixed-fee compliance, quoted plus VAT
| Provider | Service | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Formations | Dormant company (AA02 only, no CT600) | £49.99 + VAT |
| Easy Digital Filing | CT600 only (self-file software) | £80 + VAT |
| Taxfix | Dormant company | £89 + VAT |
| Easy Digital Filing | Micro-entity accounts (self-file software) | £119 + VAT |
| Easy Digital Filing | Small company accounts (self-file software) | £195 + VAT |
| SmartFiling | Micro-entity accounts, 7 working days | From £299 (no VAT added) |
| Taxfix | Non-VAT-registered company | £329 + VAT |
| Taxfix | VAT-registered company, turnover under £200k | £419 + VAT |
Easy Digital Filing adds £20 + VAT for Companies House submission on top of the figures above.
Fixed-fee compliance, quoted inclusive of VAT
| Provider | Service | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Mazuma | CT600 only | £120 inc VAT |
| Mazuma | From a trial balance | £575 inc VAT |
| Mazuma | From electronic records | £700 inc VAT |
| Mazuma | From paperwork | £950 inc VAT |
The £575 to £950 spread within one provider is instructive. You are paying for the state of your records, not for the filing. Handing over a reconciled trial balance rather than a carrier bag of receipts is worth £375 at the same firm.
Read that table as Mazuma’s one-off pricing only. It is the one page where Mazuma quotes inclusive of VAT. Its monthly subscriptions, in the next table, are quoted plus VAT like everyone else’s — the same firm uses two different bases on two different pages, and that is where most comparison errors in this market come from.
Monthly subscriptions
| Provider | Monthly | Annual equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Mazuma | From £38 + VAT | £456 + VAT |
| The Accountancy Partnership | From £39.50 + VAT | £474 + VAT |
| Sleek Basic | From £50 + VAT | £600 + VAT |
| Osome Operate | From £71 + VAT | £850 + VAT (billed annually) |
| Gorilla | £125 + VAT flat | £1,500 + VAT |
| Osome Grow | From £137 + VAT | £1,644 + VAT |
Taxfix also publishes a monthly subscription price but does not state whether it is inclusive or exclusive of VAT, so it is left out of the comparison above. Read the small print on what a subscription includes — bookkeeping volume caps and payroll headcount are the usual limits.
What actually drives your quote
Six things move the number, in roughly this order of impact.
VAT registration. The single biggest step change in the market. Taxfix charges £329 + VAT for a non-VAT-registered company and £419 + VAT once you register — a 27% increase for the registration alone, before any change in turnover.
Transaction volume. Forty bank lines a month and four hundred are different jobs. Most providers band on this.
Turnover. Used as a proxy for complexity even where it does not reflect actual work.
Payroll headcount. Usually priced separately and per head. SmartFiling’s RTI payroll is from £15 per employee per month, including auto-enrolment, payslips, P60s and year-end returns.
Structural complexity. Multiple directors, alphabet shares, corporate shareholders, multi-currency, property, e-commerce settlement data. Any one of these moves a quote.
Backlog. The most expensive surprise. Osome charges around £850 a year for historical work; Sleek charges £750 per financial year backdated. Three years behind is a four-figure catch-up before your first ordinary year.
Doing it yourself: what changed in 2026
HMRC’s free Company Accounts and Tax Online service closed on 31 March 2026. From 1 April 2026, a Company Tax Return must be filed using commercial software. Paper CT600s are accepted only with a reasonable excuse or in Welsh. The free DIY route for Corporation Tax no longer exists.
Companies House accounts filing remains free, and web filing still works until April 2028, when accounts move to software-only iXBRL submission.
Self-file software is the cheapest route if your affairs are genuinely simple:
| Product | Price | VAT basis |
|---|---|---|
| TinyTax dormant | £20 a year | Not stated by the provider |
| TinyTax | £59 a year | Not stated by the provider |
| Taxpipe | £59 per return (no Companies House filing) | Not stated by the provider |
| Easy Digital Filing | £80 to £195 depending on accounts type | Plus VAT |
TinyTax and Taxpipe do not publish a VAT basis, so their figures are not combined with Easy Digital Filing’s into a single range.
Bookkeeping software sits underneath either route: Xero from £16 a month ex VAT, FreeAgent £33 a month ex VAT — free for NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank business account holders, which is worth checking before you pay for anything.
The honest comparison is not price against price. It is £119 + VAT and your own time and risk, against a few hundred pounds and someone professionally accountable for the numbers.
Where the money goes wrong
Late filing is the expensive mistake, not the fee. Companies House late filing penalties run £150, £375, £750 and £1,500 for a private company depending on how late, doubled if you file late in two successive years. They are automatic and there is no discretion.
Corporation Tax return penalties doubled for returns with a filing date on or after 1 April 2026 — £200 immediately, a further £200 at three months, then tax-geared penalties at six and twelve months. They apply even where there is no tax to pay. Most published content still quotes £100.
Late payment interest is 7.75%.
Against those numbers, the difference between a £329 quote and a £499 quote is not the thing to optimise.
How to compare quotes properly
Ask every firm the same five questions:
- Is that inclusive or exclusive of VAT?
- What exactly is included — accounts, CT600, confirmation statement, director’s Self Assessment, VAT, payroll?
- What triggers a price increase?
- What is the turnaround, and what does express cost?
- Which professional body regulates you?
That last one matters more than the price. “Accountant” is not a protected term in the UK — anyone can use it. ICAEW, ACCA and ICAS members are bound by professional standards, carry professional indemnity insurance and are subject to a complaints process. Ask, and check the register.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an accountant cost for a small limited company?
For annual accounts and a Corporation Tax return on a straightforward company, the market runs from around £299 + VAT to £1,500 + VAT a year. Monthly subscription packages bundling bookkeeping, VAT and payroll run from about £474 to £1,644 a year plus VAT. VAT registration, transaction volume, payroll headcount and any backlog are what move the number.
Why do accountancy quotes vary so much for the same work?
Mostly because the quotes are not for the same work. Some include bookkeeping and payroll, some are a single filing. Providers also band on transaction volume and turnover, and one provider will charge £575 inc VAT from a trial balance and £950 inc VAT from a bag of paperwork for the same company.
Can I file my company accounts and tax return myself?
Companies House accounts filing is free and web filing still works until April 2028. HMRC’s free Company Accounts and Tax Online service closed on 31 March 2026, so from 1 April 2026 a Company Tax Return must be filed using commercial software. Easy Digital Filing’s self-file software costs £80 to £195 + VAT depending on the accounts type.
Is a monthly subscription cheaper than a fixed annual fee?
It depends on what you need. If you only need accounts and a CT600, a fixed annual fee is usually cheaper. If you need bookkeeping, VAT returns and payroll as well, a subscription generally is. Compare the annual equivalent and check the transaction and headcount caps.
What happens if I am years behind on filing?
Backlog is priced separately and it is expensive — roughly £750 to £850 per financial year at providers who publish a figure. It is still cheaper than the penalties, which reach £1,500 per set of accounts at Companies House and are doubled for a second consecutive late year.
Getting a straight number
Fixed fees exist because most small company compliance work is predictable. If a firm cannot quote before seeing your records, it is either genuinely complex or the firm bills by the hour.
SmartFiling quotes fixed fees for small business accounts, Corporation Tax, VAT and payroll — micro-entity accounts from £299 with a seven working day turnaround, and an express option at £150 subject to availability. Every submission is reviewed by an ICAEW Chartered Accountant.
