About SmartFiling

A London-based Chartered Accountants practice — five decades on.

SmartFiling is the trading brand of Ballards Newman (Finchley) Limited, an ICAEW-regulated London practice that has been established since the 1970s. We deliver fixed-fee, fully online filing for UK directors, landlords and sole traders — handled by experienced ICAEW Chartered Accountants and expert professionals.

50+Years of heritage
100%Online service
ICAEWChartered & regulated
£2,000,000PII cover
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Our story

A London chartered practice with five decades on the record.

SmartFiling traces back to a London chartered practice founded by Len Rickman and Robert Brooks in the mid-1970s as Rickman Brooks. Over the years partners joined, mergers happened, and the firm's name evolved — Bernie Fellman, Laurence Cohen, Frank Newman, Leon Perkin. In March 2007 the practice was reorganised as Ballards Newman (Finchley) Limited, the legal entity that holds the firm today.

In June 2022 ownership passed to a group of professional Chartered Accountants under the leadership of Krishna Prasad Dahal. Today it trades online as SmartFiling, delivering UK accounts, Corporation Tax, VAT, Self Assessment, payroll and bookkeeping on a fixed-fee, fully online basis.

What we do is straightforward, and what we have always done: prepare accounts, file tax, run payroll and keep UK businesses compliant. The way we deliver has modernised — fixed fees, a secure online portal, MTD-ready software — and every filing is signed off by an ICAEW Chartered Accountant.

Five decades, one practice

The firm, year by year

A continuous London chartered practice — from a mid-1970s firm to a fully online, fixed-fee filing service today. Every milestone below is independently verifiable through Companies House and the ICAEW firm register.

  1. Mid-1970s

    Founded as Rickman Brooks

    Len Rickman and Robert Brooks set up an ICAEW Chartered Accountants practice in London — the original firm from which Ballards Newman (Finchley) Limited descends.

  2. 1987

    Bernie Fellman joins; firm trades as "Ballards"

    Bernie Fellman joined as partner and the firm took the trading name Ballards.

  3. 1997 – 1998

    Cohen joins as partner; Muller joins as manager

    Laurence Cohen joined as partner in January 1997. Robert Muller joined as manager in 1998. Founding partner Len Rickman retired at 65; Robert Brooks and Laurence Cohen continued the practice.

  4. February 2001

    Merger with Frank Newman creates Ballards Newman Ltd

    The neighbouring practice of Frank Newman was acquired and merged in, and the firm was renamed Ballards Newman Ltd — the heritage carried by the present-day firm.

  5. August 2004

    Leon Perkin joins

    Leon Perkin joined the practice, which operated for a period as Ballards Perkin Lewis Ltd.

  6. March 2007

    Ballards Newman (Finchley) Ltd — the present legal entity

    Following the passing of founding partner Robert Brooks, the remaining partners reorganised the practice into Ballards Newman (Finchley) Limited (Companies House no. 06165758) — the legal entity that holds the firm today.

  7. April 2020

    Passing of Leon Perkin

    Leon Perkin passed away in April 2020. Laurence Cohen and Robert Muller continued running the practice.

  8. June 2022

    New ownership

    In June 2022 ownership passed to a group of professional Chartered Accountants under the leadership of Krishna Prasad Dahal, taking forward a chartered firm with five decades of UK heritage. The ICAEW firm registration and the Companies House entity were unaffected by the change.

  9. Today

    Trading online as SmartFiling

    The firm trades today as SmartFiling — delivered fully online. Fixed-fee filings for UK limited companies, landlords and sole traders, signed off to an ICAEW Chartered Accountants standard.

Who handles your work

Led by Krishna Prasad Dahal, FCCA, ACA, FCA

Every filing is prepared and signed off by qualified, ICAEW-regulated accountants. The practice is led by a Chartered Accountant qualified with ACCA, ICAEW, ICAI and ICAN. The firm is Ballards Newman (Finchley) Limited, Companies House 06165758, and its registration can be checked on public registers.

Krishna Prasad Dahal, Chartered Accountant

Practice lead

Krishna Prasad Dahal

FCCA, ACA (ICAEW), FCA (ICAI India)

Krishna Prasad Dahal leads the practice and sits on the ICAEW Council. He has over 25 years of experience in audit, tax and accountancy across the UK, India and Nepal, and has been a UK Registered Auditor since 2013. He writes and reviews the guidance published on this site.

  • FCCA The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants · member since 2008
  • ACA Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales · admitted 2022
  • FCA The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India · qualified 2002
  • CA The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal

Full profile → ICAEW profile ↗ ACCA profile ↗ LinkedIn ↗

The wider chartered team

Every filing is prepared and signed off by an ICAEW Chartered Accountant. The team covers the full UK SME work — micro-entity accounts and CT600 Corporation Tax for limited companies, VAT and Self Assessment for landlords, contractors and sole traders, monthly payroll with RTI submissions, and cloud bookkeeping on Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent.

Verify the company on Companies House ↗

Why you can trust us

Regulated, insured, accountable

Your money, your HMRC record, your business. Here's how the firm is held to account — and how you can independently verify every claim on this page.

ICAEW regulated

Regulated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. Subject to ICAEW's Code of Ethics and practice assurance reviews.

Fully insured

Professional Indemnity Insurance of £2,000,000 held with an ICAEW-accepted insurer. Every engagement is covered.

AML supervised

Supervised for anti-money-laundering compliance by ICAEW. We carry out AML checks on every new client, as required by UK law.

Data-protection registered

Registered with the Information Commissioner's Office. Your data is encrypted in transit and at rest.

Credentials & track record

Continuous ICAEW Chartered Accountants practice — verifiable, insured and on the record.

Accounts, Corporation Tax and VAT decisions affect your balance-sheet position, HMRC exposure and director liability. Every line on this page is independently verifiable on a public register, an insurer's schedule or an HMRC receipt.

Five decades of UK Chartered Accountancy practice

From Rickman Brooks in the mid-1970s to Ballards Newman (Finchley) Limited today — a continuous ICAEW Chartered Accountants practice in London. The current legal entity was incorporated in 2007 at Companies House under number 06165758, taking forward the regulated practice that preceded it.

Every filing signed off by an ICAEW Chartered Accountant

Membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales requires three years of structured training, the full ACA professional examinations and ongoing continuing professional development — audited by ICAEW every year. No filing leaves this firm without a Chartered Accountant's name on it.

Today, SmartFiling is delivered through a collaboration between Smart Filing Limited (Company No. 17445143), which operates the smartfiling.co.uk website and client-facing brand, and Ballards Newman (Finchley) Limited (Company No. 06165758), the ICAEW-regulated practice named throughout this page. Accountancy, tax and filing services are provided by Ballards Newman (Finchley) Limited.

Regulated by ICAEW · supervised for AML

The firm is regulated by ICAEW and supervised for anti-money-laundering compliance by ICAEW. The registration is listed on the public ICAEW firm register — verify here.

Professional indemnity cover · fixed fees · named partner

Every engagement is covered by £2,000,000 of Professional Indemnity Insurance. Fees are quoted in writing before work starts — no hourly billing, fixed price as per quote. Any additional work is charged on an hourly rate, agreed in advance. One named ICAEW-qualified accountant owns your file end-to-end. If anything ever goes wrong, there is a published complaints procedure and an independent ICAEW escalation path.

Read our complaints procedure →

Work with us

A Chartered Accountant, on your side.

Fixed fee. Filed on time. ICAEW-regulated. Handled by experienced ICAEW Chartered Accountants and expert professionals.

Get a Quote Call 020 3504 2867
UK Chartered Accountants · ICAEW-regulated
100% Online
Fixed fees from £149
PII insured