Accountants Fees: What You Should Expect to Pay in 2025

Accountants Fees in the UK

Thinking of hiring an accountant but unsure about the cost? Whether you're a sole trader, limited company, partnership, or landlord, understanding what accountants charge—and why—can help you choose the right support at the right price.

In this guide, we break down accountants’ fees in the UK, what influences them, and how our fixed-price services provide exceptional value with no hidden costs.

When comparing accountants’ fees, it’s not just about finding the lowest price — it’s about getting real value, expert advice, and peace of mind that your accounts and tax are handled correctly.

At The Online Accountants, we believe in clear, fixed-price fees with no hidden extras, so you know exactly what you’re paying for from the start.

Why Do Accountant Fees Vary So Much?

Accountancy fees are not one-size-fits-all. They depend on factors such as:

• Type of business structure (sole trader, limited company, etc.)

• Complexity of your accounts

• Services required (just tax filing vs full year-round support)

• Turnover and number of transactions

• Payroll or VAT obligations

• Location – city firms may charge more than online accountants

Accountants Fees for Limited Companies

If you're running a limited company, you have legal responsibilities to submit annual accounts to Companies House and HMRC. Traditional firms may charge £750–£3,000+, depending on complexity.

Our fixed-price limited company accounts service:

• From £299 (plus VAT)

• Includes Companies House and HMRC filing

• Full set of statutory accounts

• CT600 corporation tax return

• Director’s self-assessment tax returns can be ordered as an additional service from £199 (plus VAT)

• Expert support and digital filing

Explore Our Limited Company Accounts Service →

Accountant Fees for Sole Traders / Self-Employed

Sole traders typically need to file a self-assessment tax return. Local firms may charge £200–£1,000+ depending on the services.

Our self-employed accounts and tax return package:

• From £399 (plus VAT)

• Year-end accounts preparation

• Self-assessment tax return filing

• HMRC-compliant

• No hidden extras

Explore Our Self-Employed Accounts Service →

Accountants Fees for Partnerships

Partnerships must file a partnership return and individual returns for each partner. Many accountants charge £400–£2,000+, depending on turnover and complexity.

Our partnership accounts and tax service:

• From £499 (plus VAT)

• Includes:

  • Full partnership accounts

  • Partnership tax return (SA800)

  • Individual partner returns (SA100) can be ordered as an additional service from £199 (plus VAT) each

  • HMRC submission

Explore Our Partnership Accounts Service →

Accountants Fees for LLPs (Limited Liability Partnerships)

LLPs are legally required to file accounts with both HMRC and Companies House, like limited companies. Standard accountancy fees range from £750–£3,000+.

Our fixed-fee LLP accounting service:

• From £999 (plus VAT)

• Statutory accounts (for Companies House)

• Partnership tax return (SA800)

• Individual partners’ tax returns can be ordered as an additional service from £199 (plus VAT) each

• Fully digital service

Explore Our LLP Accounts Service →

Self-Assessment Tax Return Fees

Need to file a one-off tax return? Fees vary widely—£150–£600+ depending on what’s included.

Our fixed-price self-assessment tax return service:

• From £199 (plus VAT)

• For employees, landlords, directors, investors & more

• HMRC-compliant and expertly reviewed

Explore Our Self-Assessment Tax Return Service →

What Services Are Usually Included in Accountancy Fees?

Here’s what most clients should expect from a standard accountancy service:

Why Fixed Fees Beat Hourly Rates

Some traditional accountants still charge by the hour—often £75–£250 per hour—but this can quickly become unpredictable and expensive.

With fixed fees:

• You know exactly what you're paying

• No surprise invoices

• Better budgeting for your business

• Increased transparency and trust

We built our services to be entirely fixed-price so you can stay in control.

Choosing the Right Accountant: What to Look For

When comparing accountant fees, consider more than just price:

✅ Are they qualified and regulated (e.g. ACCA, ICAEW)?

✅ Do they offer clear pricing with no hidden extras?

✅ Can they support you digitally and remotely?

✅ Do they have experience with your type of business?

✅ Will they file everything directly to HMRC and Companies House?

At The Online Accountants, we tick all of the above—and our reviews speak for themselves.

How to Get Started

1. Choose your service from our range of fixed-fee packages

2. Send your records securely through our online portal

3. We prepare, review and file your accounts and tax returns

4. Stay compliant and avoid penalties—hassle-free

Summary: Typical Accountant Fees in the UK

Why Our Clients Choose Us Over Cheaper Alternatives

While you can always find a cheaper accountant, our clients stay with us because:

• We proactively save them money on tax.

• We use leading accounting software like Xero, QuickBooks, Sage and FreeAgent.

• We offer unlimited support — not just once a year.

• We’re fully qualified and regulated by the ACCA.
  

Tips on How to Reduce Your Accountancy Fees

Improve your bookkeeping

This is the easiest way to bring down your accountants fees. Accurate bookkeeping, ideally using proprietary software, will significantly improve how much your accountants charge and enable them to offer you a better price for your year end accounts.

If you're not sure how to do this yourself then perhaps you should consider engaging a professional bookkeeper to handle this for you.

If accountants can see that your trial balance shows debits and credits on the correct side this will give them confidence that entries have been made correctly.

If the profit and loss report figure for the year also appears in the balance sheet retained reserves section this is another good marker.

Using manual records?

We understand that not everyone uses software to maintain their evidence of income and expenditure.

Spreadsheets are fine but should show all sales and expenses net of vat. The payments made out should also be analysed by category totals for the year so that your accountant can easily create detailed accounts for the period end accounts.

We often receive bank statement downloads from clients but these are not sufficient as we cannot be expected to make assumptions on your behalf as to what the expenditure relates to and whether or not they are bona fide business payments or personal expenditure.

Provide a reconciled bank account

If you're using double entry bookkeeping software you should be using the import feature to bring in each transaction from your bank. These should then be matched correctly to customer receipts against outstanding sales invoice to reduce your trade debtors, supplier expense invoices to reduce trade creditors and other items of income and expenditure not running through the control account ledgers.

If your using manual records you should obtain your bank balance at the start of the year, add on your turnover and other capital introduced, deduct your summary of payments made and capital withdrawn by way of directors dividends or directors loan repayments and ideally finish with the closing bank balance as per your bank statement.

If your accountant can see that the bank accounts reconcile you can expect lower fees.

Providing a summary of income and expenditure?

You can also provide your accountant with a summary of income and expenditure. This can be in any format provided the expenses are itemised by expenditure type totals for the whole year.

The types of expenditure we would expect to see are travel, phone, purchases for resale, stationery, advertising, use of home as office, dividends taken, drawings, capital introduced, capital expenditure such as laptops, salaries paid under PAYE schemes, repairs and renewals, light and heating costs and any other category that you consider necessary.

Please see our expenses guide for more help.

Ensure VAT returns are correctly filed through MTD

You should have connected your software to the HMRC Making Tax Digital VAT account on the Government Gateway if registered for VAT and have submitted all VAT returns after checking them thoroughly before placing your order for year end accounts.You should review all the detailed entries that make up each box number on the VAT return.

Another good check is to ensure that all standard rated net sales multiplied by the VAT percentage approximates to the output VAT being declared and the same check should be made for payments made in relation to the input VAT being claimed.

If your advisor can see promptly filed VAT returns with figures that make sense they will gain confidence that the reports produced by your software for year end purposes are not materially deficient in accuracy and provide reduced accountancy bills to you.

Keep well organised self assessment tax records

If you expect your accountant to give you a good price for your personal self assessment tax return you should ensure you are able to provide a good summary of all your savings and rental income.

Rental income and expense summaries should be made for each property individually and for the total portfolio. You should also ensure that any mortgage interest is split out from capital repayments.

Bank interest and dividends also need to be summarised for the year ending 5 April.

Ready to File with Confidence?

With years of experience helping UK businesses file their accounts correctly and affordably, we’re ready to support you. Our services are built for clarity, compliance, and confidence—all at fixed prices with no surprises.

👉 Browse All Services