Why we publish our prices
Most accountants don't. We think a contractor who's about to trust someone with the numbers deserves to know what it costs before the call. Our fees are on the pricing page; this article is about what drives any accountant's fee for a construction business and what you should get for it.
What drives the fee
- Transaction volume. Bank transactions a month, reconciled weekly. 150 a month is a few hours; 600 is a part-time bookkeeper.
- Payroll headcount and frequency. Weekly payroll for 20 people is four times the work of monthly for 8.
- CIS. Subcontractors verified, deductions calculated, statements issued, returns filed by the 19th. The number of subcontractors drives it, and whether CIS suffered needs reconciling and offsetting monthly.
- VAT complexity. Reverse charge checking on every customer and supplier; monthly rather than quarterly returns if you're in repayment.
- Entities. Each additional company (holding company, SPV) adds accounts and compliance.
- What you want to know. Compliance only, or margin by job, a retentions ledger, a cash forecast and a monthly review. This is the biggest variable and the one most worth paying for.
Three tiers of service, and what they cost
| Tier | What you get | Typical monthly fee | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compliance only | Year-end accounts, corporation tax, VAT returns, maybe payroll. Bookkeeping often done in-house. | £500 to £1,200 | Businesses under £1m with a good in-house bookkeeper and no appetite for management information |
| Compliance plus bookkeeping | As above plus bookkeeping and CIS, quarterly management accounts at company level | £900 to £1,800 | Businesses that want the admin off their desk but aren't yet running on numbers |
| Construction specialist, full service | Job-costed bookkeeping, CIS incl. monthly suffered offset, reverse charge VAT, payroll, year-end, pre-year-end tax planning, monthly working document (margin by job, retentions, 13-week cash, tax position) and a review call | £1,200 to £3,500 | £1m to £15m contractors who want to run the business on numbers |
What should always be included
Software (Xero, Dext, job costing). Filing deadlines and reminders. Phone calls and emails without a clock running. A pre-year-end tax planning meeting. Handover from your previous accountant. If any of those are extras, the headline fee isn't the real fee.
When the cheapest option costs the most
A £3m subcontractor paying £800 a month for compliance only. CIS suffered reclaimed annually: £60,000 sitting with HMRC for most of the year. £54,000 of retentions with no release dates, £18,000 of it overdue. Four years of plant on HP with no capital allowances claimed: £140,000 of tax. Two customers served at a loss, unknown because nobody split the margin. None of that is in the £800. All of it is real money. The gap between the cheap fee and the specialist fee was about £1,500 a month; the cost of the cheap fee was six figures.
One-off fees to expect
- Catch-up bookkeeping if the books are behind: quoted after a review, typically £600 to £2,500.
- A structured onboarding or reset programme: ours is the 90 Day Profit Reset at £1,950, £4,500 or £7,500 depending on how much we do versus you.
- Project work: R&D claims (usually a percentage of relief), group restructuring (fixed quote), tender cash modelling.
Questions to ask any accountant before you sign
- How many construction clients do you have, and what size?
- Will my revenue be recognised on a certified basis?
- Do you offset CIS suffered monthly or reclaim annually?
- Will I get margin by job every month? Within how many days of month-end?
- Who do I speak to, and how quickly do they reply?
- What's included in the fee and what's extra?
The answers tell you more than the price does.
Sources
Questions people ask
Is a fixed monthly fee better than hourly?
For a construction business, yes. Hourly billing means you hesitate to ask questions. A fixed fee agreed up front, that only changes when the business does, lets you use your accountant.
Should bookkeeping be done in-house or outsourced?
Either can work. In-house is cheaper per hour but needs someone who understands job costing, CIS and reverse charge, and cover when they're off. Outsourced to a construction specialist usually produces better information for a similar cost once you count the overhead.
How much does the 90 Day Profit Reset cost?
Self Build is £1,950 (you do the work with our workbooks), Supply & Fit is £4,500 (we rebuild the numbers, you make the decisions), Turnkey is £7,500 (everything, plus a senior accountant in your monthly meeting). All plus VAT, one-off.
Will a specialist accountant cost more than my current one?
Usually, by £500 to £1,500 a month. In most cases the first fix finds more than that in the first quarter: unreclaimed CIS, untracked retentions, unclaimed allowances.
About the author. Chris Neuman is the founder of Taxtful, accountants and advisers to UK construction companies turning over £1m to £15m. Taxtful is construction-only: every client, every template, every conversation. This article is general guidance, not advice on your circumstances; rates and rules change, so check the current position before acting.