Sidekick - Limited Company and Self-Employed Accountants

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Sidekick - Limited Company and Self-Employed Accountants

Sidekick are one of the fastest growing accounting services for Self-Employed professionals and Contractors.

Sidekick was created by a team who have over 25 years’ experience providing services to small business owners. Having recognised the way others do things, and feeling that this is outdated, we felt we could offer more. The world is changing, people are busier than ever and the days of putting receipts in an envelope and having a stressful year end are long gone. Life doesn’t have to be stressful w

ith Sidekick, we are here to make running a small business or getting paid as simple and efficient as possible.

17/06/2026

What our clients are saying about us…

We have over 25 years of experience supporting self-employed professionals and limited company owners across the UK.

Our clients rate us five stars on Trustpilot, and the reason they keep coming back is simple.

We answer quickly. We explain things clearly. We are proactive, not reactive. We handle everything from bookkeeping and payroll to tax returns and Making Tax Digital, all for one fixed monthly fee with no hidden costs.

We do not do one size fits all. We take the time to understand your situation and make sure your finances are working as hard as possible for you.

If you have been looking for an accountant who actually shows up, explains things in language you understand and makes your life simpler, this is what working with Sidekick looks like.

DM us or tap the link in our bio to get started.

15/06/2026

Most of the conversation around Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has focused on self-employed people. Landlords are equally affected, and research suggests a significant number are still unaware that the rules now apply to them.

From 6 April 2026, MTD for Income Tax is mandatory for anyone whose combined gross income from self-employment and property exceeds £50,000 per year. That means the threshold is not based on rental income alone. A landlord earning £30,000 in rent and £25,000 from self-employment would be in scope from this April. The threshold reduces to £30,000 from April 2027, and to £20,000 from April 2028, bringing the majority of private landlords into scope within the next two years.

What this means in practice is that landlords must now keep digital records of their rental income and allowable expenses and submit quarterly updates to HMRC through approved software. The four quarterly periods run to 5 July, 5 October, 5 January and 5 April. A final declaration replaces the previous annual self-assessment return.

Allowable expenses for landlords include mortgage interest at the basic rate, letting agent fees, insurance, repairs and maintenance, ground rent and service charges, and certain professional fees. These need to be recorded digitally as you go, not reconstructed at year end.

For landlords who also have self-employment income, both income streams need to be reported under MTD, with separate quarterly updates for each.

The penalty regime for late or missing submissions under MTD is points-based. Miss enough submissions, and a financial penalty follows.

DM us if you are a landlord and are not yet set up for MTD.

12/06/2026

Every limited company in the UK is legally required to prepare and file annual accounts. Missing the deadline results in automatic penalties from Companies House, and the penalties escalate the longer the filing is overdue.

Here is what limited company accounts must cover.

A balance sheet showing the company's assets, liabilities and shareholder equity at the year-end date. A profit and loss account showing income and expenditure over the accounting period. Notes to the accounts providing additional detail on key figures and accounting policies. A director’s report for companies above the micro entity threshold.

The size of your company determines the level of detail required. Micro entities, companies meeting at least two of these conditions: turnover no more than £1 million, balance sheet total no more than £500,000, and no more than ten employees, can file simplified accounts with Companies House. These consist of a balance sheet only. No profit and loss account and no directors’ report need to be filed publicly.

From 31 March 2026, HMRC's joint online filing service for company accounts and tax returns closed permanently. Accounts and the CT600 corporation tax return must now be filed separately using approved software. If you have not yet updated your process for this, it is worth doing so now.

The filing deadline with Companies House is nine months after your accounting year-end for private limited companies. Your corporation tax return and payment are also due nine months and one day after year-end, but these go to HMRC separately.

Both deadlines are tracked and filed as part of our limited company service. Missing either one is not something that should happen when you have proper support in place.

DM us to find out what our limited company service includes.

10/06/2026

If your business is VAT registered or approaching the £90,000 registration threshold, the VAT Flat Rate Scheme is worth understanding. For some businesses, it simplifies administration and improves cash flow. For others, particularly service-based businesses, it can cost more than the standard method.

Here is how it works.

Under the standard VAT method, you charge 20% VAT on your sales, reclaim VAT on your purchases and pay HMRC the difference.

Under the Flat Rate Scheme, you charge your customers 20% VAT as normal but pay HMRC a fixed percentage of your total VAT-inclusive turnover instead. The percentage depends on your business sector.

A management consultant pays 14%, an IT contractor 14.5%, and a cleaning business 10%. You keep the difference between the VAT you collect and the flat rate percentage you pay to HMRC.

To join, your VAT taxable turnover must be no more than £150,000 excluding VAT. You must leave the scheme once your total VAT-inclusive income exceeds £230,000.

The rule that catches most service businesses out is the limited cost trader rule. If your VATable purchases of goods are less than 2% of your VAT-inclusive turnover, or less than £1,000 per year, HMRC classifies you as a limited cost trader. That forces you onto a flat rate of 16.5% regardless of your sector, which removes most of the financial benefit.

For businesses with significant material costs, the scheme can work well. For those whose main cost is their own time, it usually does not.

Whether the Flat Rate Scheme makes sense for your business depends on your specific cost structure. It is worth calculating before you commit.

DM us to find out which VAT method is right for your business.

08/06/2026

One of the most common misconceptions among limited company directors is that corporation tax is a flat 25% charge on profits. For many smaller companies, it is not.

Understanding how the rate is calculated can make a meaningful difference to your planning decisions. For 2026/27 there are two rates. The small profit rate is 19%.

This applies to companies with taxable profits of £50,000 or less. The main rate is 25%. This applies to companies with taxable profits above £250,000. Companies with profits between £50,000 and £250,000 fall into the marginal relief band.

Within this band, the effective rate on additional profits can reach up to 26. 5%, which is counterintuitively higher than the 25% main rate on profits above £250,000. Many owner-managed businesses sit in this range without realising it. There are also important rules around associated companies.

If you control more than one company, the £50,000 and £250,000 thresholds are divided between them. Two companies controlled by the same person share the thresholds, meaning each company's small profits threshold could be as low as £25,000. Corporation tax is due nine months and one day after your company's accounting year-end. It is not collected through PAYE.

Planning your profit position, through pension contributions, timing of expenditure and income, before that year-end date is where the real saving happens. At Sidekick, we review every limited company client's corporation tax position ahead of their year-end, not after it.

DM us or tap the link in bio to speak to our Limited Company Specialist.

05/06/2026

If you are self-employed and you have ever looked at your self-assessment bill and wondered why the National Insurance figure is what it is, this one is for you.

Most people know that employees pay National Insurance. Fewer people understand how it works when you are self-employed, because nobody explains it clearly.
Here is the straightforward version.

You pay one main type: Class 4. This is calculated as a percentage of your profits. Currently, 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% on anything above that. It is collected through your self-assessment return, not through payroll.

Class 2 National Insurance, which used to be a compulsory flat weekly payment, has not been compulsory since April 2024. If your profits are above £7,105 per year, you receive a qualifying year towards your state pension automatically, without needing to pay anything extra. If your profits fall below that threshold, you can choose to pay voluntary Class 2 contributions, currently £3.65 per week, to protect your National Insurance record and state pension entitlement.

Two things that often catch people out.

Self-employed National Insurance does not give you entitlement to statutory sick pay or statutory maternity pay. Those protections do not exist in the same way they do for employees. Planning for that gap matters.

If you have both employment income and self-employment income in the same year, there are rules that cap how much National Insurance you pay in total. Most people do not know this rule exists and end up overpaying.

Your accountant should be across both of these points as a matter of course. If you are not sure whether yours is, that is worth finding out.

DM us, and we will take a look at your National Insurance position.

03/06/2026

Every year, limited companies are struck off the Companies House register for missing a filing deadline...

Here is what it is. Once a year, every limited company must confirm to Companies House that the information held on the public register is accurate. Your registered office address, your directors, your shareholders, your share structure. If anything has changed, you notify Companies House separately. The confirmation statement simply says everything is current and correct.

Miss the deadline and the penalties begin. Ignore those and Companies House can strike your company off the register entirely. At that point you are looking at restoration proceedings, legal costs and potential personal liability for anything that happened while the company was dissolved.

All of that from a £34 filing.

The problem is not that it is complicated. It is that when you are running a business, it is easy for a routine annual deadline to fall off the radar. Especially when nobody reminds you it is coming.

This is exactly the kind of thing that should never reach the point of being a problem. At Sidekick, we track every filing deadline for every limited company client. The confirmation statement gets filed. You do not have to think about it.

That is what a proactive accountant does. If yours is not doing it, it might be time to talk to us.

DM us to find out what is included in our limited company service.

01/06/2026

Most people find out they have crossed a tax threshold when the bill arrives. By then, there is nothing they can do about it.

Here is what nobody tells you when your income starts to grow.

At £50,270, your income tax rate jumps from 20% to 40%. Most people know this one.

What most people do not know is what happens at £100,000.

For every £2 you earn above £100,000, you lose £1 of your personal allowance. By £125,140, it is gone entirely. That creates an effective tax rate of 60% on income in that band. Not a typo. Sixty per cent.

There are ways to manage this. Pension contributions made before the tax year closes can bring your adjusted income back below £100,000 and restore your allowance in full. For someone earning £110,000, that could be worth thousands of pounds in a single year.

But the planning has to happen during the year. Once April comes, the opportunity is gone.

This is the kind of thing your accountant should be flagging to you proactively, before you hit the threshold, not after.

At Sidekick, that is exactly what we do. We review every client's position throughout the year and act on it while there is still time to make a difference.

If your income is growing and you are not sure what that means for your tax position, that is the conversation to have right now.

DM us the word THRESHOLD and we will tell you exactly where you stand.

27/05/2026

Most people know that the higher rate of tax kicks in at £50,270. Fewer people know what happens at £100,000, and it is one of the most important thresholds in the UK tax system.

Once your income exceeds £100,000, your personal allowance begins to reduce. For every £2 you earn over that threshold, you lose £1 of your personal allowance. By the time your income reaches £125,140, your personal allowance is gone entirely.

What this creates is an effective tax rate of 60% on income between £100,000 and £125,140. You are paying 40% income tax on that band, plus losing the allowance that would otherwise shelter income from tax altogether.

This is not a widely publicised quirk of the system. Many people earning in that range are completely unaware of it until they see their tax bill.

There are legitimate ways to manage this. Pension contributions are the most commonly used. A contribution that brings your adjusted net income below £100,000 restores your personal allowance in full, turning a 60% effective rate back into 40%.

The planning window here is the tax year itself. Once the year ends, the opportunity to act is gone.

If your income is approaching or within this range, it is worth having a conversation about your options now rather than after the fact.

DM us or tap the link in bio to find out more about how we can support you!

25/05/2026

If your director's loan account is overdrawn, meaning you owe the company more than it owes you, and that balance is not cleared within nine months and one day of your company's accounting year-end, your company pays an S455 tax charge on the outstanding amount.

From 6 April 2026, that rate increased to 35.75% on any loans taken from that date. The charge is repayable when the loan is repaid, but it ties up a significant amount of cash in the meantime.

If the loan exceeds £10,000 at any point in the year, it is treated as a benefit in kind. National Insurance becomes payable by the company and the amount needs to be declared on your P11D.

Interest-free loans to directors are also subject to specific HMRC rules around the notional interest that should be charged.

None of this makes directors' loans something to avoid. It makes them something to manage properly and review regularly.

At Sidekick, this is exactly the kind of thing we track for every limited company client throughout the year, not just at year-end. Knowing your position before the deadline means you have time to act on it.

DM us to make sure your director's loan account is being managed correctly.

Address

71-75 Shelton Street
London
WC2H9JQ

Telephone

+448081643000

Website

http://www.yoursidekick.co.uk/

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