Sole traders · Small companies · Landlords
Bramley Ledger is a two-person accountancy studio. We keep a small list, close each month while the paperwork is still fresh, and send year-end accounts for signature weeks early — not the night before.
Who we help
We work with owner-managed businesses where one person carries the admin. If your situation isn't on this list, say so in the enquiry and we'll tell you honestly whether we're the right fit.
01
Invoices out, receipts in, one tax return a year. We reconcile your business account quarterly so the January return is a review rather than a reconstruction, and we flag when your profit level makes a limited company worth costing out.
02
Statutory accounts, the corporation tax return, confirmation statement and your own return, kept on one calendar. We set a salary and dividend pattern at the start of the year and adjust it once at the half-year, so nothing is decided in a rush in March.
03
Rent, agent statements, mortgage interest and repairs split per property so you can see which one actually earns. We keep a running capital-improvement log, because the awkward questions arrive years later when a property is sold.
04
Design, build and consultancy practices with a handful of staff and a rotating bench of freelancers. We handle the monthly payroll run, watch the VAT position as project invoices land unevenly, and keep a cash view that accounts for money already promised to contractors.
What's included
Every engagement is a fixed monthly fee quoted after we've seen a year of your records. Add-ons are priced separately and only start once you've agreed them in writing — we never bill for a phone call or an email.
| Work | Essentials | Monthly | Full ledger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year-end accounts and filing | Included | Included | Included |
| Self-assessment return (per director or owner) | Included | Included | Included |
| Corporation tax return | Included | Included | Included |
| Bookkeeping review and reconciliation | Annual | Monthly | We do the entry |
| VAT returns | Add-on | Included | Included |
| Payroll run and pension upload | Add-on | Up to five people | Included |
| Quarterly management pack | Not included | Included | Monthly |
| Salary and dividend planning session | Not included | Twice a year | Quarterly |
| Accounting software licence | Your own | Your own | Through us |
| Correspondence handled on your behalf | Included | Included | Included |
How we work
The first six weeks do most of the work. After that the rhythm is quiet: you send records once a month, we ask short questions, and the year-end is already written by the time it arrives.
Step one · Week one
Before quoting, we look at a complete year of records and last year's filed accounts. That tells us what shape the ledger is in and where the awkward balances sit, so the fee we quote is the fee you pay.
Step two · Weeks two to four
We write to your previous accountant, collect the working papers, agree the opening balances and fix whatever is carried wrongly. You approve the authorisation codes; we do the chasing.
Step three · Every month
Records in by the sixth, questions from us by the tenth, month closed by the fifteenth. Queries go in one short list rather than a trickle of emails, so you deal with your books once a month and then forget them.
Step four · After year end
Draft accounts and the tax figure come to you within six weeks of your year end. We talk them through, agree the position, and only then file — with the payment dates written on the front page.
Filing rhythm
Personal deadlines are fixed for everyone. Company deadlines move with your own year end, so we set your reminders from the date on your incorporation record.
VAT and payroll sit on their own cycles: VAT returns one month and seven days after each quarter, payroll submissions on or before each pay date. Both are included in the Monthly and Full ledger engagements.
Before you sign
Ask us these, and ask whoever else you are speaking to. The answers tell you more than a list of services does.
Listen for — a named person and how to reach them. If the answer moves between departments, your questions will too. Here, one of the two of us owns your file from handover onwards.
Listen for — a specific list, not "we'll see". Ask about extra returns, chasing records, correcting a previous year, and responding to an enquiry letter. Get it in writing before you sign anything.
Listen for — a number of weeks after your year end. Accounts that appear days before the filing deadline leave you no room to act on what they say.
Listen for — a routine rather than a rescue. Monthly or quarterly handover keeps errors small; an annual carrier bag guarantees a bad January for both of you.
Listen for — professional indemnity cover, a named body they answer to, and a plain description of who pays a penalty caused by a late filing that was their responsibility.
Questions
Yes, and it is more common than mid-year switching sounds. We write to your current accountant for the working papers and trial balance, agree the opening position with them, and pick the ledger up from there. You do not need to wait for a year end, and you do not need to have an awkward conversation — the professional clearance letter is our job.
It is the situation most new clients arrive in. Tell us roughly how far behind you are in the enquiry form — a few months, a year, more — and whether anything has already been filed for those periods.
We quote catch-up work separately from the ongoing fee so you can see exactly what the backlog costs, and we work oldest period first so any late filing stops getting worse.
It depends on your rolling twelve-month taxable turnover, not your financial year, which is why it often creeps up unnoticed. We track the rolling figure monthly for every client and tell you when you are within sight of the threshold, so registration is a planned decision rather than a backdated one. If you are already over, say so in your enquiry — that changes the order we do things in.
Bank statements or a connected bank feed, sales invoices you have raised, purchase receipts, and anything unusual with a one-line explanation. If you use Xero or FreeAgent we work in your file directly. If you use a spreadsheet, send it as it is — we would rather tidy your format than make you learn ours.
No. We work in Xero and FreeAgent and can take over an existing subscription, but a well-kept spreadsheet is perfectly acceptable for a sole trader or a single-property landlord. We only recommend a change when the volume of transactions makes it cheaper than the bookkeeping time it saves.
Yes. Payroll for up to five people is part of the Monthly engagement, including pension uploads and payslips. Freelancers are not payroll, but the line between a contractor and an employee is worth getting right, so we keep written notes on how each engagement is structured and raise it with you if a working pattern starts to look like employment.
Only if the work does, and only after we have agreed it with you. We review fees once a year and give at least two months' notice of a change. If your business grows past the engagement you are on — a new VAT registration, more people on payroll — we will tell you before the extra work starts, not afterwards on an invoice.
Enquiry
No documents needed yet. A few lines about your setup is enough for us to say whether we can help, what it would cost and when we could start.