Accountants for
Landlords

We work with QuickBooks, Xero, FreeAgent, Capium and Dext, so the answer depends on your business rather than on what we prefer. QuickBooks suits most sole traders and small companies. Xero tends to fit businesses with more complex needs or higher transaction volumes. FreeAgent is often free with certain business bank accounts, which makes it attractive for freelancers.

What matters more than the brand is that it is genuinely MTD-compatible and that your bank feed works reliably.

MTD for Income Tax begins in April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income above £50,000. The threshold falls to £30,000 in April 2027 and £20,000 in April 2028. Qualifying income means gross income from self-employment and property before expenses, so it is a lower bar than profit.

Those in scope will need to keep digital records and send HMRC quarterly updates as well as a final declaration. We move clients onto software well ahead of their start date rather than in the month before.

Monthly for most businesses. It is the point at which the work is still small enough to be quick and recent enough that you remember what things were. Quarterly can work for very low-volume businesses, and will become the practical minimum for anyone inside MTD.

Annual bookkeeping is the expensive option. Reconstructing a year takes longer, produces worse information, and reliably loses expenses that nobody can identify twelve months later.

Yes, and it is a fairly common starting point. We agree a fixed fee for bringing the records up to date, work back through the bank statements, and rebuild the ledger to a point where it is accurate.

Bring whatever you have, including the carrier bag. It is genuinely easier for us to sort out than for you to attempt first.

19% on profits up to £50,000 and 25% on profits over £250,000. Between those figures marginal relief applies, which produces an effective marginal rate of 26.5% on the profits falling in the band.

Both thresholds are divided by the number of associated companies. If you control two companies, the small profits limit becomes £25,000 each, which frequently surprises people who set up a second company for a side venture.

Nine months and one day after the end of your accounting period. The CT600 return is not due until twelve months after year end, so payment comes first — a common cash flow trap for a company in its first profitable year.

Very large companies pay in quarterly instalments instead, but that only applies well above the profit levels most small companies reach.