What benefits can an accountant offer me as a freelancer?

Whether you are a self-employed freelancer or you operate through a limited company, there are many benefits to seeking professional help from an accountant to help you take care of all your tax affairs.

Here are some thoughts from specialist freelancer accountant Taxevo on the benefits an accountant can bring.

Meeting your filing requirements

The most obvious reason to get an accountant is to ensure you are being compliant with your filing obligations.

As a self-employed freelancer you’ll need to file a self-assessment tax return with HMRC each year. If you operate through a limited company your obligations go further – you’ll need help with filing the company accounts and company tax return along with a self-assessment tax return as a company director.

There are strict fines for late filing and interest is charged on late tax payments, so make sure you do not miss a deadline with the support of an accountant to keep you on track.

Expertise in helping freelancers

As a freelancer you have skill and expertise in your area of work. So why take the risk of not leaving your business finances to an expert?

An accountant who specialises in freelancers can give you specific advice and support to ensure your business finances are handled correctly. They will also be able to keep you up to date with ever changing legislation to make sure you never fall foul of HMRC.

Increase your profits

A good accountant will provide you with guidance to help you maximise your business profits. Identifying what expenses can be claimed is important and a specialist freelancer accountant will give you that expert knowledge on what can and can’t be claimed.

It may be something as simple as claiming an allowance for using your own home as your office. Let an accountant put your mind at ease to make sure you are only claiming what is an allowable business expense.

Time for you to focus on what you do best

Time is precious and you want to be able to put everything into growing your business. Not everyone wants to get bogged down with accounting and tax so leave it an expert so you can focus on what you do best.

Many accountants will provide you with cloud-based software to help manage your business finances, this will allow you to have sight of profit levels and plan for tax payments so that there are no nasty surprises. The information is usually real time so you can always have meaningful conversations with your accountant about your current position.

Choosing the right accountant

It is a big business decision choosing an accountant. As a freelancer make sure you choose one who specialises in working with freelancers. That way you’ll get that specific advice from an expert who knows how you work.

More on how to choose an accountant and freelancer accountants.