Your March, in one page
Contractor payroll and timesheets
Weekly timesheets in, weekly pay run out, every rate and margin reconciled against what you invoice. Run properly, on time, without you chasing.
Contractor payrollAccountants for UK recruitment agencies
Your accountant has never run a desk - we have.
Once a year a set of statements arrives, technically correct and completely useless, and nobody sits down and tells you what it means. A document that should drive decisions gets filed instead. We send the same figures monthly with the translation attached, and a forecast of what the next quarter does to cash.
- Fixed monthly fee
- UK wide, remote first
- Big Four trained
Your March, in one page
| Billed to clients | £186,400 |
| Paid out to contractors | −£142,800 |
| Gross margin | £43,600 |
| Left for you | £14,700 |
What it means
Margin held at 23%, but running costs are up £2,100 on February. You billed more and kept less.
What is coming
Two clients have moved to 60 day terms. That puts you roughly £18,000 short in week three of April. Decide on the new consultant after that, not before.
Illustrative. Every client gets this, written by a person, every month.
Built for
The six things that eat an agency owner's week
Generalist accountants handle these when they come up. We built the practice around them.
The weekly out, monthly in gap
You pay contractors weekly and get paid on 45 day terms. We model that gap, forecast it forward, and tell you before it bites, not after.
Cash flow forecastingMargin per desk, not just turnover
Gross margin split by consultant, by client and by perm against contract. The number that tells you where the business actually earns.
Margin per desk reportingVAT, MTD and the filing calendar
Every deadline tracked in one system with automated document chasing. If we need something from you, you get one clear ask, not five.
Off payroll and status paperwork
Clean records for contractor engagements, so that if a status question ever lands you have the paperwork rather than a search through inboxes.
Invoice finance that reconciles
Factoring and invoice discounting facilities reconciled properly in the ledger, so your funder's balance and your accounts agree every month.
Services
Everything a growing agency needs, and nothing it does not
- Bookkeeping and cloud ledger management
- VAT registration and returns
- Payroll, including contractor payroll
- Management accounts and KPI reporting
- Year end accounts and corporation tax
- Director and personal Self Assessment
- MTD for Income Tax quarterly filing
- Company secretarial and formations
- Cashflow forecasting
Pricing
Fixed monthly fees, published
You know what you pay before you speak to us. Billed monthly in advance by Direct Debit. All prices exclude VAT.
Core
Agencies turning over up to £249,999 a year.
£295per month
- Year end accounts and corporation tax
- Confirmation statement and company secretarial
- VAT returns
- Internal payroll up to two people
- Light bookkeeping, bank feed review
Growth
Agencies turning over £250,000 to £500,000 a year.
£595per month
- Everything in Core
- Full bookkeeping to trial balance
- Two director Self Assessments
- Internal payroll up to five people
- Quarterly management accounts with commentary
- Quarterly margin per desk reporting
Scale
Agencies turning over £500,000 or more a year.
£1,250per month
- Everything in Growth
- Internal payroll up to fifteen people
- Monthly management accounts with commentary
- Monthly margin per desk reporting
- Quarterly cashflow forecast
The turnover bands are a guide, not a rule. Choose the plan that matches the work you actually need, whatever your revenue, and we will tell you on the call if you are in the wrong one.
| What is included | Core | Growth | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual turnover | Up to £249,999 | £250,000 to £500,000 | £500,000+ |
| Price per month, ex VAT | £295 | £595 | £1,250 |
| Year end accounts and corporation tax | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Confirmation statement and co sec | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| VAT returns | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Director Self Assessments | – | 2 | 2 |
| Internal payroll | Up to 2 | Up to 5 | Up to 15 |
| Bookkeeping | Bank feed review | Full, to trial balance | Full, to trial balance |
| Management accounts | – | Quarterly | Monthly |
| Margin per desk reporting | – | Quarterly | Monthly |
| Cashflow forecast | – | – | Quarterly |
Contractor payroll is priced per payslip on top of your tier, so you only pay for the volume you actually run.
Add-ons, quoted before any work starts
| Additional Self Assessment return | £200 a year |
| MTD for Income Tax quarterly filing, sole traders and landlords | £45 a quarter |
| Contractor payroll beyond your included headcount | £6 a payslip |
| Company formation and registered office pack | £150 one-off |
| Back book cleanup on onboarding, messy prior records | from £500 |
| Ad hoc senior advisory | £150 an hour |
No hourly billing on anything in your monthly tier. If the scope changes, we quote it in writing first and you decide.
Switching
Changing accountant takes four steps and about an hour of your time
We handle the handover with your current accountant. You do not have to have an awkward conversation with anyone.
How switching works in detailA 15 minute call
Headcount, contract book, software, what is going wrong now. Enough for us to tell you which tier fits and what it costs.
Fixed fee proposal
Scope and price in writing within two working days. If your records need cleaning up first, that is quoted separately and up front.
We do the handover
You e-sign, we run identity checks and write to your outgoing accountant for professional clearance and your records.
Live in 14 days
Ledger migrated, deadline calendar built, payroll dates locked. You get one named contact and a clear list of what we need each month.
Who we are
A father and son practice. One side knows the numbers, the other knows the desk.
Simeon Berry · Technical and delivery
Big Four rigour, without Big Four behaviour
Simeon spent more than nineteen years in audit with firms including PwC and KPMG, then moved into C-suite and board roles. He signs off every number that leaves this practice.
- 19+ years audit experience, Big Four background
- Former C-suite executive and board director
- UK qualified accountant
- Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment
Jack Berry · Operations and Commercial
He runs an agency, so he already speaks your language
Jack is co-director of a recruitment agency and runs desks, consultants and a commission scheme of his own. When you talk about clawback, contract margin or a consultant who is not billing, you will not be explaining the basics.
- Co-owner and director of a recruitment agency working with UK clients
- Builds the systems and automation that run this practice
- Your first point of contact, from first call to onboarding
Free tools and guides
Work out your numbers before you speak to anyone
Two calculators built for agency owners, and plain English guides on the issues that actually move your margin and your cash.
All guides
Calculator
Temp margin calculator
Charge rate and pay rate in, true margin out, after employer NI, holiday pay and pension.
Open the calculator CalculatorCash gap calculator
How much cash your contract book ties up when you pay weekly and get paid on 30, 45 or 60 days.
Open the calculator GuideUmbrella company liability since April 2026
Why an umbrella company's unpaid PAYE can now land on your agency, and what to check.
Read the guide GuideHow to read your agency's P&L
The handful of lines that tell you whether the business is doing well, and the ones that mislead.
Read the guideQuestions
The things agency owners ask us first
Where are you actually based?
Harwood Accountants is a UK registered practice and we file with HMRC and Companies House exactly as any UK firm does. Some of the qualified accountants who do the work are engaged as contractors in the Isle of Man. Remote delivery is now standard across the profession, and it is what lets us put experienced people on your account at a fee a high street firm would struggle to match.
What do you not do?
We do not provide audit, insolvency, probate or regulated financial advice. Everything else in the scope above is handled in house. Our full registration and insurance details are set out in the engagement letter before you sign anything.
My records are a mess. Is that a problem?
It is common and it is fixable. We quote a one-off cleanup before we start so it never turns into a surprise invoice, then your monthly fee runs as normal from a clean opening position.
Am I locked into a long contract?
No. Monthly rolling, thirty days' notice either way. If you leave we hand over your records promptly and professionally, which is the same courtesy we ask of the firm you are leaving.
Who actually does the work on my account?
A qualified accountant assigned to your agency, working under Simeon's review. You get their name and direct contact. You are not routed through a general inbox.
Do you only work with recruitment agencies?
It is where we specialise and where we add the most value. We take on other B2B people businesses, such as consultancies and marketing agencies, where the shape of the work is the same.
Get started
Fifteen minutes, and you will know what this costs
Tell us your turnover and whether you run a contract book. We will tell you which tier fits, what the fee is, and what switching would involve. No proposal decks, no three stage sales process.
Your email app should now be open with your enquiry ready to send. If it did not open, email jack@harwoodaccountants.com or book a call directly.