Online accountants for advertising agencies
Tired of financial admin stealing time from your next big campaign?
Certified with the tools you already run on
A generalist keeps you compliant. A specialist keeps you ahead.
We already know where advertising agencies win and lose money, so the planning happens before the deadline, not after.
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Principal or agent? It changes your turnover (and your VAT)
When you buy media or print and pass it to a client, are you the principal (buying it yourself, reselling it) or the agent (arranging it on the client's behalf)? Get it wrong and your reported turnover can balloon by hundreds of thousands of pounds of pass-through ad spend, dragging you over the £90,000 VAT threshold and distorting your margins. We pin down your contracts so your accounts show your fee income, not your clients' Meta budgets.
VAT on recharges vs disbursements: the £20-VAT-on-every-£100 error
A genuine HMRC disbursement (you pay a supplier as your client's agent, pass on the exact cost, show it separately) is outside the scope of VAT. A recharge that's part of your service must carry 20% VAT, even when the original cost had none. Agencies routinely confuse the two and either over-charge clients or under-declare to HMRC. We document which is which so you're not the one writing the cheque after an inspection.
R&D relief on the work you think is 'just the job'
Building a bespoke campaign platform, a custom data pipeline or novel ad-tech at your own commercial risk can qualify for the merged R&D scheme: a 20% above-the-line credit (around 15% net of Corporation Tax). The catch agencies miss: if a client commissioned and bears the risk, they claim, not you. We test eligibility properly so you claim what's yours and don't claim what isn't.
Overseas clients can be outside the scope of UK VAT
Advertising and design are intangible services, so for B2B work the place of supply is where your client belongs. Invoice a US or EU brand and your fee is generally outside the scope of UK VAT, while you still reclaim the input VAT on your costs. Bill it with 20% VAT by reflex and you've overcharged a client and complicated your return. We set your invoicing templates up correctly per client.
What working with us actually covers
Each line is somewhere a generalist usually leaves money behind. For us it is standard, never an add-on.
- 01
Charity advertising: the zero-rate that wins pitches
Third-party advertising supplied to a charity for the general public can be zero-rated for VAT, including most digital formats HMRC now accepts (retargeting, behavioural, audience and lookalike targeting), plus the design, copy and production behind a qualifying advert. But adverts aimed at named individuals, ads on the charity's own website, SEO of the charity's site, and work for a charity's trading subsidiary are excluded. We help you apply VAT Notice 701/58 correctly so charity clients aren't charged VAT they shouldn't pay.
- 02
Media-buying reverse charge done right
Buy ads from Google, Meta or other overseas platforms and the reverse charge usually applies: you declare 20% output VAT on the spend and reclaim the same as input VAT on the same return. Net cash is nil, but both entries must appear, leaving them off is a compliance error even though no money changes hands. We make sure your bookkeeping captures every reverse-charge entry cleanly in Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent or Sage.
- 03
Freelancers, IR35 and your contractor pool
Agencies run on freelance creatives, editors and developers. We help you assess each engagement for employment status and off-payroll (IR35) risk, structure contracts and payments so a long-running 'freelancer' who looks like staff to HMRC doesn't become a PAYE and NIC liability landing on you rather than them.
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Profit extraction for agency directors
On a typical owner-managed agency we model the salary/dividend split around the £500 dividend allowance and dividend rates of 10.75%/35.75%/39.35%, against Corporation Tax of 19% up to £50,000, 25% over £250,000 and marginal relief (about 26.5% effective) in between. We pick the mix that leaves the most in your pocket after both taxes.
- 05
Kit, capex and the studio fit-out
Cameras, edit suites, Mac towers, servers and software can be written off in full: the Annual Investment Allowance covers up to £1,000,000 of qualifying plant, and full expensing gives 100% relief on new main-rate plant. We time purchases across your year-end to maximise the relief and keep a clean fixed-asset register for the kit your creatives actually live on.
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MTD-ready books and cash-flow you can trust
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax starts for sole traders and landlords above £50,000 from April 2026, £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028, with quarterly digital updates. Whether you run as a company or a freelance operator, we get your records MTD-compliant and build cash-flow forecasting around the lumpy, project-based billing that makes agency finances feel unpredictable.
From first call to filed
Four steps, one named accountant, no jargon. Most advertising agencies are fully set up inside a week.
- 01
Discovery
Understanding your business needs.
- 02
Solution Design
Crafting your custom accounting strategy.
- 03
Onboarding
Quick and easy integration.
- 04
Regular Rhythm
Consistent monitoring and reporting.
Guides for advertising agencies
Plain-English explainers, kept current with the latest HMRC rules.
Questions advertising agencies ask us
It depends on whether you're acting as principal or agent. If you buy the media yourself and resell it, the full spend is your turnover. If you arrange it on the client's behalf and the cost is genuinely theirs, it can be treated as a disbursement outside your turnover and outside the scope of VAT. The wording of your client contracts decides it. We review them and structure your invoicing so you don't accidentally inflate turnover and breach the £90,000 VAT registration threshold on pass-through budgets.
Usually yes. If the cost is part of the service you provide (a recharge), you add 20% VAT when you pass it on, even if the original purchase had no VAT. Only a true HMRC disbursement, where you paid as the client's agent, pass on the exact cost with no mark-up and show it separately, sits outside the scope of VAT. The two are easy to confuse, so we set clear rules for your invoicing.
Yes, where you're genuinely innovating at your own risk: building bespoke ad-tech, custom platforms or novel data tooling, not just running standard campaigns. The merged scheme gives a 20% above-the-line credit (around 15% net of Corporation Tax). Crucially, if a client commissioned and bears the risk of the work, they claim, not you. We test each project against HMRC's criteria before claiming.
Generally no for B2B advertising and design work. These are intangible services, so the place of supply is where your business client belongs. Bill a US or EU brand and your fee is normally outside the scope of UK VAT, while you can still reclaim the input VAT on your own costs. We configure your accounting software so each client is invoiced correctly.
Often, yes. Third-party advertising supplied to a charity and aimed at the general public can be zero-rated, including most digital formats and the design and production behind a qualifying advert. But there are real exclusions: ads to named individuals, ads on the charity's own website, SEO of the charity's site, and work for a charity's trading subsidiary. We check each engagement against VAT Notice 701/58 so you apply the relief correctly.
We assess each engagement for employment status and IR35 risk. A genuine freelancer working on their own account is fine, but a long-term contractor who looks and behaves like an employee can create PAYE and National Insurance liabilities that fall on your agency. We help structure and document engagements to keep that risk controlled.
Fixed monthly pricing at £99, £199 or £499 depending on the support you need, on a rolling monthly basis with no long lock-in, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee. You get a qualified named accountant who replies within 72 hours, and we work in Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent or Sage.
Stop overpaying tax. Start filing in 5 days.
Thirty minutes with an ACCA-qualified accountant. Most owners uncover £1,000-£3,000 in annual savings on the first call. If we are not the right fit, you walk away with a free tax review on the house.
