Shocking How Much Time You Waste on Paperwork Instead of Installations?
Looking for an accountant for electrical contractors who actually understands your trade? Zmartly is built for electrical contractors and sparkies juggling CIS deductions, the VAT domestic reverse charge, gross payment status and a van full of claimable tools. We turn the rules a generalist accountant routinely gets wrong into refunds, lower tax bills and CIS deductions you actually get back, with ACCA-qualified support and fixed monthly pricing.
If you work as a subcontractor, contractors strip 20% off your labour before you ever see it (30% if you're not CIS-registered). For most electricians that's a chunk overpaid every year. We reconcile your CIS deduction statements against your Self Assessment so the overpayment comes back as a refund, or offsets your bill rather than sitting with HMRC.
Tired of 20% being withheld on every invoice? With gross payment status you're paid in full and settle tax later, transforming your cashflow. The catch is HMRC's tests, broadly £30,000 net turnover per director plus a clean compliance record. We check you qualify, file the application, and protect the status so HMRC can't pull it at the annual review.
Since the VAT domestic reverse charge landed, sub-to-contractor invoices carry no VAT, the customer accounts for it. Get this wrong and you either over-charge VAT (and annoy your contractor) or under-declare and face penalties. We set your invoicing up correctly and often move you to monthly VAT returns so you're reclaiming, not waiting.
Tester, drill set, MEWP hire, ladder racks, the van itself, these qualify for the Annual Investment Allowance (up to £1m of kit at 100% in year one). Add 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles, PPE, professional body fees and your home-office admin space. We make sure none of it is left on the table.
Whether you're having 20% deducted on your own labour or you've started deducting from labourers you pay, CIS cuts both ways. We file your monthly CIS300 returns, verify subbies, issue deduction statements, and reconcile everything so labour deductions and material costs are split correctly, HMRC only taxes the labour element, never your materials.
We assess you against the business, turnover and compliance tests, submit the application, and then guard the status. One late PAYE payment or Self Assessment filing can trigger HMRC to remove it at the annual Tax Treatment Qualification Test, so we keep your compliance spotless year-round.
We handle registration once you near the £90,000 threshold, set invoices to show the reverse charge correctly on B2B construction work, and keep normal VAT on direct-to-homeowner jobs. Because reverse charge work leaves you in a repayment position, we'll often switch you to monthly returns to keep cash flowing.
Test equipment, cable rollers, generators, a new van and racking all qualify for the Annual Investment Allowance, 100% relief in the year of purchase, up to £1m. Where an asset has private use (a van you take home), we apportion the claim correctly so HMRC has nothing to challenge.
At 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles and 25p thereafter, site travel adds up fast. We also capture PPE, JIB/ECA and trade body subscriptions, NICEIC/NAPIT scheme fees, tool insurance, and the business proportion of your phone and home admin, the everyday costs sparkies forget to claim.
Sole trader, partnership or limited company, we file it all: Self Assessment, annual accounts and Corporation Tax at 19% up to £50k of profit (marginal relief between £50k and £250k). We'll also model whether incorporating saves you tax once your day rate climbs, and run it on Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent or Sage.
Understanding your business needs.
Crafting your custom accounting strategy.
Quick and easy integration.
Consistent monitoring and reporting.
Plain-English explainers, kept current with the latest HMRC rules.
If you're registered as a CIS subcontractor, the contractor deducts 20% from the labour element of your invoice and pays it to HMRC as an advance on your tax. If you're not registered, it jumps to 30%. The cost of materials you've supplied is excluded, deductions only apply to labour. We reconcile these deductions against your final tax bill, which for most electricians produces a refund.
If cashflow is tight because contractors withhold 20% on every job, gross payment status is worth pursuing, you get paid in full and settle your tax later. To qualify you broadly need £30,000 of net (labour) turnover (per director for companies controlled by five or fewer people), a UK business doing construction work, and an up-to-date tax and filing record. We check eligibility and handle the application and the annual review.
Usually no. Under the VAT domestic reverse charge, when you supply construction services to another VAT-registered business that's CIS-registered and isn't the end user, you don't charge VAT, your invoice states the reverse charge applies and the customer accounts for the VAT. You do still charge normal 20% VAT when you work directly for a private homeowner. We set your invoicing up so both are handled correctly.
Yes. Tools, test equipment and a work van qualify for the Annual Investment Allowance, giving 100% tax relief in the year you buy them (up to a £1m limit). If the van also has private use, the claim is reduced to reflect that. It's one of the biggest reliefs electricians underclaim, so we make sure every qualifying purchase is captured.
Using HMRC's simplified mileage method, you can claim 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year, then 25p per mile after that. This covers fuel, insurance, servicing and wear. Alternatively, if your van qualifies for capital allowances, we'll compare both methods and use whichever gives you the bigger deduction.
You must register once your VAT-taxable turnover exceeds £90,000 in any rolling 12-month period (or if you expect to breach it in the next 30 days). For electricians doing a lot of reverse-charge subcontract work, registering can actually put you in a refund position because you reclaim VAT on materials without charging it on labour, we'll advise on the timing.
It depends on your profit level and how you take money out. A limited company pays Corporation Tax at 19% on profits up to £50,000, with marginal relief between £50,000 and £250,000, and can be more tax-efficient at higher day rates, but adds admin and affects CIS gross payment turnover tests. We model both for your actual numbers before you decide.
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.
