Media & Creative accounting, handled.

Royalties are recognised when earned (the underlying sale or stream happens), not when the statement lands. In practice we accrue an estimate at year end based on prior periods, then true up when the statement arrives. This stops profit from yo-yoing simply because PRS or a label is six months late paying. We set up the accrual policy and review it each year.

Most likely yes — submit a W-8BEN-E (companies) or W-8BEN (individuals) before invoicing to claim the UK–US treaty rate, which is usually 0% on most creative services. If withholding has already been deducted, the amount can be claimed as foreign tax credit relief against your UK tax bill. We handle the W-8 paperwork and the credit claim — it's a common loss most generalist accountants don't recover.

We forecast the full year's profit from month one and set aside the tax bill in a separate account as cash comes in, so January isn't a panic. For limited companies, timing dividends across two tax years can keep you out of higher-rate. For sole traders, pension contributions and the personal allowance taper at £100k are the main levers. Proactive planning, not retrospective regret.

All counts as self-employed trading income for tax, but VAT and platform reporting vary. YouTube/AdSense is treated as a service from Google Ireland — outside UK VAT under reverse charge. Sponsorships from UK brands are standard 20% if registered. Merch follows e-commerce rules including any DAC7 reporting platforms make on your sales. We reconcile each stream cleanly into one Self-Assessment or set of company accounts.

Pure design and creative work usually doesn't qualify — HMRC tightened the rules in 2023 specifically because creative claims were overstated. But genuine technical development (custom software, AR/VR pipelines, novel rendering or workflow tooling) can still qualify. We'll only file an R&D claim where there's real evidence of scientific or technological advance, and we draft the report properly to survive HMRC review.