Year-end accounts and self-assessment slots for the 2026–27 filing season are open until early December.
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A small practice, run properly
Olive House looks after bookkeeping, payroll, VAT and year-end filing for sole traders, small limited companies and landlords — on a fixed monthly scope, with the same two people on your account from the first conversation.
What we handle
Most clients start with one lane and add a second once the first year has settled. Everything below is quoted as a fixed monthly or annual fee, so you know the cost before the work starts.
01 — Monthly
We take the receipts, bank feeds and invoices off your desk and turn them into numbers you can actually read.
Suits
Anyone who has stopped trusting their spreadsheet, or who needs lender-ready figures mid-year.
02 — Quarterly
Returns prepared from reconciled records, reviewed by a second pair of eyes, then filed once you have approved them.
Suits
Trading businesses near or over the registration threshold, and anyone registering voluntarily.
03 — Monthly
Payroll run on a set date each month, with submissions made on time and payslips in your team’s inbox.
Suits
Employers with one to twenty people on the payroll, including seasonal teams.
04 — Annual
Statutory accounts and tax returns prepared from the records we already keep, so year-end is a review rather than a reconstruction.
Suits
Every client. This is the lane most people arrive through, usually with a deadline already close.
How a year with us runs
The reason year-end goes badly is almost never the year-end. It is eleven months of unreconciled records arriving at once. We spread the work across the year so the final filing is a conversation about tax, not a hunt for missing invoices.
Records review, software set-up or takeover, and a written scope listing exactly what we do and what stays with you.
Bookkeeping reconciled by the 8th, payroll run on your chosen date, and a one-page summary sent through.
VAT prepared and approved, plus a short call on cash, upcoming payments and anything that has changed in the business.
Draft accounts and the tax position with you, well before the filing date, so there is time to act on what they show.
Working calendar
These are our internal deadlines rather than the statutory ones — we work ahead of the official dates so there is room to fix anything unexpected.
By the 8th, monthly
Previous month closed off and the summary sent. We chase anything missing in the same week rather than at year-end.
All clients
Your chosen pay date
Payslips issued, submissions made and pension uploads completed. Changes need to reach us three working days before.
Payroll clients
One month after quarter end
Draft reaches you a week earlier for approval, with the payment figure confirmed so you can set the money aside.
VAT registered
April
Final submissions, employee summaries and new-year tax codes applied. We confirm the next year’s rates in writing.
Employers
Two months after your year end
Accounts, the tax figure and any planning points, discussed before filing while decisions can still be made.
Companies & sole traders
October
Our own cut-off for personal tax returns. Records in by October are filed calmly; later ones still get filed, just with less planning room.
Self assessment
If a deadline is already tight when you come to us, say so in your enquiry — we keep a small amount of capacity each month for late arrivals.
Who we work with
We are deliberately small, so we are honest about fit. If your situation sits outside these, tell us in your enquiry and we will say plainly whether we are the right practice.
Often first-time clients who have outgrown doing it themselves, or who want someone to check the position before a bigger year.
Owner-managed businesses up to around twenty staff who need the monthly routine handled and sensible answers about drawing money out.
From a single let to a small portfolio, including mixed personal and company ownership where the schedules need care.
Two or more owners who need clean partnership returns and a clear split of profit that everyone has seen and agreed.
Switching to us
Three steps, and we do most of the paperwork. You do not need to wait for your year end to move.
Thirty minutes on what you run, what is currently late and what you want to stop thinking about. No commitment at this point.
We send the exact list of work, the monthly or annual figure, and what we need from you each month. You decide from there.
If you already have an accountant, we request the records and authorisations ourselves. Switching mid-year is normal and we do most of the admin.
Questions
Fixed, and agreed in writing before any work starts. Monthly lanes are billed monthly; annual work is a single fee. If something genuinely outside the scope comes up, we quote it separately first rather than adding it to an invoice afterwards.
Yes, and most of our clients join mid-year. We pick up from the last reconciled month, review what has been recorded so far, and tell you honestly if anything needs rebuilding before we can rely on it.
Access to your bookkeeping software or bank statements for the current year, your last filed accounts or return if you have them, and details of anyone on the payroll. We request records and authorisations from a previous accountant ourselves.
The main cloud packages, and we are happy to keep whatever you already use rather than forcing a migration. If you are starting from spreadsheets we will recommend one and set it up during onboarding. The subscription stays in your name, so the records remain yours.
Two named people: one handling the monthly routine, one reviewing and signing off filings. You will have both names and direct email addresses from week one, and you are not routed through a general inbox.
Tell us in your enquiry and we will prioritise it. We work out which deadlines have passed, what the likely penalty position is, and the order to deal with things in. Late filings are common and fixable; we would rather hear about them early.
No, though we see a lot of trades, consultancies, small retail and property. What matters more than sector is size and record-keeping: if your books are a long way behind, our first job is catching them up before any lane becomes routine.
Start an enquiry
A few lines is enough. We reply by email within one working day with either a time for a short call or a straight answer about whether we are the right fit.