How accounting support works
A predictable sequence, from first enquiry to next year’s plan
Seven stages, each with a clear statement of what you provide, what is reviewed, what gets confirmed and why the stage matters. No stage is skipped to make a timetable look better.
- Enquiry
- Review
- Scope
- Prepare
- Approve
- File
- Plan
Confirmed in writing
- Scope of the work
- Evidence required
- Deadlines and approvals
- Advisory boundaries
How accounting support works
Seven stages, start to finish
A predictable sequence, so you always know which stage you are at, what is expected from you, and what has been confirmed.
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Submit Accounting Enquiry
- You provide
- A short description of what you need — accounts, a tax return, bookkeeping, VAT, payroll, a relief question or a deadline you are worried about.
- We review
- Whether the enquiry sits within accounting and tax scope, and which service or combination of services it points to.
- Confirmed
- That we can respond usefully, and what information is needed next. No sensitive identifiers are requested through the website.
- Why it matters
- Starting from what you actually need avoids a generic proposal that fits nobody.
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Share Client Type, Tax Year and Records Status
- You provide
- Client type, business structure, the tax year or accounting period involved, and an honest description of what state the records are in.
- We review
- The structure that determines which rules apply, the periods in play, and the realistic starting point for the work.
- Confirmed
- Which position you are in — individual, director, landlord, sole trader, partnership or company — and what that changes.
- Why it matters
- The same transaction is treated differently depending on structure and period. Getting this wrong at the start compounds.
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Review Income, Expenses, Allowances, Reliefs and Deadlines
- You provide
- Income details, expense records, receipts, bank statements, prior filings, notices and any correspondence already received.
- We review
- Income by source and period, expense allowability and business purpose, relevant allowances and reliefs, and every applicable deadline.
- Confirmed
- What the records support, where the gaps are, and which opportunities are worth examining further on the evidence available.
- Why it matters
- This is where legitimate opportunities are identified — and where positions that will not stand up get discarded early.
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Confirm Scope, Evidence Needed and Advisory Boundaries
- You provide
- Approval of the proposed scope, plus any remaining documents needed to close identified gaps.
- We review
- What is inside scope, what requires a specialist, what evidence must exist before a position can be taken, and what the risks are.
- Confirmed
- A written scope covering the work, responsibilities, evidence requirements, deadlines and boundaries.
- Why it matters
- Written scope prevents the two most common problems: assumed work that was never agreed, and advice given outside competence.
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Prepare Accounts, Returns, Calculations or Advice
- You provide
- Timely answers to queries raised during preparation, and any late or corrected records.
- We review
- The prepared accounts, computations, returns or written advice, checked back against the underlying records.
- Confirmed
- Draft figures with the treatment decisions, assumptions, risk notes and supporting reasoning set out alongside them.
- Why it matters
- You should understand the numbers before approving them, including where judgement has been applied.
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Review, Approve and File Where Agreed
- You provide
- Your review and explicit approval of the drafts before anything is submitted.
- We review
- Final checks on figures, disclosures, period dates, declarations and submission requirements.
- Confirmed
- Submission to HMRC or Companies House where filing is within the agreed scope, and a record of what was filed and when.
- Why it matters
- Nothing is submitted without approval. Acceptance and processing remain matters for HMRC and Companies House.
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Plan Future Records, Deadlines and Tax Position Improvements
- You provide
- A willingness to change the record-keeping habits that caused avoidable work this time.
- We review
- What made this cycle harder than it needed to be, and what the next period’s key dates and decisions look like.
- Confirmed
- Practical record-keeping improvements, upcoming deadlines, and the planning points worth revisiting before year-end.
- Why it matters
- Better records earlier produce better-evidenced returns later. That is the whole basis of returns optimisation.
Transparency
The nine things worth knowing before you instruct anyone
Set out here in full, so none of it arrives as a surprise later in the engagement.
Records and evidence
Work is prepared from the records and information supplied. Where records are incomplete, inconsistent, illegible or unavailable, that is identified and discussed rather than estimated over.
Contemporaneous records carry weight. Reconstructions carry risk, and where a figure rests on a reconstruction you will be told so.
Income and expenses
Income is allocated by source and to the correct period. Expenses are tested against business purpose, allowability and apportionment for any private use.
Where a cost cannot be evidenced as incurred for the business, it is not claimed. That decision is recorded with its reasoning.
Reliefs and credits
Eligibility is assessed against the qualifying conditions and your circumstances before any claim language is used.
Claim outcomes, HMRC acceptance, refunds and tax savings are not guaranteed. A review may legitimately conclude that nothing further is available.
Offsets and allowable expenses
Offsets are matched to the correct income or profit stream, quantified with retained workings, and supported by business-purpose evidence.
No aggressive avoidance, artificial arrangements, contrived transactions or disclosable schemes are offered, arranged or advised on.
Deadlines
Filing and payment deadlines are set externally and are not negotiable. Work is scheduled backwards from the earliest binding date.
Late instruction, missing records or delayed approvals can make a deadline unachievable. Where that risk exists, it is raised early rather than discovered afterwards.
HMRC and Companies House requirements
Dalton & Holland Accounting Ltd is independent of HMRC and Companies House and is not endorsed by either. Their rules, processes, timescales and decisions are theirs.
Directors and taxpayers remain responsible for their own filings, registers and declarations, including where preparation support is provided.
Third-party platforms
Cloud accounting subscriptions, payroll software, bank feeds, filing software and agent authorisations are provided by third parties under their own terms.
Availability, feature changes, outages, pricing and processing times are outside our control.
Adviser limitations
Website content is general information and is not advice. Engagement-specific advice follows a written scope.
No chartered status, professional-body membership, audit registration, HMRC approval or regulated financial advice permission is claimed. Matters requiring those are referred to appropriately qualified specialists.
No guaranteed outcomes
Tax refunds, tax savings, tax-credit outcomes, relief eligibility, HMRC acceptance, filing outcomes, audit outcomes, penalty avoidance, cash-flow improvements, and commercial results are not guaranteed.
What is offered is careful review, evidenced preparation, written reasoning and clear boundaries — not predicted results.
Records and accuracy
Client responsibility includes providing accurate income details, expense records, receipts, bank statements, payroll records, VAT records, business information, deadlines, prior filings, notices, approvals, and timely communication.
Accounts, computations, returns and advice are prepared from the records and information supplied. Where records are incomplete, inconsistent or unavailable, that is identified and discussed before work continues rather than estimated over.
Tax credits, reliefs and allowances
Tax credits, reliefs and allowances are reviewed around eligibility, evidence, applicable tax rules, deadlines, client circumstances, records, HMRC guidance and agreed advisory scope. Claim outcomes, HMRC acceptance, refunds and tax savings are not guaranteed.
Allowances, reliefs, credits, expenses, and offsets must be supported by eligibility, business purpose, records, evidence, and applicable rules.
Offsets and allowable expenses
Offset and expense planning depends on client status, business structure, income type, expense purpose, records, receipts, timing, applicable tax rules, eligibility, evidence and agreed advisory scope. Tax savings and HMRC acceptance are not guaranteed.
Work is limited to legitimate treatment supported by business purpose and documentation. Dalton & Holland Accounting Ltd does not promote, arrange or advise on aggressive tax avoidance, artificial arrangements, disclosable schemes or contrived structures.
HMRC & Companies House
Dalton & Holland Accounting Ltd is an independent accounting and tax advisory company. It is not HMRC, is not endorsed by or affiliated with HMRC or Companies House, and does not describe itself as an HMRC-approved service. HMRC guidance, tax legislation, filing requirements, thresholds, deadlines and Companies House obligations are set by those bodies and can change.
Submissions, registrations, authorisations and correspondence remain subject to HMRC and Companies House processes, timescales and acceptance. HMRC acceptance of any return, claim, relief, credit, election or filing is never guaranteed.
Third parties and platforms
HMRC, Companies House, pension providers, payroll software, cloud accounting platforms, banks, insurers, lenders, auditors, solicitors, and other third parties may have separate rules, costs, deadlines, availability, requirements, and terms.
Cloud accounting subscriptions, payroll software, bank feeds, filing software and agent authorisations are provided by those third parties under their own terms. Availability, feature changes, outages, pricing and processing times are outside our control.
Where specialist advice is needed
Tax, audit, legal, financial advice, investment, pension, employment, insolvency, regulatory, sector-specific, and specialist matters should be reviewed with appropriately qualified specialists where required.
Where a matter sits outside agreed accounting and tax scope — including regulated investment, pension, mortgage, insurance, employment law, immigration, insolvency, valuation, audit or litigation matters — it is flagged so you can instruct an appropriately qualified specialist.
No guaranteed outcomes
Tax refunds, tax savings, tax-credit outcomes, relief eligibility, HMRC acceptance, filing outcomes, audit outcomes, penalty avoidance, cash-flow improvements, and commercial results are not guaranteed.
Accounting enquiry
Start at stage one: tell us what you need and where the records stand.
Dalton & Holland Accounting Ltd supports accounting and tax enquiries shaped around records, income, expenses, allowances, reliefs, credits, deadlines, evidence requirements, HMRC rules, and agreed advisory scope.
Please do not send UTRs, National Insurance numbers, HMRC Government Gateway credentials, bank logins, payroll passwords or tax identifiers through this website. Sensitive documents are shared through a secure agreed channel after initial contact.