Why Piecemeal Finance Doesn’t Work
We’ve seen it a hundred times. A spreadsheet here. A cheap bookkeeper there. DIY VAT returns at midnight before the deadline. An accountant you speak to once a year who tells you what happened nine months ago.
Nothing talks to each other. Data gets re-entered. Errors compound. Deadlines creep up. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, you’ve become the project manager of your own finance function – chasing, checking, worrying about things that should just work.
That’s not how ambitious businesses operate. Your finance function should run seamlessly in the background whilst you focus on what actually drives growth. One team, using one connected tech stack, handling everything from daily bookkeeping to annual accounts. That’s what an outsourced finance department looks like when it’s done properly.
Everything Your Business Needs, Handled
Eight accounting services. One integrated team. Here’s what we take off your plate.
Bookkeeping That Gives You Financial Clarity
Every transaction recorded accurately, categorised correctly, and reconciled monthly. Your books become a reliable source of truth – not a shoebox of receipts and guesswork.
We use Xero and Dext to automate the heavy lifting, so your records are always current and audit-ready. You get real-time cloud access from any device. We handle the detail. You get the clarity.
- Transaction recording and categorisation via Xero
- Monthly bank reconciliation
- Dext receipt capture – snap a photo, we handle the rest
- Real-time cloud access to your books from any device
Financial Control That Makes Your Numbers Trustworthy
Clean bookkeeping records what happened. Financial control makes sure those numbers tell the truth. Without accrual adjustments, revenue recognition, and proper month end processes, your P&L reflects cash timing – not business performance.
Every business makes stuff, sells stuff, or does stuff. The financial controls you need depend on which. A manufacturer needs stock and WIP valuations. A retailer needs multi-channel margin tracking. A service business needs utilisation and project profitability. We tailor the controls to your business type from day one.
At Foundation level, you get accrual accounting and monthly adjustments that keep your numbers accurate year-round. When you’re ready for the full month end close – revenue recognition, deferred income, departmental analysis, and monthly management accounts – stepping up to Clarity is seamless.
- Accrual accounting and monthly adjustments
- Revenue recognition matched to when you earned it, not when you got paid
- Controls tailored to whether you make, sell, or do stuff
- Foundation for management accounts and strategic reporting at Clarity level
Payroll That Protects Your Team's Trust
Your employees trust you to get this right every single time. Late payments affect real people’s lives. Incorrect tax codes mean HMRC chasing them directly. Pension mistakes impact their retirement planning.
We partner with Paycircle – the UK’s leading cloud-native payroll platform – to deliver accurate, on-time payroll with a mobile employee portal. Your team gets total clarity over pay and benefits. You get salary sacrifice schemes that save NI whilst giving employees a genuine benefit.
- PAYE, NI, and student loan calculations
- RTI submissions to HMRC every pay period
- Pension auto-enrolment and re-enrolment compliance
- Paycircle employee portal – payslips, P60s, benefits, all mobile-first
- Salary sacrifice setup and administration
- P45s, P60s, P11Ds, and all year-end documentation
VAT Returns Without the Surprises
The wrong VAT scheme could be costing you money every quarter. Cash Accounting vs Accruals? That choice alone determines whether you’re paying VAT on invoices customers haven’t paid yet. Most businesses never review this.
We handle quarterly filing, MTD compliance, and strategic VAT planning – so you’re never surprised by a liability or juggling cash at the final moment. We bridge your sales systems into Xero and submit digitally to HMRC. You never touch HMRC systems.
- Quarterly VAT return preparation, review, and digital submission
- MTD-compliant record-keeping via Xero
- VAT scheme optimisation – Standard, Flat Rate, or Cash Accounting
- Tech stack bridging (Shopify, WooCommerce, bespoke platforms → Xero → HMRC)
- International and place of supply expertise for cross-border traders
Supplier & Employee Payments: One from You, We Handle the Rest
Stop spending hours making individual bank transfers to employees, HMRC, pension providers, and suppliers. Through Telleroo integration, we turn your payment runs into a single approval.
You make one payment. We distribute to everyone. Complete audit trail. Zero payment errors. Hours of manual bank transfers replaced by a single click.
- Telleroo bulk payment processing
- Single-click approval from your bank account
- Employee, HMRC, and pension payments distributed automatically
- Supplier payment runs managed
- Complete audit trail for every payment
Year-End Accounts That Don't Build Trepidation
Because we keep your books current all year, year-end becomes a confirmation of what you already know – not a reconstruction of what you’ve forgotten.
We prepare statutory accounts for Companies House, file your Corporation Tax return with HMRC, and run proactive tax planning throughout the year. Capital allowances claimed at the right time. R&D tax credits identified before year-end. Corporation Tax liability forecast quarterly so you plan cash, not scramble for it.
- Statutory annual accounts – P&L, balance sheet, directors’ report
- Corporation Tax return (CT600) preparation and filing
- Abbreviated accounts filing where eligible, protecting your competitive information
- Proactive tax planning: capital allowances and R&D tax credit identification
- Corporation Tax forecasting so you know your liability months ahead
Confirmation Statements & Company Secretarial
Every limited company has obligations at Companies House – confirmation statements, officer details, PSC register, share allotments. Most business owners forget about these until something goes wrong. A late filing penalty. A mortgage application that stalls. An investor who flags outdated records during due diligence.
We handle it all as part of the service, including a Bristol registered office address that keeps your home address off the public register. Your statutory records stay clean whilst you focus on running the business.
- Annual confirmation statement filing – deadlines tracked, never missed
- Registered office address service – your privacy protected
- Officer appointments and resignations filed
- PSC register maintained and accurate
- Share allotment filings aligned with your cap table if raising investment
Quarterly Health Checks That Keep You in Control
Most accountants only talk to you at year-end. By then, you’re looking at what happened months ago. That’s not good enough for ambitious businesses.
We sit down with you every quarter to review how things are going. Your P&L performance. Balance sheet position. Upcoming tax deadlines. Challenges on the horizon. It’s not a formal presentation of numbers. It’s a conversation that spots opportunities, nips issues in the bud, and makes sure our support is always right for where your business is heading.
- Quarterly call with your dedicated Account Manager
- P&L performance review and balance sheet snapshot
- Upcoming filing and payment deadline briefing – PAYE, VAT, Corporation Tax
- Two-way feedback on working arrangements
- Service level review and adjustment as your business needs change
- Draft year-end accounts reviewed in Q1 meeting
Tax Investigation Insurance - Included as Standard
HMRC conducts thousands of investigations every year. Some targeted. Some completely random. Doing everything right doesn’t make you immune. Professional fees for defending an enquiry can run into thousands, even when the outcome shows nothing was wrong.
FD Works includes tax investigation insurance as standard. Not as an add-on. Not as an upsell. We cover the costs, not you. And our quality work stands up to scrutiny, minimising risk in the first place.
- Tax investigation insurance included in every service level – not an add-on
- Cover for full enquiries, aspect enquiries, VAT inspections, and PAYE compliance reviews
- We handle all HMRC correspondence, documentation, and meetings on your behalf
- Quality work that reduces the likelihood of investigation
How It All Connects: The Tech Stack
Technology enables insight, but it doesn’t replace partnership. Here’s what powers your outsourced finance function behind the scenes.
Xero – Cloud accounting. Your single source of truth. Real-time numbers accessible from anywhere.
Dext – Receipt capture. Snap a photo, data extracted and categorised automatically. No more chasing paper.
Paycircle – Cloud-native payroll with a mobile employee self-service portal. Your team accesses payslips, P60s, and benefits from their phone.
Telleroo – Bulk payments. One approval from you, everyone paid. Complete audit trail.
Everything feeds into Xero. One system. No double-entry. No reconciliation headaches. No “which spreadsheet is current?” confusion. Your finance function runs on connected technology, managed by people who know what they’re looking at.
What You Actually Get
Beyond the services and the technology, here’s what changes when your finance function is handled properly.
You feel in control – without having to manage it yourself. Your finances are accurate, current, and accessible whenever you need them.
You’re never surprised – no unexpected tax bills, no missed deadlines, no year-end scramble. You know what’s coming months before it arrives.
You have a dedicated team – people who know your business, act proactively, and stand in your corner. Not a faceless call centre. Not a different person every time you call.
You get your time back – the hours you were spending on bookkeeping, chasing receipts, and worrying about VAT go back into growing your business. That’s where they belong.
Everything feeds into Xero. One system. No double-entry. No reconciliation headaches. No “which spreadsheet is current?” confusion. Your finance function runs on connected technology, managed by people who know what they’re looking at.
Outsourced finance department: your questions answered
What is an outsourced finance department, and what does it include?
An outsourced finance department is a fully managed, end-to-end finance function that replaces fragmented single-task providers with a unified team. Rather than juggling a separate bookkeeper, payroll bureau, and year-end accountant, FD Works manages your entire financial workflow—including day-to-day bookkeeping, receipt capture, payroll and pensions, VAT submissions, financial control adjustments, supplier payment batches, quarterly Health Checks, and annual statutory filings.
Why is an outsourced finance function better than hiring an in-house team?
Building an in-house finance department requires hiring multiple distinct skill sets—a bookkeeper (£28k–£35k), a financial controller (£50k–£70k), and a strategic Finance Director (£90k–£140k+), plus employer National Insurance, pension contributions, recruitment fees, and software licenses. Outsourcing gives you immediate access to a full team of senior specialists across all three tiers at a predictable monthly investment, eliminating key-person dependency and ensuring seamless holiday and illness cover.
How do you handle supplier and employee payments safely?
We eliminate manual bank transfers and spreadsheets using Telleroo, a secure payment platform integrated directly with Xero. Our team reconciles invoices and payroll, builds payment runs, and submits them for your review. You simply authorize a single total batch from your phone or desktop. Funds are disbursed instantly to suppliers and staff without you ever needing to share banking login credentials or manually enter payee details.
What software and tech stack powers your outsourced finance service?
We build your finance department around Xero as the central accounting ledger, connected seamlessly to specialized cloud tools: Dext Prepare for automated receipt and invoice extraction, Paycircle for automated payroll and pension compliance, and Telleroo for batch payments. Because our team is Xero Platinum Partner and MVP award-winning, we ensure every application connects seamlessly so data flows into your reports in real time without manual re-entry.
What is a Quarterly Health Check, and why does it matter?
Quarterly Health Checks are structured advisory meetings where we review your trailing quarterly performance against goals. Rather than merely looking at historical profit, we evaluate your cash runway, debtor days, gross margins, and tax position. It is also where we proactively identify time-sensitive growth opportunities—such as R&D tax credit eligibility, EMI share option grants, or impending VAT threshold changes—before deadlines pass.
Is Tax Investigation Insurance included with your outsourced finance packages?
Yes. Tax investigation protection is included as standard across our service packages. HMRC investigations can be random, intrusive, and expensive to defend even when your records are impeccable. Our cover ensures that all professional fees incurred by FD Works in defending you during an HMRC enquiry, VAT audit, or PAYE compliance check are fully covered, giving you complete peace of mind.
How does the onboarding process work, and how long does it take to switch?
Switching your finance department to FD Works is straightforward and handled entirely by our team. We manage professional clearance with your outgoing accountant, perform a deep-dive audit of your historical Xero ledger, configure your automated tech stack (Dext, Paycircle, Telleroo), and establish standardized month-end close schedules. The transition typically takes between two and four weeks with zero disruption to your ongoing trading or payroll.
Establish your service level package
We have a clear service level and package structure to help us give you exactly what you need within your current budget and avoid frustration.
Our three packages include all of your legal and financial compliance with Levels 2 and 3 providing deeper insights, management services, forecasting and outsourced Financial Director services.
Services
Compliance & bookkeeping
Quarterly check-in
Management accounts
Deeper insights
Financial modelling & forecasting
Finance Director services
Foundation
Compliance & bookkeeping
Quarterly check-in
Management accounts
Deeper insights
Financial modelling & forecasting
Finance Director services
Clarity
Compliance & bookkeeping
Quarterly check-in
Management accounts
Deeper insights
Financial modelling & forecasting
Finance Director services
Focus
Compliance & bookkeeping
Quarterly check-in
Management accounts
Deeper insights
Financial modelling & forecasting
Finance Director services
“Let us stand in
your corner”
Everything starts with a chat
We would love to say hello, find out about you and your one-of-a-kind business.
Speak with us to start unlocking your ambition and potential. There is no better time to start than now.