Your day rate is set. Whether you keep it depends on the VAT scheme and the dividend plan nobody checked.
Nasir Rasheed, Director
Accountant for engineering consultants: your set-up reviewed and your tax bill forecast within ninety days
Accountant for engineering consultants who run a limited company, invoice framework clients at a day rate, and want the VAT scheme, the dividend position and the overheads handled by someone who explains them.
Most engineering consultancies I take on have never had their VAT scheme tested against their real costs. Professional indemnity, software and a laptop are not much input VAT. Here is what the first ninety days looks like, and what has changed by the end of them.
Nexus Tax and Accounting Solutions is a Milton Keynes accountancy practice for engineering consultants running established limited companies, run by Nasir Rasheed MAAT AATQB. One monthly fee covers accounts, corporation tax, VAT, bookkeeping, payroll and the director’s self assessment, with VAT scheme review, salary and dividend planning and a corporation tax forecast a month ahead included.
Accredited and certified
- Nasir Rasheed MAAT AATQB
- Established 2024
- Three new clients a month
- Milton Keynes · UK-wide remote
What engineering consultants get with Nexus
Pay the VAT the right scheme charges
Your scheme is tested against your actual costs, professional indemnity, software and subcontractors, rather than left on the default.
Know your corporation tax a month early
The bill and your dividend headroom are forecast before the year end, so the money is there.
Decide on a hire using current numbers
Books stay up to date, so margin per chargeable day is there when a framework award lands.
Three decisions engineering consultants make without advice
Each of these came from a consultancy with a good day rate and an accountant who only spoke at year end.
- VAT
“We reclaim VAT on almost nothing. Indemnity cover, software, a laptop. Nobody has ever asked whether the scheme suits us.”
On the standard scheme with barely any input VAT, the quarterly bill is higher than the business needs it to be.
- Dividends
“I took a large dividend in March because the framework work was strong. In January I found out what it had cost me.”
Nobody had forecast the corporation tax or the dividend headroom, so the decision was made blind.
- Hire
“We wanted a second engineer on the payroll, but I had no idea what the year end would look like.”
Without a forecast the hire waits, and billable work gets turned down while the numbers stay unclear.
- Day 90
What changes once the advice is in the room
You know the corporation tax figure and the dividend headroom before the year end closes. The VAT scheme is the one your cost base justifies, and you know why. When a framework award or a hire comes up, you can answer on numbers you trust.
Quick check · no email
If your accountant can’t tell you whether your VAT scheme is right, what your corporation tax bill will be before it lands, and get back to you this week, you have the wrong accountant
Answer three questions about the accountant you have now.
Question 1 of 3
Could they tell you this week whether the flat rate or the standard scheme suits your cost base?
Could they tell you today what your corporation tax bill will be at this year end?
Could they reply this week, from the person who actually prepares your accounts?
That gap is real, and it usually shows up as a VAT scheme nobody chose and a tax bill announced the week it is due. The set-up review is where it gets closed.
That is a reasonable position with one area left open. The piece most consultancies are missing is the corporation tax and dividend position forecast a month before the bill lands.
You are well served, and there is no reason to move. Read the guides if you want a second view on your VAT scheme or dividend timing.
A year-end accountant and an accountant you can call are different jobs
Both file. Only one of them changes a decision you are about to make.
Filing only
Accounts and the CT600 prepared correctly after the year has closed.
The VAT scheme stays as it was set on registration.
Advice is available, billed by the hour when you ask for it.
You speak to whichever account manager currently holds the file.
Nexus
Structure, VAT scheme, pay and software reviewed on day one.
The scheme chosen for your actual costs, and the reasoning explained.
Advice included in the monthly fee on a fair-use basis.
You deal with Nasir, because Nexus takes three new clients a month.
Eight things to check in your own consultancy set-up
Answer yes or no on each. The noes are the agenda for the set-up review.
- 01
Has anyone compared the flat rate and standard schemes on your figures?
Low input VAT usually means the default scheme is the wrong one.
- 02
Do you know your corporation tax figure before the year end?
If you hear it the week it is due, the planning window has gone.
- 03
Has your salary and dividend split been looked at since incorporation?
Day rates change. The split rarely follows unless someone reviews it.
- 04
Do you know your dividend headroom today?
Headroom decides whether a March dividend is safe or expensive.
- 05
Is professional indemnity and software cost sitting in the right place in the accounts?
Misposted overheads distort margin per chargeable day.
- 06
Do you know your margin per day on each framework?
Without management accounts, framework pricing is set on instinct.
- 07
Is subcontractor and associate cost reconciled monthly?
Unreconciled associate invoices make the VAT and the year end slower.
- 08
Do you speak to the same person each time you call?
Account manager rotation is why most owners never get proactive advice.
What the monthly fee covers for an engineering consultancy
Everything the company has to file, with the planning built in.
Accounts, corporation tax and VAT
Year-end accounts, CT600, confirmation statement and VAT returns, prepared from books that reconcile.
Payroll, pensions and director self assessment
Payroll run on schedule for you and any employed engineers, with salary and dividend planning built in.
VAT scheme, dividends and the tax forecast
Scheme selection, salary and dividend optimisation and a corporation tax forecast a month ahead, included on a fair-use basis.
Entry 01
The one thing every Nexus client gets before the bill arrives
This is the service promise, and it applies to every client on the book.
Clients described by type. Names withheld.
What clients say
What happens in your first ninety days with Nexus
Four steps, in order, from the review to the first check-in.
Your set-up reviewed before anything is filed
Nasir reviews your structure, VAT scheme, salary and dividends and software, and tells you why each is right or what should change, even when nothing needs changing.
Books current enough to answer a question
Bookkeeping and software get a routine, so day rate income and overheads are up to date. The handover from your previous accountant is dealt with.
Your tax bill, a month before it lands
Corporation tax and dividend headroom are forecast before the year end, so you can time a dividend or a hire with the figure in front of you.
Concerns raised early, not at year end
A check-in every few months to flag anything concerning and confirm the plan. Queries in between get a prompt reply from Nasir.
Engineering consultancies Nexus is not the right fit for
Consultancies in their first or second year, still finding their first framework clients.
Sole traders, unless turnover is high enough that incorporation is the obvious move.
Owners buying on price alone, who want filing and nothing else.
Owners who will not engage with their own numbers between year ends.
If you are unsure, the set-up review is the honest way to find out, and Nasir will tell you if nothing needs changing.
Questions engineering consultants ask before they move
What does the monthly fee include for an engineering consultancy?
One monthly fee covers year-end accounts, corporation tax, the confirmation statement, VAT returns, bookkeeping, payroll and pensions and the director’s self assessment. Proactive planning is included on a fair-use basis: VAT scheme review, salary and dividend planning and a corporation tax forecast a month before the bill lands. The fee is scoped after Nasir has reviewed your set-up.
We already have an accountant, so is it worth switching?
Only if something is missing. The usual gaps are a VAT scheme nobody has tested against your actual costs, a salary and dividend split untouched since incorporation, and a corporation tax bill you hear about the week it is due. If none of those apply, stay where you are.
Do we have to change accounting software to join?
No. Nexus works with your existing system in most cases. What matters is that the bookkeeping follows a routine so the numbers are current when a decision comes up. If the software is genuinely holding you back, Nasir will say so in the set-up review and explain why.
What happens with our current accountant when we move?
Nexus handles the handover. Professional clearance is requested and records are collected, so you are not chasing your previous accountant yourself. After that comes the set-up review and a timetable for your first year, covering VAT quarters, payroll, the year end and the corporation tax forecast. There is no separate charge for the handover.
Can an accountant for engineering consultants help with day rate pricing and professional indemnity costs?
Nexus does not arrange insurance. It does make sure indemnity cover, software and associate costs sit correctly in the accounts, so you can see margin per chargeable day by framework. Management accounts and cash flow are there for owners making pricing, hiring and investment decisions on numbers they trust.
Do you work with engineering consultants outside Milton Keynes?
Yes. Nexus is based in Milton Keynes and works with limited companies across the UK remotely, so in-person meetings are rarely needed. Local clients come from Bletchley, Newport Pagnell, Wolverton, Bedford, Northampton and Aylesbury. You can call 01908 040493 or email info@nexustasl.co.uk, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Three ways to take the next step
Book the set-up review
Structure, VAT scheme, pay and software checked, then a written list of what to change and why.
See if Nexus is a fit 02 · A question firstGot one question about your VAT scheme?
Send it to Nasir and get an answer from the person who would do the work.
Ask Nasir a question 03 · Still decidingStill deciding
The guides cover VAT scheme choice, dividend timing and what to expect from a year end.
Read the guides →