If your costs are overseas software and reverse-charge services, your VAT scheme was probably chosen for you by default.
Nasir Rasheed, Director
Accountant for consultants: has anyone checked whether your VAT scheme is the right one?
Accountant for consultants and contractors running established limited companies, based in Milton Keynes and working with clients across the UK remotely. One monthly fee, with the advice built into it.
Most consultancies have very little input VAT. The costs are overseas software and reverse-charge services, so box 4 sits nearly empty while box 1 grows with every invoice. In a lot of cases nobody has looked at that since the day you registered.
Nexus Tax and Accounting Solutions is a Milton Keynes accountancy practice for 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 and a corporation tax forecast a month ahead included. Nexus takes three new clients a month.
Accredited and certified
- Nasir Rasheed MAAT AATQB
- Established 2024
- Three new clients a month
- Milton Keynes · UK-wide remote
What you get with Nexus
Pay VAT on the scheme that suits your costs
Standard, flat rate or cash accounting, chosen on your actual input VAT rather than on what was ticked at registration.
Know your corporation tax a month before it lands
The forecast arrives before your year end, with your dividend headroom next to it.
Get an answer from Nasir the same week
You deal with one accountant, because Nexus takes three new clients a month on purpose.
What goes wrong for consultants when nobody checks the set-up
Three things consultants say on the first call, and what each one had already cost them.
- VAT
“I reclaim VAT on almost nothing. My software is American and my subcontractors invoice under reverse charge, so box 4 is empty.”
He had been on the standard scheme since the day he registered. Every quarter he handed over VAT on his full fee and reclaimed close to none of it.
- Tax bill
“My accountant gave me the corporation tax figure the week it was due, and the money had already gone out in dividends.”
The bill was paid late and the dividend had to be unwound. A forecast a month earlier would have made it a decision.
- Switch
“I am on my fourth account manager in two years and each one asks me the same questions about my business.”
Nothing carries over between them. The VAT scheme, the salary split and the software never get reviewed because nobody owns the file.
- Day 90
What changes once the advice is in the room
Nasir reviews your structure, VAT scheme, salary and dividends and software when you join, and tells you why each is right or what should change. The scheme that fits your cost profile gets used from the next return. From then on you get the corporation tax figure and your dividend headroom before the year end, not after it.
Quick check · no email
If your accountant cannot tell you whether the flat rate scheme suits a consultancy, what your corporation tax bill will be before it lands, and reply 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 flat rate would beat the standard scheme on your numbers?
Could they give you your corporation tax figure and dividend headroom a month before your year end?
Could they answer a pricing or hiring question within the same week, without putting it on the clock?
That is a real gap, and on a consultancy with low input VAT it usually shows up in the VAT return first. The set-up review is where it gets checked properly.
You are in a reasonable position, so the question is which of the three is missing. Read the consultant’s VAT story below, then decide whether it is worth an hour of Nasir’s time.
You are well served and there is nothing here you need to buy. The guides are there if you want a second view on the VAT scheme.
What a filing-only accountant covers, and what it leaves you deciding alone
A year-end accountant files everything on time. The difference is what happens between the deadlines.
A filing-only accountant
Accounts and the CT600 filed correctly and on time.
The VAT scheme stays as it was set at registration.
You learn the corporation tax figure once the year is closed.
Questions during the year come back as a quote.
Nexus
Accounts, corporation tax, VAT, payroll and your self assessment in one monthly fee.
VAT scheme chosen on your actual costs and reviewed as the business changes.
Corporation tax and dividend headroom forecast a month ahead of the bill.
Advice included on a fair-use basis, answered by Nasir.
Eight questions about your set-up worth answering before your year end
If you cannot answer one of these, that is the one to raise.
- 01
Has your VAT scheme been reviewed since you registered?
Registration defaults sit untouched for years. A consultancy with low input VAT often belongs somewhere else.
- 02
Do you know what share of your costs carries reclaimable VAT?
If box 4 is nearly empty every quarter, the standard scheme is working against you.
- 03
Are your overseas software subscriptions posted under the reverse charge?
They are commonly posted as ordinary purchases, which distorts both boxes on the return.
- 04
Has your salary and dividend split been looked at this tax year?
Most splits were set at incorporation and never revisited as profits grew.
- 05
Do you know your dividend headroom before you take the next one?
Taking dividends without reserves creates a director’s loan and a tax charge with it.
- 06
Do your books reconcile before the year-end accounts are started?
Accounts built from books that do not reconcile produce a tax figure nobody trusts.
- 07
Do you get the corporation tax figure before the year end?
After the year end there is nothing left to decide. A month ahead, there is.
- 08
Do you speak to the same accountant every time you call?
Rotation means your set-up gets re-explained instead of reviewed.
What Nexus runs for a consultancy every month
Everything a limited company has to file, with the planning attached to it.
Accounts, corporation tax and the confirmation statement
Prepared from books that reconcile, filed on time, with the figure known before it is due.
VAT returns and a scheme review that reflects your costs
Standard, flat rate or cash accounting, tested against your actual input VAT and reverse-charge services.
Salary, dividends and a corporation tax forecast
Your pay structure and dividend headroom set out ahead of the year end, included on a fair-use basis.
Entry 01
The consultant whose VAT bill fell without his turnover changing
One scheme change, found during the set-up review, and the quarterly bill dropped.
Clients described by type. Names withheld.
What clients say
What the first ninety days with Nexus look like
Four steps, so you know when each thing gets answered.
Your records move across without you chasing
Professional clearance and the records request go to your current accountant. You are copied in and left out of the chasing.
You have a written list of what to change and why
Structure, VAT scheme, salary and dividends and software are reviewed, including where nothing needs to change.
The books are current when a decision comes up
Bookkeeping goes on a routine, reverse-charge and overseas costs are posted correctly, and the VAT returns reconcile.
You know the tax bill and the dividend headroom
Corporation tax is forecast ahead of the year end, so the money is set aside and the decision is yours.
Who Nexus is not the right accountant for
Start-ups in their first or second year, where there is nothing yet to review.
Sole traders below the point where incorporation is the obvious move.
Property-only landlords and cash businesses.
Consultants with lumpy income, no overheads and no interest in looking at their numbers.
If you are not sure which side of that you sit on, the set-up review will tell you straight.
Questions consultants ask before they move
What does an accountant for consultants include in the monthly fee?
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 selection, salary and dividend planning and a corporation tax forecast a month before the bill. Capital gains tax returns are charged separately.
We already have an accountant, so is there any point in a review?
Only if something is being missed. The common ones for consultancies are a VAT scheme chosen by default, overseas software posted without the reverse charge, and a salary and dividend split untouched since incorporation. Nasir will tell you when your current set-up is right, and that answer is worth having too.
Do we have to move accounting software to join Nexus?
No. Software is reviewed like everything else during the set-up review, and you are told whether it suits the way you invoice and buy. If it works, it stays. A change is only suggested where the current system is causing errors or extra work in the VAT return.
What happens with our current accountant when we switch?
Nexus handles the handover. Professional clearance is requested, your records and last filed accounts are collected, and you are not left chasing your old firm yourself. There is no separate charge for it. Once the records arrive, the set-up review and your first-year filing timetable follow.
Which VAT scheme suits a consultant whose costs are mostly overseas software?
It depends on how little reclaimable VAT you actually have. When box 4 is nearly empty because costs are overseas software and reverse-charge services, the flat rate scheme frequently beats the standard scheme. One procurement consultant’s quarterly VAT bill fell after that change, with no change to turnover. It is tested on your figures first.
Can an accountant for consultants work with me if I am outside Milton Keynes?
Yes. Nexus is based in Milton Keynes and works with clients across the UK remotely, so meetings in person are rarely needed. The home territory covers Bletchley, Newport Pagnell, Stony Stratford, Bedford, Northampton and Luton, and the service is identical wherever you trade from.
Three ways to take the next step
Take the two-minute quiz
It tells you whether Nexus is the right fit, and Nasir follows up to book the set-up review.
See if Nexus is a fit 02 · A question firstGot a question about your VAT scheme first?
Call or email and Nasir answers it himself, usually the same week.
Ask Nasir a question 03 · Still decidingStill deciding
The guides cover VAT schemes, dividends and what a corporation tax forecast should tell you.
Read the guides →