You run payroll every week. An accountant who speaks to you once a year cannot advise you.
Nasir Rasheed, Director
Accountant for recruitment agencies: payroll, contractor payments and VAT handled, with your tax bill a month ahead
Accountant for recruitment agencies in Milton Keynes and across the UK, covering weekly payroll, contractor payments, VAT and corporation tax for directors of established agencies who want the numbers before the decision, not after it.
Most agency directors have never been told whether their VAT treatment matches how they actually invoice, or what corporation tax is coming before the year ends. Nexus takes three new clients a month, so the person checking that is Nasir.
Nexus Tax and Accounting Solutions is a Milton Keynes accountancy practice run by Nasir Rasheed MAAT AATQB, working with recruitment agencies that trade as limited companies. 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 you get with Nexus
Payroll and contractor runs on schedule
Payroll and pensions run to a fixed routine, whatever the placement volume that month.
Corporation tax known a month early
Your corporation tax and dividend headroom are forecast before the year end, so the money is there.
A VAT scheme chosen on your real figures
Standard, flat rate or cash accounting picked for how your agency actually invoices and pays out.
Three decisions agency directors make without advice they trust
Each one is a normal month in a recruitment business, and each one has a cost.
- VAT
“We invoice the full charge rate and the contractor pay goes straight back out, so every VAT return looks enormous.”
Nobody had checked whether the scheme matched how the agency bills. The quarterly figure kept surprising him.
- Tax bill
“The corporation tax bill landed the same week I had paid the temps, the PAYE and the pension contributions.”
The cash was committed elsewhere. A forecast a month earlier would have made it a decision instead of a scramble.
- Switch
“I have had four account managers in two years and the last one did not know we paid contractors weekly.”
He re-explained the business every year. Nothing proactive ever came back.
- Day 90
What changes once the advice is in the room
You find out what the VAT and payroll position should be, not just what it was. You know the corporation tax figure before the year end, so hiring and dividend decisions are made on numbers you trust. And you get an answer from Nasir in the same week you ask.
Quick check · no email
If your accountant cannot tell you whether your VAT treatment on placements is right, what your corporation tax 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 your VAT scheme is the right one for how you invoice placements?
Could they give you your corporation tax figure and dividend headroom a month before the bill is due?
Could they reply to you personally within a week, without passing you to a different account manager?
That is a real gap, and in an agency with weekly payroll it compounds fast. The set-up review is where it gets checked properly.
Your position is reasonable, so one area is worth checking rather than everything. Start with the VAT treatment and the corporation tax forecast, which is what Entry 01 below is about.
You are well served, and you should stay where you are. The guides are there if you want a second view on the VAT scheme.
A filing-only accountant against advice included in the fee
Both file on time. Only one of them tells you anything before the deadline.
The year-end accountant
Accounts and CT600 filed accurately, months after the year end.
The VAT scheme stays as it was set on registration day.
Payroll is run, and nothing is said about the salary and dividend split.
Advice is available, billed by the hour, if you think to ask.
Nexus
Accounts, corporation tax, VAT, payroll and your self assessment in one monthly fee.
VAT scheme reviewed against how the agency actually invoices and pays contractors.
Corporation tax and dividend position forecast a month before the bill lands.
Proactive planning included on a fair-use basis, and Nasir replies himself.
Eight things worth checking in your agency’s set-up
Answer these about your own numbers before you speak to anyone.
- 01
Do you know which VAT scheme you are on and why?
If the answer is the one chosen at registration, it has probably never been tested.
- 02
Does your VAT return reflect how you invoice placements?
Billing the full charge rate and billing a margin produce very different returns.
- 03
Is payroll run to a fixed schedule every week or month?
Late RTI submissions cost money that no year-end adjustment recovers.
- 04
Do you know your corporation tax figure before the year end?
Finding out the week it is due removes every option you had.
- 05
Has anyone reviewed your salary and dividend split since incorporation?
Most agency directors are still on the split their formation agent suggested.
- 06
Do you know your dividend headroom this month?
Contractor payments going out weekly make retained profit harder to read.
- 07
Do your books reconcile in the month, not at year end?
Current numbers are what let you price a new desk or a new consultant.
- 08
Do you speak to the same person every time?
A new account manager every year means re-explaining the agency every year.
What Nexus runs for a recruitment agency
Compliance and advice in one monthly fee, scoped after the set-up review.
Payroll, pensions and contractor payments
Run on schedule, with the salary and dividend planning for the directors built in.
VAT returns and scheme review
Standard, flat rate or cash accounting chosen for how the agency invoices and what it actually costs.
Accounts, corporation tax and forecasting
Year-end accounts, CT600 and confirmation statement, with your tax bill flagged a month before it lands.
Entry 01
Why three new clients a month matters to an agency with weekly payroll
Two entries from the practice, both about attention rather than technique.
Clients described by type. Names withheld.
What clients say
What the first ninety days with your agency look like
The order matters, because payroll cannot wait for the handover.
Your set-up reviewed and written down
Structure, VAT scheme, salary and dividends and software checked, with a written list of what to change and why.
Payroll and books on a routine
Payroll, pensions and bookkeeping settle into a schedule, and records come across from your previous accountant.
VAT and contractor payments reconciled
The VAT return is prepared from books that reconcile, including what goes out to contractors each week.
Your tax position, ahead of the bill
Corporation tax and dividend headroom forecast before the year end, with a check-in every few months after that.
Agencies Nexus is not the right fit for
Agencies in their first or second year, still finding their first desks.
Sole trader recruiters under £150,000 turnover, where incorporation is not yet the obvious move.
Owners who want filing done and no conversation about the numbers.
Price-driven buyers comparing monthly fees alone.
If you are an established agency with staff, contractors and real overheads, the set-up review is the place to start.
Questions agency directors ask
What does an accountant for recruitment agencies 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 tax 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 lands. Capital gains returns are charged separately.
We already have an accountant, so is it worth moving?
Only if something is missing. Ask whether they can tell you this week if your VAT scheme suits how you invoice placements, give you your corporation tax figure before the year end, and reply personally. If all three are yes, stay where you are. If not, the set-up review shows you what is being left on the table.
Do we have to change our payroll or accounting software?
No. Nasir reviews the software you use as part of the set-up review and tells you whether it suits the volume of payroll and contractor payments you run. If it works, it stays. A change is only recommended when the current set-up is costing you time or accuracy, and the reason is explained in writing.
What happens with our current accountant when we switch?
You do not chase them yourself. Nexus handles professional clearance and collects your records, then runs the set-up review and sets out a first-year timetable so nothing is missed between the two firms. There is no separate charge for the handover, and payroll keeps running on schedule while it happens.
Can an accountant for recruitment agencies help with VAT on placement margins?
Yes. Whether you invoice the full charge rate or a margin changes what appears on your VAT return, and the right treatment depends on your contracts and your actual costs. The set-up review looks at both, then the scheme is chosen for your real figures rather than left as it was set at registration.
Do you work with recruitment agencies outside Milton Keynes?
Yes. Nexus is based in Milton Keynes and works with limited companies across the UK remotely, so agencies in Bedford, Northampton, Luton, London and beyond are all covered. Meetings happen by call or video, records move digitally, and Nasir rarely needs to meet in person. Phone and email replies come from him.
Three ways to take the next step
Book the set-up review
Nasir checks your structure, VAT scheme, pay and software, then gives you a written list of what to change and why.
See if Nexus fits your agency 02 · A question firstGot a question about payroll or VAT first?
Send it over and Nasir answers it himself, usually within the week.
Ask Nasir a question 03 · Still decidingStill deciding
The guides cover VAT scheme choice and salary and dividend planning in plain numbers.
Read the guides →