Accounting and Tax Services
Accounting and Tax Services for UK Businesses and Individuals
Merit Accountants is a firm of Chartered Certified Accountants and Chartered Tax Advisers with offices in Stalybridge, London and Potters Bar. Every service on this page is delivered by the same team, with tax thinking built in from the start rather than added at year end.
Use this page to find the service you need, or browse by sector on our who we serve page. If you would rather talk it through first, book a first meeting and we will point you in the right direction.
Tax services
Tax is where Merit started and it remains the core of the firm. Chartered Tax Adviser oversight sits across every return we file.
- Corporation tax returns: CT600 preparation, filing and payment planning for limited companies
- Personal tax returns: self assessment for directors, landlords, sole traders and higher earners
- Capital gains tax reporting: 60 day property reporting and planning around disposals
- VAT returns: registration, quarterly filing, partial exemption and place of supply questions
- ATED returns: annual filings for companies holding UK residential property
- Tax advisory services: structuring, reliefs and planning ahead of transactions
- HMRC tax investigations: enquiries, disclosures and penalty mitigation
- Making Tax Digital accountant: quarterly updates, software and agent authorisation for MTD for Income Tax
Compliance and accounts
The filings every business has to get right, prepared once and prepared properly.
- Accounts preparation: statutory year end accounts for companies, LLPs and sole traders
- Audit services: statutory audit and assurance work from a registered auditor
- Company secretarial services: confirmation statements, registers and Companies House filings
- Construction industry scheme: CIS registration, monthly returns and offset claims
Bookkeeping and management reporting
Clean books are the foundation for every other service on this page. Our bookkeeping and management reporting service keeps your records current in cloud software and turns them into management accounts you can actually make decisions with, monthly or quarterly to suit the business.
If you are choosing or moving software, our Xero and cloud accounting service covers migration, setup and training.
Payroll and P11D
Our payroll and P11D processing service runs payroll on time, handles pension auto enrolment and files P11D benefit in kind returns, so directors and staff are paid correctly and HMRC deadlines are never missed.
Advisory and growth
When the compliance is under control, the useful conversations start.
- Complete finance function: an outsourced finance department without the payroll cost of one
- Finance raising: support with funding applications and the information lenders ask for
- How to change accountants: what switching involves and how professional clearance works
Who we work with
Alongside these services we run specialist sector desks, because a recruitment agency, an online retailer and a tech startup do not have the same problems. We also run a dedicated small business accountants service for limited companies and sole traders. The full list of sectors is on our who we serve page.
Why Merit
Merit is Chartered Certified Accountants, Chartered Tax Advisers and Registered Auditors under one roof, with offices in Stalybridge, London and Potters Bar. You get one point of contact who knows your numbers, backed by a team that covers everything listed above, so nothing falls between two advisers.
Services FAQs
Which service do I actually need?
Often more than one, and they overlap. A limited company usually needs accounts preparation, a corporation tax return, payroll if it has staff and VAT returns once turnover passes the registration threshold. The simplest route is a first meeting: we look at where you are and tell you what is needed and what is not.
Can you take over from our current accountant part way through the year?
Yes. Switching is a standard process built on professional clearance, and most of it happens between the two firms. Our guide on how to change accountants walks through the steps and the timing.
Do you only work with businesses near your offices?
No. The offices are in Stalybridge, London and Potters Bar, but the work is cloud based and we act for clients across the UK. Meetings happen in person or by video call, whichever suits you.
Last reviewed: August 2026.