Reduce tax. Maximise reliefs. Get clarity over your agency finances. Specialist support for marketing, creative, digital and media agencies across the UK. Retainer & Project Income VAT on Recharges Freelancer IR35 R&D for Martech Director Tax Planning Fixed Monthly Fees
Most agencies come to us because they are wrestling with one or more of these.
A profitable year still ends with a Corporation Tax bill nobody planned for.
Retainers, project fees and unbilled work hit your accounts at the wrong time.
Unsure whether rebilled media spend and disbursements should carry VAT.
You engage contractors but are not sure where the off-payroll risk sits.
You have built internal tools or martech but never explored an R&D claim.
Your current accountant treats your agency like any other limited company.
Most firms treat a marketing or creative agency like any other company. They recognise income at the wrong time, mishandle VAT on recharges, miss the off-payroll risk in your freelancer base, and never look at R&D on the tools you build. AccTek is built differently — by an ACA-qualified team that understands agency economics.
A dedicated, ACA-qualified accountant who understands retainers, project income and freelancer-heavy cost bases — not generic templated returns.
Retainers earned over time, project fees against milestones, and unbilled work as WIP — we set up deferred income so your accounts reflect reality, not invoice timing.
Correct disbursement-versus-recharge treatment, registration timing around the £90,000 threshold, and place-of-supply and reverse-charge rules for overseas clients.
We review the contractors you engage, help issue correct status determinations where needed, and keep your freelancer spend efficient and compliant.
If you develop your own software, automation or martech, that work may qualify for R&D relief. We assess eligibility honestly and prepare a defensible claim.
Salary and dividend modelling for you and any co-directors, plus forward Corporation Tax planning — not just filing what you hand over at year-end.
Penny is the AI assistant inside the AccTek Finance Lab. Message her like you'd text a colleague and she answers from your real, reconciled Xero numbers — in seconds, any time. She understands UK limited company tax, director remuneration, and SME financial management, and she knows exactly where her job ends and your accountant's begins.
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Real questions directors ask — answered from your own live numbers.
Illustrative examples · Penny answers; your chartered accountant signs off.
“They sorted out how we recognise retainer and project income, so our numbers finally make sense month to month. The VAT on rebilled media spend was being done wrong for years — now it’s clean.”
Founder — Marketing agency, London
“We use a lot of freelancers and had no idea about the IR35 exposure. AccTek reviewed every engagement and gave us a clear process. Switching over was painless.”
Managing Director — Creative studio
“We’d built our own reporting platform and never thought about R&D relief. Godwin assessed it honestly and prepared the claim. The director tax planning paid for the service several times over.”
Co-founder — Digital agency
Monthly retainers are earned as the service is delivered; project fees are recognised against milestones, not when invoiced; and unbilled work sits as work-in-progress. Get this wrong and your accounts overstate profit in busy months and understate it in quiet ones — distorting both your Corporation Tax and your own view of the business. We set up deferred-income and WIP treatment so your numbers reflect reality.
When you buy media, stock or print on a client’s behalf and rebill it, the treatment depends on whether it is a genuine disbursement (passed on at cost, outside the scope of your VAT) or a recharge (part of your supply, VATable in full). Most agency rebills are recharges and must carry VAT. With the VAT registration threshold at £90,000 for 2026/27, fast-growing agencies cross it quickly, and overseas clients bring place-of-supply and B2B reverse-charge rules into play.
Agencies run on freelancers. When you engage a contractor working through their own limited company, the off-payroll rules can place the status determination — and the risk — on you, depending on your size. We review your engagements and keep your contractor spend efficient and compliant. See our IT contractor hub for the IR35 detail.
Pure marketing or creative work is not R&D. But if your agency develops its own software, automation or martech platform to resolve a genuine technical uncertainty, that development can qualify for R&D tax relief. Many agencies that have built internal tools never claim. We assess eligibility honestly and prepare a defensible claim where the work qualifies.
For 2026/27 the common structure is a director’s salary around the £12,570 personal allowance topped up with dividends, mindful of the £500 dividend allowance and dividend rates of 10.75% (basic) and 35.75% (higher). Company profits are taxed at 19% up to £50,000, tapering through marginal relief to 25% over £250,000. We model the optimal split for you and any co-directors. These figures are for the 2026/27 tax year and depend on your circumstances.
We work across the creative industries and structure your accounts around how you actually bill:
Whether you bill £60,000 or £1m+, the way your income and costs are structured drives your tax position. We make sure you are in the right structure at the right time. Whether you are an agency, a studio or a solo designer, writer or maker, we are specialist accountants for creatives and creative businesses at every stage.
An ACA-qualified accountant who understands retainers, project income and freelancer-heavy cost bases.
Retainer and project tracking, WIP, freelancer payments and automated reconciliation.
Correct VAT on recharges, registration timing around £90,000, overseas supply and MTD submissions.
Not legally, but agencies have issues generalists routinely mishandle: recognising income across retainers and project milestones, VAT on recharged media spend, off-payroll (IR35) status for the freelancers they engage, and R&D relief on in-house tech. A specialist typically saves more than the fee and keeps you compliant.
Usually as a VATable recharge, not a disbursement. A genuine disbursement is passed on at cost and sits outside the scope of your VAT, but most agency rebills (media buying, stock, print) form part of your own supply and must carry VAT. With the threshold at £90,000 for 2026/27, growing agencies cross it quickly, and overseas clients add place-of-supply and reverse-charge rules.
Only for genuine technical development — for example building your own software, automation or martech platform that resolves a real technical uncertainty. Marketing and creative work itself does not qualify. We assess eligibility honestly and prepare a defensible claim where the work qualifies.
A limited company usually becomes more tax-efficient once sustained net profits exceed roughly £30,000–£35,000, but pension position, IR35 exposure and admin overhead matter too. We model both with your real numbers using our Ltd vs Sole Trader calculator.
A common 2026/27 structure is a director salary around the £12,570 personal allowance topped up with dividends, mindful of the £500 dividend allowance and dividend rates of 10.75% basic and 35.75% higher. Company profits are taxed at 19% up to £50,000, tapering to 25% over £250,000. We model the optimal split for you and any co-directors.
AccTek works on fixed monthly fees scaled to your size and the services you need: bookkeeping, VAT, payroll, year-end accounts, Corporation Tax and director tax planning. Get a fixed-fee quote in minutes via our instant quote tool.
Fixed monthly fees • Dedicated ACA accountant • Agency-aware bookkeeping • VAT, IR35 & R&D
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Godwin Pinto ACA is a chartered accountant and founder of AccTek with 20+ years of experience accounting and tax for contractors, startup and SME .
AccTek is a member firm of the Institute of Certified Practising Accountants (ICPA). Our accountants have a wide range of qualifications and accreditations from trusted professional bodies such as the AAT, ICPA, and ACCA.
