Catch-up bookkeeping & late tax returns
One year behind or five. A carrier bag of receipts or nothing at all. Bring me whatever you have and I'll give you a fixed price to get you up to date with HMRC. No judgement, no mystery fees, no telling-off.
Book a free records review call"The person who turns up with a box of receipts is my most common new client. It's fixable, and it's usually quicker and cheaper than they feared."
Christina Ding · Founder, Ding AccountingSound familiar?
Falling behind is far more common than you'd think, and it almost never happens because someone is careless. Life gets busy, the business takes over, and the paperwork quietly piles up. Whatever the reason, the fix is the same: a clear plan and a fixed price.
Receipts in a shoebox, a drawer or a carrier bag. Photos scattered across your phone. Nothing has been sorted, and you're not sure where to start. That's fine. Sorting is the job.
One missed return became two, and now the thought of opening it all up feels worse than ignoring it. It isn't. Multiple years is routine work with a clear order to it.
Brown envelopes in a pile, unopened because you already know roughly what they say. Bring them along. Once we know exactly where you stand, they stop being frightening.
Started trading, meant to sort the tax side, never quite did. I'll register you with HMRC, work out what needs filing, and get you onto a clean footing going forward.
How it works
You won't get a lecture about how it got like this, because it doesn't matter. What matters is what happens next: I review what you've got, tell you exactly what it will cost to fix, and then it's your call. Nothing starts until you've agreed the price.
Typical all-in cost for a sole trader, one year
Every job is different. You'll get a fixed quote after I've seen your records, before any work begins. No VAT is added to my fees because I'm not VAT registered.
The honest bit
I won't pretend penalties away. If returns are late, HMRC may already have charged fixed penalties and interest, and I can't undo what has already been applied. What I can do is stop the total growing: the sooner your returns are filed, the sooner the clock stops.
Once everything is filed, I'll also look at whether you have grounds to appeal, for example where there was a reasonable excuse such as serious illness or bereavement, and handle that correspondence with HMRC for you. And if a tax bill lands that you can't pay at once, HMRC's Time to Pay arrangements let many people spread the cost. Knowing the real number is nearly always better than guessing at it.
Questions people ask
No. Catch-up work is the most common way new clients come to me, and by the time people get in touch they've usually already given themselves a harder time than anyone else would. My only interest is getting you up to date and keeping you there.
No. Talking to me changes nothing with HMRC. Nothing is sent to them until we've agreed exactly what needs filing and you've seen and approved it. Getting up to date on your own initiative also puts you in a far better position than waiting for HMRC to come to you.
Yes. Several years of catch-up is routine. Each year is quoted and worked through in order, and you'll see the full cost for all of it upfront, so there's no drip-feed of invoices as we go.
In practice, no. Missing records can usually be rebuilt from bank statements, and where something genuinely can't be evidenced, there are accepted ways to deal with that on the return. The state of the bag is my problem, not yours.
A typical one-year sole trader catch-up lands between £300 and £500 all-in, including the Self Assessment filing. More years cost more, but you'll get one fixed quote covering everything before any work starts, and no VAT is added to my fees.
A free 20-minute call, no obligation and no telling-off. Tell me where you are and I'll tell you exactly what it takes to get you up to date.
Book your free records review