For UK business owners
Choosing, checking or changing your accountant? Start here.
We look at what support your business has, how well it's working and, if you want, which firm could help.
Example: £750k turnover, six staffMonthly figures may help. It may be worth asking the current accountant first.
Made-up examples, not a result for your business. Green shows what is in place; amber shows what a business may benefit from.
Start here
What's happening in your business?
Common situations
- My accountant is not responding
- My fees went up
- A lender wants management accounts
- I am reaching the VAT threshold
- I am taking on my first employee
- Making a profit but short of cash
- I have more than one company
- My accountancy firm was bought
- Does my company need an audit?
- Financial year, tax year or year end?
Worried about a letter from HMRC or a missed deadline? Act on the date in the letter first. We are not a tax advice service. What to do if your accountant is not responding.
What this site does
The Right Accountant helps UK business owners work out what financial support they need, from bookkeeping to a part-time finance director. We look at what support a business has, how well it's working and, if the owner wants, which firm could help. Our research uses Companies House records, and our fee comparison uses prices published on firms' own websites. We do not rate or score firms, and we do not give tax or accounting advice.
Before you change anything
Your accountant may already be right for you.
Before you change anything, it may be worth asking them three things:
- Can you confirm in writing what you do for us, and are we getting all of it?
- Does that still fit the business as it is now?
- Can you offer more if we need it, for example figures during the year or a cash forecast, and what would it cost?
Not every business needs monthly figures or a forecast. If your accountant can provide what your business needs, you may not need to change anyone. If they cannot, our guides show what other help there is, from a bookkeeper to a part-time finance director.
The problem is often a different one
You may think you need a new accountant. The real issue may be one of these.
- Replies are slow, or only come at year end.
- The numbers arrive months after they matter.
- There are no monthly figures, and cash keeps surprising you.
- The business has become more complicated than it was.
- A lender, a buyer or an investor wants figures you do not have.
- You may need a part-time finance director rather than another accountant.
Each has a different answer. Some need a new accountant. Others need more from the one you have, or a different kind of help alongside them.
As a business changes
The support a business needs can change as it grows
Bookkeeping, accounts and tax
A new business needs its books kept, and its accounts and tax returns filed on time.
Monthly figures
With staff and regular customers, monthly management accounts may help you see how the business is doing between year ends. Your current accountant may already offer them.
Cash forecasting and controls
Growth, a bank loan or more stock can make a cash forecast and clear approval rules more useful.
Specialists and finance leadership
Several companies, selling abroad, or buying or selling a business may call for specialist help or a part-time finance director. For some businesses, a management accountant or better reporting may be enough.
Made-up examples to show how needs can change. Not advice.
Check what you get now
Is my accountant doing enough?
A self-check of what your accountant does now against what your business may need. It cannot see the quality of the work, so it points to things worth discussing.
What good looks like
What a business of your size may have
Draft standards by turnover, written from published guidance and not yet reviewed by a practising accountant.
About £250k · £1m · £2m · £5m
Practical tools
Tools you can use now
How our check will work
Three questions about your finance support
What you have
Does the business have the support it needs? We look at seven areas, from bookkeeping and tax to finance leadership.
How it's working
Is the support it has working well? For example, are filings on time and do you get replies?
Who could help
Only if you ask: which participating firm could help. This never changes your result.
The check is not open yet. When it opens, you will see your result before we ask for any contact details, and "keep your accountant" is one of the results. How our method works.
How we work
We show our working
Sources and dates
Our research uses Companies House records, with the date of each file. Our fee comparison uses prices published on firms' own websites, with the date we read them. We do not check the services or qualifications of every firm.
Drafts are labelled
Our standards are written from published guidance. They stay marked as drafts until a practising accountant has reviewed them.
Payment does not decide
Firms will pay us when they accept an introduction. Our rule is that payment does not decide which firm we show, or in what order. How we are paid.
If you want a firm (not open yet)
Introductions have not started. When they do, this is how they will work:
- Only participating firms. These are firms that have joined our panel and agreed our terms, not every firm in the UK.
- What a firm must do to be shown. Offer the services your result points to, take businesses of your size and type, hold any permission the work needs, and have room for new clients.
- What we will show. Up to two firms, with the reasons, what may not suit you, and the date we checked each fact. Anything we have not checked will say so.
- What it is. A suggested match from our panel, not a rating or a recommendation. Payment does not affect which firm is shown or in what order.
- Your choice. Nothing is shared with a firm unless you agree. If no participating firm fits, we will say so, and your result still stands.
Our research
What Companies House records show about UK accountancy companies
Source: Companies House company data (1 October 2026) and people with significant control data (12 October 2026). A company is not the same as a practice: one practice can run several companies. How we counted.
Where to go next