Barton Accountancy Limited

20/07/2026

Growth is good news — until you realise you've drifted past the VAT registration threshold without planning for it, and suddenly there's a rush to get compliant.

We keep an eye on this for our clients, so if you're approaching £90k turnover, you know well in advance — time to plan pricing, systems and cash flow properly.

29/06/2026

There's a big difference between an accountant who files your accounts and one who actually plans your tax.

Most just record what's already happened and send the bill. We look ahead — salary and dividends, allowances, the timing of things — so you're not paying a penny more tax than you need to.

If no one has ever sat down and looked at whether you're tax-efficient, that's a conversation worth having.

Drop us a DM or give us a call.

26/06/2026

The P11D deadline doesn't move.

If you provided any taxable benefits to directors or employees during the 2025/26 tax year — company cars, private medical insurance, beneficial loans, mileage above HMRC rates — your P11D and P11D(b) returns are due with HMRC by Monday 6 July, with Class 1A National Insurance to follow by 22 July.

The penalty for missing the deadline is fixed and automatic: £100 per 50 employees for every month (or part-month) late.
One worth knowing too — from April 2027, mandatory pay rolling of benefits begins. The 2025/26 round will be one of the last full P11D cycles for most employers.

Full breakdown of what counts, the penalties and what's coming next is on our blog (link in bio for IG, link in comments for FB).
If you're not sure whether you have anything to file, that uncertainty itself is the problem. Get in touch — we'll tell you what's actually due.

11/06/2026

A few local accountancy firms have been bought out and rolled into bigger groups lately. If yours has, you might have noticed the difference — longer waits, a new face every time, that personal touch gone.

You don't have to put up with it. Switching accountant is far easier than most people expect — we handle everything, including speaking to your current accountant. Most switches are done in a couple of weeks.

Fixed monthly fees, a real person who knows you, and no surprises.

Book a free 15-minute call.

08/06/2026

You might not have noticed it happen, but a lot of small, local accountancy firms have quietly been bought up by big national groups.

The name on the door might stay the same for a while. The service usually doesn't. The accountant who knew you and your business gets replaced by a call centre, a portal, and a different junior every year. You go from a valued client to a number on a system.

We're independent, owner-run and local — and we intend to stay that way. With us you get a real person who knows your name, knows your business, and picks up the phone.

If your accountant hasn't felt the same since the takeover, switching is easier than you think — we handle the whole thing.

Fixed monthly fees. ICAEW Chartered, Swadlincote and Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

Book a free 15-minute call.

08/06/2026

A bit of good news for business owners around Ashby, Swadlincote and the wider East Midlands.

For the first time since 2011, HMRC has raised the approved mileage rate. If you use your own car for work, you can now claim 55p a mile for the first 10,000 miles — up from 45p — completely free of tax and National Insurance. It is backdated to 6 April, so it covers the miles you have already driven this year.

On 10,000 business miles, that is an extra £1,000 a year, tax-free.

If you drive a company car the rules are a little different, and those rates changed too. We have explained the whole thing in plain English here, including what to do if you have been claiming at the old rate:

HMRC raised the approved mileage rate to 55p a mile from 6 April 2026 — the first increase in 15 years. What it means for limited company directors, and how it differs from company-car fuel rates.

05/06/2026

Do you actually know what tax you’ll owe this year? Or are you waiting to find out in January?

Most business owners we meet are in the dark about their tax until the bill lands — and by then it’s too late to plan for it.

That’s not how it should work.

With Barton Accountancy, you know what you owe months in advance, with time to put the money aside. No nasty surprises. No January panic. And when you’ve got a question, you get a straight answer in plain English — from a real person who knows your business, not a portal.

Fixed monthly fees, agreed upfront. ICAEW Chartered Accountants in Swadlincote and Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

Thinking of switching? It’s easier than you’d expect — we handle everything, including speaking to your current accountant.

Book a free 15-minute call. Let’s take the dread out of your numbers.

15/05/2026

For café owners — we've put a free margin checker live on our site. Applies the proper HMRC VAT rules across your menu, then shows exactly how much you might be leaving on the table each year. Free, no sign-up, two minutes.

13/05/2026

Two cafés. Same town. Same turnover. One owner takes home £40k. The other takes home £8k. The difference? The menu
D. Which café are you - A or B?

06/05/2026

Mornings in Ashby-de-la-Zouch hit differently.
A proper coffee, a walk through town, and into the office to look after the limited companies we work with across the Midlands. Local accountant, local roots — and a soft spot for owner-managed businesses doing things properly.