R&D merged scheme claims, SEIS and EIS advance assurance, EMI and share schemes, fractional CFO and core compliance. For post-formation, funded and scaling UK tech, SaaS and software companies. Not the commodity cheap-filing market.
The compliance obligations that matter most to a funded startup (R&D claims, EIS compliance, EMI option scheme management, share scheme hygiene at formation and round) are encountered infrequently by a generalist firm. They are the main work here. Commodity annual accounts and CT returns are part of the engagement, not the reason for it.
Solo contractors and personal service companies are out of scope, as are creative and marketing agencies. This site works with tech, SaaS, software and fintech companies that have passed formation and are growing.
SEIS eligibility, pre-trading expenditure within the 7-year window, founder salary structure and early compliance before the first raise.
Funded startupsEIS compliance statements, R&D claims with AIF submission, EMI option pools and investor-ready accounts after investment lands.
SaaS companiesR&D on qualifying software development, VAT place-of-supply for overseas B2B revenue, and recurring revenue timing in accounts.
Software development companiesProject-level R&D qualification, IR35 boundary awareness, EMI for tech talent and Corporation Tax planning at profitability.
Fintech startupsSEIS and EIS eligibility around financial services exclusions, R&D on financial technology projects and exit structure analysis.
From first R&D claim through EMI pool and share scheme hygiene to fractional CFO.
Merged scheme and ERIS claims from the technical narrative through AIF submission and CT600. We state what qualifies and why; we do not overclaim.
HMRC pre-clearance before a round opens, compliance statement preparation, and EIS3 certificate issue to investors.
Option pool design, HMRC valuation, grant documentation, and grant notification plus annual ERS returns by 6 July each year.
Growth shares, unapproved options, section 431 elections on restricted securities and CSOP as the fallback once EMI limits are breached.
Board-ready management accounts, investor reporting, cash and runway modelling, and finance-function ownership for companies not yet at full CFO headcount.
Annual accounts, Corporation Tax returns, payroll, VAT registration and ongoing compliance for funded and scaling companies.
The merged scheme gives a 20% above-the-line credit for accounting periods from April 2024. First-time claimants must notify HMRC within 6 months of the period end. A valid Additional Information Form must reach HMRC before the CT600 claim or the claim is removed.
Service detailAdvance assurance is HMRC pre-clearance that a proposed share issue is likely to qualify. For SEIS, the company can raise up to £250,000 (gross assets under £350,000, fewer than 25 FTE, within 3 years of trade). For EIS, up to £5m per year and £12m lifetime.
Service detailEMI allows up to £250,000 of unexercised option value per employee and £3m per company (gross assets under £30m, fewer than 250 FTE). Grants must be notified to HMRC by 6 July following the tax year of grant. Annual ERS returns are due by 6 July each year, including nil returns.
Service detailWhere founders or employees acquire restricted securities at a funding round, a section 431 joint election must be made within 14 days of acquisition. Missing it is a common funded-startup trap. A section 135 TCGA share-for-share exchange is not a disposal, subject to the section 137 anti-avoidance test.
Service detailVAT registration is mandatory once rolling 12-month taxable turnover reaches £90,000. For SaaS, B2B place-of-supply rules may keep overseas revenue outside the threshold. Employer NIC is 15% above a £5,000 secondary threshold; a solo-director company is excluded from the Employment Allowance.
Service detailAll four tools are scenario and estimate calculators. They state their assumptions openly and end at a prompt to speak to us for the real numbers. No sign-up, no data stored.
Estimate the merged scheme credit or ERIS payable credit on a set of qualifying costs. States which scheme applies based on your inputs.
Model the income tax and CGT relief available to investors under SEIS or EIS for a proposed raise.
Compare the tax outcome of EMI versus unapproved options for a given grant value, exercise price and exit scenario.
Model the optimal salary and dividend split for a founder-director, accounting for Corporation Tax, income tax bands and the Employment Allowance exclusion.
How many UK tech and software companies are on the register, how many have been dissolved, and how formations have moved year by year across eight software and IT SIC codes, from live Companies House Advanced Search API counts. It is a snapshot of the register rather than a cohort survival curve, and the page says so. The methodology and limitations are stated prominently. It is a compliance-awareness resource for founders, not a regulatory filing or investment advice.
R&D claims that survive a HMRC compliance check, SEIS eligibility checked before investors are approached, EMI options that retain their qualifying status, section 431 elections filed in the 14-day window: a generalist encounters these infrequently. They are the routine work here.
| Area | Our approach |
|---|---|
| R&D: not every line of code qualifies | Qualifying R&D must seek an advance in science or technology, so a claim that stretches routine software work invites a HMRC compliance check, and an overclaim can be clawed back with interest and penalties long after the credit was banked. We assess each project on its technical facts and build claims that survive scrutiny. |
| SEIS and EIS: eligibility is easy to lose | A single borderline contract or an overlooked asset or headcount test can disqualify a round after investors have committed, and the fix is rarely available once shares are issued. We pressure-test eligibility before investor conversations begin, not after investment lands. |
| EMI: a missed deadline is expensive to unwind | Miss the notification or ERS-return window and the affected options can lose their qualifying status, converting a tax-advantaged grant into an income-tax and NIC charge for the employee at exit. Restructuring after the fact is possible but costly. We run the filing calendar so it does not happen. |
| Section 431 elections: the consequence outlives the window | Skip the joint election on restricted securities and the holder can face an income-tax charge on later share growth instead of a capital gain, a difference that only surfaces at exit when it can no longer be corrected. We flag and file it at the point of acquisition. |
| IR35 and contractor work: we state the boundary only | This site covers funded and scaling product companies. IR35 and off-payroll working depth is out of scope for this firm; a specialist contractor tax adviser is the right home for it. |
| Loss-making and pre-profit companies: still worth engaging early | Trading losses carry forward against future profits, so banking them in annual returns has real value. Pre-trading expenditure is claimable if incurred within 7 years before trade starts. |
Composite accounts based on patterns across our client base. Names, amounts and specific details anonymised. The compliance situations described are real.
“We had submitted our first R&D claim ourselves, including a project that was a rebuild of an existing internal tool rather than genuinely novel work. When we engaged a specialist ahead of year two, they reviewed the prior claim, identified the overclaim, and we corrected it voluntarily. The revised claim was smaller but defensible. We have not had a compliance check since.”
“We were about to run our SEIS round without advance assurance, on the assumption that we clearly qualified. Our accountant found that a prior consultancy contract we had run through the company was borderline under the qualifying trade test. We got advance assurance before approaching investors. The process took eight weeks and meant every investor conversation started with confirmation rather than a risk.”
“We set up our EMI scheme two years into the company. At the point we started the process, we had missed the window to notify three early option grants. Those options lost their EMI qualifying status. We have since restructured the affected grants and now have a process that files the ERS return and grant notifications on the same calendar as our board meetings.”
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Articles and guides on R&D relief, SEIS and EIS, EMI and share schemes, founder tax and extraction, SaaS finance, and startup compliance. Written for founders and finance leads, not for accountants.