Our expertise
Accountants for Software and Tech Companies in York
There’s a lot going on in the finances of a software or tech company that a generalist accountant simply hasn’t seen before. Revenue from subscriptions and annual licences needs recognising over the period it’s earned, not on the day the invoice lands. Loss-making early years are normal rather than alarming, but they still shape your cash position and need planning around properly. And R&D tax relief, usually the single biggest financial opportunity available to a software business, gets claimed far less often than it should, usually because nobody told the founders they were eligible.
We work with software companies, SaaS businesses, app developers, tech startups and IT consultancies across York, Yorkshire and the UK, from seed-stage companies still working through their runway to established teams with a payroll to run and investors expecting regular reporting. We understand the rhythm of a tech business and keep your numbers working in your favour rather than against you.
In a nutshell: we’ll handle your annual accounts and tax, and the things that make software and tech accounting different: R&D tax relief claims prepared correctly under the current rules, subscription and SaaS revenue recognised in the right period, EMI option schemes set up and maintained properly, and SEIS or EIS filings that protect your investors’ tax relief. Fixed fee, agreed upfront. Plain English at every step.
Why software and tech businesses need a specialist accountant
A generalist accountant can handle the basics. Where software and tech businesses catch them out is in the specific combination of tax reliefs, revenue timing and incentive structures that come with the territory.
R&D tax relief is the biggest opportunity, and the most often missed. If your company is developing new software, solving genuine technical uncertainties, or building systems and architecture that aren’t readily available off the shelf, that work may qualify for HMRC’s R&D tax relief. For accounting periods starting on or after 1 April 2024, the old SME scheme and RDEC merged into a single scheme, with a separate, more generous rate available to loss-making companies that spend a high enough proportion of their total costs on qualifying R&D. For profitable companies, the relief reduces the Corporation Tax bill. For loss-making companies, it can mean a cash payment from HMRC. Claims need a proper technical narrative and correctly identified costs behind them, since HMRC’s checks have tightened considerably in recent years. We use specialist R&D advisers to assist with claims.
Subscription and SaaS revenue needs recognising in the right period. If a customer pays twelve months up front in January, that income belongs to the twelve months it covers, not to January’s accounts. Getting this right at year-end gives an accurate profit figure and avoids paying Corporation Tax on income that hasn’t actually been earned yet. For SaaS businesses running a mix of monthly and annual plans, the calculation needs doing properly, not estimated from the bank balance.
Development costs sometimes belong on the balance sheet, not in the profit and loss account. Costs of building new software can, in the right circumstances, be capitalised as an intangible asset rather than expensed as they’re incurred, particularly once a project has moved from research into development with a clear route to a working product. Getting this judgement right changes the shape of the accounts and the timing of the tax charge, and it needs revisiting each year as projects move through their lifecycle.
EMI option schemes need setting up and maintaining properly. Enterprise Management Incentive options let tech companies give key employees a real share in future upside without an immediate tax cost for either side, and the eligibility limits were widened considerably from 6 April 2026 (the company option pool rose from £3 million to £6 million, and the gross assets limit from £30 million to £120 million), bringing more growing companies into scope. The scheme still needs structuring correctly from the outset, options need granting within HMRC’s rules, and the records HMRC requires need maintaining throughout. Done properly, EMI is one of the most effective retention tools available to a growing tech company. Done badly, the tax advantages disappear.
SEIS and EIS investment requires the right filings, on time. If your company has raised or is planning to raise investment from angels or seed funds under the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme or the Enterprise Investment Scheme, the compliance matters to your investors. They get generous Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax relief on their investment, but only if the company files correctly with HMRC at the right time. Getting this wrong can cost your investors their relief, and cost your fundraising its appeal.
Loss-making early years are a tax planning question, not just a bad year. Tech startups often run at a loss while the product is being built and the customer base established. Terminal loss relief, the R&D cash credit available to loss-making SMEs, and the point at which the company moves into profitability all shape the cash position. We plan around the loss years rather than simply filing them away.
Here’s how we help
The services software and tech businesses call on most, each with the full detail on its own page:
- Company Accounts for limited companies
- Bookkeeping to keep your digital records accurate and current
- Tax Planning, including R&D claims, EMI scheme setup, and SEIS or EIS filings
- VAT returns, registration, and the specific questions that come with international SaaS sales
- Payroll for companies with staff, including share option related payroll events
- Management Accounts for companies that need a regular view of runway, burn rate and recurring revenue
- Personal Tax Return for directors
This page talks about why having a specialist is important. The individual service pages show how each bit of the work gets done.
How we work with software and tech businesses
Every company takes a different mix of services. An early-stage startup with two founders and no revenue yet needs different support to a scaling SaaS business with fifteen staff, an investor reporting obligation and a complex share structure. We tailor what we handle to where you are now, and we adjust as you grow.
Staying in regular contact through the year keeps things moving. Whatever we’re looking after, you’ll have a specialist team on hand whenever something comes up: an investor asking for management accounts in a format they can use, a new hire you want to grant options to, a question about whether a new piece of development qualifies for R&D. If HMRC writes to you about anything, forward it on and we’ll either explain it or tell you to ignore it.
Records come through ShareFile, and we work with Xero, FreeAgent and Dext for clients on cloud bookkeeping. Keeping your books current through the year makes the R&D claim, the revenue recognition and the year-end accounts far more straightforward to get right.
The pre year-end meeting is where we get most strategic. We walk through the year, plan the next one, and make sure the annual accounts and tax position are shaped by what’s actually best for the company. For software and tech businesses, this is also where the R&D claim gets the attention it deserves: the right technical narrative, the right costs, and the right timing against the Corporation Tax return.
If you’re already working with another accountant, moving over is more straightforward than most people expect, and our guide on how to change accountants walks you through it.
Frequently asked questions
If your company is writing code to solve a genuine technical uncertainty (something that isn’t obvious from existing knowledge or off-the-shelf tools), there’s a good chance some of that work qualifies. HMRC’s R&D tax relief applies to the costs of qualifying R&D work: staff costs, subcontractor costs up to a cap, software licences used in the R&D, and some consumables. For accounting periods starting on or after 1 April 2024, most companies claim under a single merged scheme, with a more generous rate available to loss-making companies whose R&D spend makes up a high enough share of their total expenditure. HMRC’s checks have become considerably more rigorous in recent years, so the claim needs preparing with proper supporting evidence. We assess eligibility each year and prepare the claim correctly, or bring in an R&D specialist where the claim is large enough to warrant it.
An Enterprise Management Incentive scheme lets qualifying companies grant share options to employees at an agreed exercise price, usually based on a valuation agreed with HMRC. Provided the EMI conditions are met and the options are granted at market value, there is normally no Income Tax or National Insurance when the options are exercised. If the company grows and the shares are eventually sold, the increase in value is generally subject to Capital Gains Tax rather than Income Tax – a potentially significant tax advantage. EMI is therefore one of the most tax-efficient ways for growing companies to attract and retain key people. To qualify, the company needs to be independent, unquoted and carrying on a qualifying trade. From 6 April 2026, the main eligibility limits were significantly increased, including the gross assets limit from £30 million to £120 million and the total value of unexercised EMI options from £3 million to £6 million, bringing many more companies within the scheme.
Revenue from subscriptions should be recognised over the period to which it relates, not on the date payment is received. A customer paying £1,200 for an annual licence in October needs £300 recognised in that financial year (assuming a December year-end) and £900 recognised in the next. Getting this right matters for your reported profit, for the tax you pay, and for the picture your accounts present to investors. We handle this as part of the year-end accounts, not as an afterthought.
HMRC requires limited companies to keep accounting records for six years from the end of the financial year they relate to. For R&D claims, HMRC may ask for evidence of the technical work carried out (project notes, development logs, time records against qualifying projects) during an enquiry. Keeping these records as a matter of course is far easier than reconstructing them two years after the fact. We build record-keeping into the bookkeeping process from the outset.
We work with software companies, SaaS businesses and tech consultancies across Yorkshire and the UK. The first conversation is about your business: what you’re building, how you’re structured, and what you’d like an accountant to take off your plate.
Why clients stay with us
We’ve been working with software and technology businesses across Yorkshire since Stacey McVeighty FCCA started the practice in 2014. Today we look after around 800 clients from our York office. We’re ACCA-accredited, and we hold 38 five-star reviews on Google, rated 5.0, most from clients who’ve been with us for years.
Fixed fees. Plain English. The same team next year, and the year after that.
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