Accountants for Solicitors, Barristers and Law Firms
The accounts, the tax, and the part a high-street accountant rarely touches: the SRA Accounts Rules and the client account, the tax-year basis, and the Bar's cash basis. Fixed fee, agreed before any work starts.
- Client account kept to the SRA Accounts Rules, and ready for the annual report
- Firm and partner tax on the tax-year basis, with the transition profit spread
- Barristers on the cash basis, with chambers expenses and slow fees handled
- Partnership, LLP or company: modelled on your real figures, not in the abstract
Tell us about your practice
- Fixed fee up front
- No obligation
- Reply within 1 working day
6 months
To obtain your SRA accountant's report after year end
£10k / £250k
Client money below this can be exempt from the report
2024/25
The tax-year basis now applies to partners and the Bar
6 Apr 2026
Making Tax Digital starts, at £50,000
The Dates and Rules a Legal Practice Gets Caught By
| What it is | Why it matters | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| SRA accountant's report | Obtain it within this of your accounting period end | 6 months |
| Report exemption, small balances | Average and maximum client money at each reconciliation date | £10k / £250k |
| Legal Aid Agency exemption | Holding money only from the LAA also exempts a firm | Exempt |
| Tax-year basis | Partners and self-employed barristers now taxed on the tax year | From 2024/25 |
| Transition profit | The one-off catch-up charge can be spread over | 5 years |
| Cash basis at the Bar | Now the default; barristers taxed on fees received | From 6 Apr 2024 |
| Making Tax Digital | Quarterly digital filing starts once qualifying income passes | £50,000 |
Checked against the SRA and GOV.UK on 28 July 2026. The source for each figure is in the relevant guide. The SRA Accounts Rules are England and Wales.
A legal practice is taxed and regulated in ways an ordinary small business is not. Hold client money and the SRA Accounts Rules apply, with an annual accountant's report to obtain. Practise at the self-employed Bar or as a partner and the tax-year basis has reshaped your bills. Neither is everyday work for a high-street accountant.
This is the only kind of work we do. We keep the client account clean to the rules through the year, get the tax right on the current basis, and agree a fixed fee before we start so you always know the cost. The work is delivered by Tidy Money Ltd, regulated by the ACCA.
What We Do
Accountants for solicitors
the accounts, the tax and the SRA side, on a fixed fee.
Accountants for barristers
the cash basis, chambers expenses and slow fees, handled.
Accountants for law firms
partnership and LLP accounts, tax and the client account.
SRA-compliant bookkeeping
the client account kept reconciled and rules-clean, all year.
The SRA Accountant's Report
your firm made ready for the report, and it coordinated.
Law firm accounts and tax
the firm's accounts and return, and the partners' personal tax.
What a Legal Practice Needs Handling
Two things sit at the centre. The first is client money: if the firm holds it, the SRA Accounts Rules require it kept separate, reconciled regularly and, for most firms, checked by an annual accountant's report. Keeping the client account clean through the year is what makes that report a formality rather than a problem.
The second is how the profit is taxed. Partners and self-employed barristers are now taxed on the tax-year basis, which for anyone who used a 30 April year end brought a one-off transition profit that can be spread over five years. The Bar also sits on the cash basis by default now, taxed on fees when they arrive rather than when billed. Getting both right is the core of the work.
What We Do Not Do
The work is delivered by Tidy Money Ltd, a practice regulated by the ACCA. It holds no permission from the Financial Conduct Authority, so we do the tax and the accounts, not investment or pension advice, and we do not sell tax-avoidance schemes.
We are also straight about the SRA accountant's report. Signing one is work for a qualified reporting accountant; what we do is get your firm and its records fully ready for the report and coordinate it, so it comes back clean. And the client-money rules on this site are England and Wales: Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own separate regimes. There are no fabricated reviews or invented experts here, and every figure traces to the SRA or a GOV.UK source.
The SRA Rules and Legal Tax, Explained
SRA Accounts Rules
This guide covers what the rules require of firms holding client money, in plain terms.
The SRA Accountant's Report
This guide covers who needs a report, the deadline, and the exemption most miss.
Client money and the client account
This guide covers running the client account so it stays clean and reconciled.
Basis period reform
This guide covers the tax-year basis, the transition profit, and the five-year spread.
Tax for barristers
This guide covers the cash basis, aged fee debt and chambers expenses, in plain terms.
Partnership, LLP or company
This guide covers how each structure is taxed and regulated, and when to change.
Making Tax Digital
This guide covers the £50k, £30k and £20k start dates, and who is caught first.
Common questions
Do you handle the SRA Accounts Rules and the client account?
Yes. Keeping the client account reconciled and compliant through the year, clearing residual balances, and getting a firm ready for its annual accountant's report are core to what we do. It is the specialist part a general accountant usually cannot help with.
Do you sign the SRA accountant's report?
Signing the report is work for a qualified reporting accountant. What we do is get your firm and its records fully ready for the report, deal with anything that would qualify it, and coordinate it. Tell us your situation and we will set out exactly how it would run.
Do you act for barristers as well as solicitors?
Yes. We act for the self-employed Bar, handling the cash basis, chambers expenses, slow fees and the basis-period transition, as well as for solicitors and law firms. Each has its own tax profile and we work to it.
How much does it cost?
A fixed fee, agreed in writing before any work starts, scaled to your practice. Nothing is charged until you approve the quote, and there is no hourly billing or charge for asking a question.
Who actually does the work?
The work is delivered by Tidy Money Ltd, a practice regulated by the ACCA and owned by Preetesh Parmar FCCA. Your enquiry goes straight to the firm that would do the work, not to a panel of firms.
Get a fixed fee before any work starts
Tell us whether you are a solicitor, a barrister or a firm, and what is outstanding: the accounts, the tax, the client account, or a deadline with the SRA or HMRC. We come back with a fixed price and the date it has to be finished by.
Get in touch