We're just over your usual size range. Is it still worth talking?

Yes. The £500k turnover and one-to-ten staff range is where I do most of my work, not a hard limit. If you're a bit above or below it, get in touch and I'll tell you honestly whether I'm the right fit or point you somewhere better.

How is a Quarterly Performance Review different from just getting my year-end accounts?

Year-end accounts tell you what happened last year, months after it happened. A Quarterly Performance Review happens four times a year, while there's still time to act on what the numbers are telling you, not just file them.

We already have a bookkeeper. Can you just handle the higher-level work?

Sometimes. It depends on how your existing bookkeeping is set up and how it fits with what I need for VAT, accounts, and reviews. Best to talk it through on a call rather than guess.

SME Accountant & Quarterly Reviews

Past the start-up phase, the questions change

When you're three, four, five years into running a business, the questions you need answered from an accountant aren't the same ones you had at the start. You've worked out how to set the thing up. Now you need to understand what's actually happening inside it: which parts of the business make money, where cash gets stuck, and what you can afford to do next. That's a different job, and it needs a different kind of relationship with your accountant, not just someone who files your accounts once a year and disappears.

Quarterly Performance Reviews

This is where Quarterly Performance Reviews earn their keep. Instead of finding out how the year went nine months after it ended, we sit down four times a year and go through what's actually happening: revenue trends, margin by service or product line, and whether the numbers back up the decisions you're making. It's the difference between accounts as a record of the past and accounts as something you can actually use to steer the business. Perspective and accountability, two of the five principles I work by, both live in this conversation. You can read more about the full framework on my method page.

Cash flow and margin, not just profit

A business that's profitable on paper can still run into trouble if cash arrives late and goes out early. As you scale, that gap matters more, not less: bigger contracts, longer payment terms, more staff to pay whether or not the invoice has landed yet. Cash Flow & Reporting gives you visibility into that gap before it becomes a problem, and margin visibility tells you which bits of growth are actually worth having versus which are just more work for the same money.

Who this is actually for

I'll be straight with you about where I'm most useful. Most of my clients at this stage are businesses turning over up to roughly £500,000 with somewhere between one and ten people on payroll. That's not a hard cut-off, it's just where I do my best work and where the fixed-fee model makes the most sense for both of us. If your business isn't on that list, ask anyway. I'd rather have the conversation and tell you honestly whether I'm the right fit than have you guess and rule yourself out.

How it works

Everything sits under one fixed fee, agreed in writing before we start: bookkeeping, VAT returns, year-end accounts, company tax returns, cash flow reporting, and the quarterly reviews, with payroll, Self Assessment, and HMRC or Companies House compliance available as add-ons if you need them. No surprise bills, and no vague "it depends on the month" pricing.

Let's talk

Book a free discovery call, no pressure, no sales pitch. If you're already well served where you are, I'll say so. If you're not, let's find out what's actually going on in your numbers.

Book a call or email daneon@dfaccounting.co.uk.

Accounting for Growing SMEs