BOOKKEEPING GUIDE

Bookkeeper vs accountant: who does what.

A bookkeeper keeps the day-to-day records. An accountant turns those records into accounts, tax returns and advice. Many small businesses use both. This guide explains where each job starts and stops, which deadlines each one feeds, and how to split the work.

Figures for the 2026/27 tax year · Last reviewed 21/10/2026

The short answer

Think of it as two stages of the same process.

The bookkeeper records. Every sale, purchase, payment and receipt goes into the software, matched to the bank and backed by a document.
The accountant reports. At the year end, or when a return is due, they review the records, make adjustments and produce the figures that go to HMRC and Companies House.

The accountant's work can only be as good as the records underneath it. If the bookkeeping is late or incomplete, the year-end job takes longer and costs more, because someone has to fix the records first.

What a bookkeeper does

Bookkeeping is the steady, repeated work of keeping your records complete and accurate. It usually covers:

Matching bank and card lines to sales invoices, supplier bills and receipts
Coding each transaction to the right account, such as sales, materials or rent
Checking that the bank balance in the software matches the real bank statement
Recording sales invoices and supplier bills, and keeping track of who owes what
Collecting missing receipts and invoices before they are forgotten
Keeping the VAT coding right on each transaction, if you are registered
Producing simple management figures, such as a monthly profit and loss

Our guide on what a bookkeeper does goes through these tasks in more detail.

What an accountant does

An accountant works mostly from the finished records. Their typical jobs include:

Preparing year-end accounts, including adjustments such as depreciation, accruals and prepayments
Preparing and filing the Company Tax Return for a limited company
Preparing Self Assessment returns for sole traders, partners and directors
Advising on tax, such as how a director takes money out of the company
Advising on bigger decisions, such as incorporating, buying assets or raising finance

Some accountants also do bookkeeping, and some bookkeepers prepare VAT returns or payroll. The labels describe the work more than the person. What matters is that every task has a named owner.

The legal duty sits with you

Whoever you hire, the business keeps the legal responsibility for its records and filings. For a limited company, the records must include all money received and spent, the company's assets, the debts it owes and is owed, and stock at the year end.

Company accounting records must be kept for at least 6 years from the end of the last company financial year they relate to.
HMRC can fine a company £3,000 for not keeping accounting records, and a director could be disqualified.

A bookkeeper helps you meet this duty day to day. An accountant relies on it being met. Neither one takes the duty away from the business. See our guide on how long to keep business records.

Which deadlines each one feeds

Most UK filing deadlines depend on both roles. The bookkeeper gets the records ready. The accountant, or whoever files, uses them.

Limited companies

Annual accounts to Companies House: 9 months after the company's financial year ends. First accounts are usually due 21 months after the company registered with Companies House (sooner if the first accounting period is shortened).
Corporation Tax payment: 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period for Corporation Tax.
Company Tax Return: 12 months after the end of the accounting period for Corporation Tax.

Note that the tax is due before the return. The figures need to be ready in time to pay, not just to file. Our guide on year-end accounts explains what goes into them.

Sole traders and partners

For the 2025 to 2026 tax year, a paper Self Assessment return must reach HMRC by 31 October 2026. An online return must be filed by 31 January 2027, and any tax owed must be paid by the same date.

VAT-registered businesses

A VAT return is usually due one calendar month and 7 days after the end of the VAT period. Payment is due by the same date. This is the deadline that shows most clearly why the two roles connect. A quarter of tidy, reconciled records makes the return a short job. A quarter of unmatched bank lines makes it a scramble.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax pulls bookkeeping and reporting closer together for sole traders and landlords. It applies based on qualifying income from self-employment and property:

Over £50,000 in the 2024 to 2025 tax year: from 6 April 2026
Over £30,000 in the 2025 to 2026 tax year: from 6 April 2027
Over £20,000 in the 2026 to 2027 tax year: from 6 April 2028

Once it applies, records must be kept digitally and quarterly updates sent to HMRC using software that works with the service. Records kept up to date through the year matter more than ever, because there is no longer one annual catch-up. Our guide on Making Tax Digital deadlines covers this further.

Dealing with HMRC on your behalf

If an adviser is going to talk to HMRC or file for you, they need your authorisation first. HMRC's guidance for tax advisers says they must register as an agent and then get authorisation from the client before acting for them. A bookkeeper who only works inside your software may not need this. Whoever files returns for you will.

Businesses that provide accountancy services, and are not supervised by a professional body, must also register with HMRC for anti-money laundering supervision. That is why a new bookkeeper or accountant will usually ask for identity checks before they start.

How small businesses usually split the work

There is no single right arrangement. Common set-ups include:

You do the books, an accountant does the year end. This can work when there are few transactions and you enjoy the admin. The risk is that records slip when you are busy.
A bookkeeper does the books, an accountant does the year end and tax. Each specialist does the part they are set up for. The bookkeeper hands over reconciled records, and the accountant spends less time cleaning them up.
One firm does both. This keeps things in one place. Check that the routine bookkeeping actually happens through the year, rather than all at once before a deadline.

A worked example

This example is made up. Imagine a limited company with a financial year ending 31 March 2026. Its Corporation Tax is due by 1 January 2027, its accounts are due at Companies House by 31 December 2026, and its Company Tax Return is due by 31 March 2027.

If a bookkeeper has kept the records reconciled all year, the accountant can start the year end in April with complete figures. If the books have not been touched since the previous year end, the accountant first has to reconcile twelve months of bank lines and chase a year of missing receipts. That is still bookkeeping, just done late and under pressure.

Signs you need one, the other, or both

You need a bookkeeper if bank lines sit unmatched for weeks, receipts go missing, or you do not know who owes you money.
You need an accountant if you have accounts or tax returns to file, or a tax question that affects how you pay yourself or structure the business.
You need both if your accountant's year-end bill keeps rising because of clean-up work, or if you are VAT registered and the returns always feel rushed.

If your books are already months behind, the usual first step is a catch-up job, then a regular routine from a reconciled position. For costs, see our guide on how much a bookkeeper costs in the UK. If you are thinking of doing the year end yourself, read can I do my own accounts for a limited company first.