Legal
Accountants for solicitors, barristers and legal practices across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Reporting accountant’s reports under the Solicitors’ Accounts Regulations, client account compliance, barristers’ accounts and the tax planning that goes with a practice whose income arrives late and in lumps.
Solicitors and legal practices
Your reporting accountant’s report is due and the client account has not been reconciled since spring
Client money is the part of a legal practice that carries real regulatory risk. The Solicitors’ Accounts Regulations require an annual report from a reporting accountant, and the work is far easier — and far cheaper — when reconciliations have been kept current through the year rather than reconstructed in a fortnight. We prepare these reports and we would rather talk to you in month three than month eleven.
Residual client balances have been sitting there for years
Small unclaimed balances accumulate quietly on every client ledger. They need identifying, tracing and dealing with properly. Left alone they become a finding in your report.
Legal aid income makes your accounts look nothing like your bank
Work in progress, disbursements carried for clients and legal aid payments arriving long after the work was done mean profit and cash rarely resemble each other. That matters for drawings, for tax payments on account, and for knowing whether the firm is actually making money on a category of work.
Barristers
A barrister’s finances look like nobody else’s. Self-employed from day one, no employer, no payroll, fee notes that can sit unpaid for a year or more, and an income line that lurches with the size of the brief. The accounting questions that follow are specific, and getting them right early is worth a great deal.
Cash basis or accruals — the decision that shapes everything
Recognising fees when billed rather than when paid can leave you taxed on money you have not received, sometimes long before you receive it. The right basis depends on the shape of your practice and how quickly your fees actually settle. It is one of the few genuinely consequential choices at the Bar, and it is easiest to get right at the start.
Aged fee notes and bad debts
Fees written off, fees settled at a discount years later, fees from work done under legal aid rates that have since changed. Each has a tax treatment, and a practice with a long aged debtor list needs those treated properly rather than ignored.
The income spike nobody warned you about
A strong year at the Bar produces a tax bill and payments on account calculated on that year — landing just as work returns to normal. Planning for it in advance is the difference between an inconvenience and a crisis.
VAT, and when you must register
Registration at £90,000 of fee income, the timing of the VAT point on a fee note, and reclaiming input VAT on chambers’ costs, travel and books. Barristers also have particular rules on the treatment of fees when starting and ceasing practice.
Making Tax Digital applies to you from April 2026
Self-employed with qualifying income over £50,000 means quarterly digital submissions from April 2026, dropping to £30,000 in April 2027. Qualifying income is gross fee income before expenses, so most practising barristers are already in scope.
Both sides of the border
We work across UK and Republic of Ireland tax daily. For legal practices that matters — solicitors with offices or clients in both jurisdictions, barristers appearing in courts north and south, and firms handling cross-border estates, conveyancing and litigation. Two tax systems, one set of accounts.
What we do for legal clients
Reporting accountant’s reports under the Solicitors’ Accounts Regulations. Client account reconciliation and compliance support. Annual accounts for partnerships, LLPs and limited companies. Barristers’ accounts and self assessment. Cash basis and accruals advice. VAT registration and returns. Payroll for practice staff. Partner and member drawings policy. Incorporation reviews. Practice succession, retirement and profit share planning. Making Tax Digital setup.
Questions we get asked
Can you act as our reporting accountant?
Yes. We prepare reporting accountant’s reports for solicitors’ practices and we would rather be engaged early in the year than in the last month before the deadline.
I am a barrister just starting out. What do I actually need?
Registration for self assessment, a decision on cash basis versus accruals, a record-keeping system that will satisfy Making Tax Digital, and a realistic plan for the first big tax bill. That is a short conversation and worth having before your first fee note rather than after.
Should my practice incorporate?
It depends on your profit level, how much you draw, and whether client account and regulatory considerations allow it in your case. The dividend rate rise in April 2026 narrowed the advantage but rarely removes it entirely. We will model both.
Do you act for practices outside Mid Ulster?
Yes — solicitors and barristers across Northern Ireland and into the Republic. Most work happens by email and video call, with meetings in Castledawson when you want one.
Talk to us
Bring your last set of accounts and, if you are a solicitor, your most recent client account reconciliation. We will tell you what we would do differently and what it is likely to be worth.
Book a free consultation or call 028 7946 5353.
Figures are for the 2026/27 tax year and are correct as at 26 August 2026. This page is general guidance, not advice — exceptions apply and figures are simplified. Please contact us before acting.