Portt & Co

Frequently Asked Questions

Small businesses often won’t have the resource, time or money to employ and manage an in-house finance team. By outsourcing, you receive your finance function from our qualified and experienced team of Bookkeepers, Management Accountants and Payroll Specialists, for a fraction of the cost to employ your own. It may seem daunting to move some of your tasks externally, but don't worry, our clients often tell us they think of us as part of their team. We work with you to understand everything about your business so that we can act on your behalf.

By working with a number of different industries, our team have a vast range of experience in various sectors, such as manufacturing, retail, charities, food production and technology.
Firstly, you're on our website so that's a great start! Ultimately you know your business best, so you need to find an accountant who works for you. We suggest looking at client testimonials, checking out their experience, visiting their social media channels and seeing whether you feel you have mutual values.
We’re a firm of chartered certified accountants using experience gained in large businesses. ACCA qualifications are among the most widely recognised and respected in business.

We're also a Xero Gold Partner, which means we've already achieved partner, bronze and silver status. Next stop platinum!
Our bookkeeping and accountancy services are tailored to the food and drink industry. We have extensive experience in this sector and are able to put processes and workstreams in place to provide a tried and tested, efficient service.

Our outsourced payroll service is open to all industries and sectors and is aimed at those businesses with fewer than 500 employees.
There are many reasons that you may wish to change accountants. New clients will often tell us that their current accountant doesn’t seem to be interested in their business, is hard to contact or isn’t providing them with the best service for their money.

At Portt & Co we heavily invest in our client relationships so that we fully understand, support and celebrate your business.

When switching accountants you must first notify your current accountant, you can do this by letter or email. This allows us to request professional clearance, meaning that we can request the transfer of your services any documents relating to your accounts. A mutual date will be agreed for when we will officially take over the management of your accounts and we will begin our processes and checks.
The term cloud accounting or cloud-based accounting refers to accounting software which is accessed and stored online, rather than the traditional desktop applications which are stored on the hard drive.

Data is available in real time, meaning that you can access your accounts from any location, on any device which has internet access. Being a Xero Gold Partner, we’re proud advocates for the small business accounting software and our team of experts can help you to switch.
We can help you with switching to Xero. Our team are Xero experts, so we’ve been there and got the t-shirt! Firstly you’ll talk and we’ll listen; we want to know everything about your business and how you operate. We’ll then run through your current financial processes and look for ways that we can Improve and simplify. We’ll also look at Xero add-ons and ways that we can automate processes.

As our team have extensive experience in the software, we’ll train you, so you don’t have to worry about navigating it on your own.
Trying to understand and manage payroll while setting up, running and growing a business is incredibly stressful and will often result in mistakes and HMRC penalties.

For smaller businesses with fewer than 500 employees it simply doesn’t make sense to employ a payroll team. By outsourcing to our payroll service, we ensure your team are paid accurately and on time, giving you peace of mind and keeping your employees satisfied.
Making Tax Digital (MTD) is a way of transforming how the tax system works, making it more efficient, effective and easier for taxpayers. The digital integration aims to eliminate paper-based processes, just like the move to online banking and cloud accounting.

VAT-registered businesses with a taxable turnover above the VAT threshold (£85,000) are now required to keep digital records and use software to submit their VAT returns.

If you are below the VAT threshold you can voluntarily join the Making Tax Digital service now.

VAT-registered businesses with a taxable turnover below £85,000 will be required to follow Making Tax digital rules for their first return starting on or after April 2022.

What our clients say

Don't just take our word for it

Prior to using Portt & Co we outsourced bookkeeping and production to another local firm but we found them to be both increasingly inefficient and increasingly inaccurate, they also lacked sufficient understanding of year end accounts production and basic taxation, particularly VAT. I am myself a Chartered Certified Accountant and I wanted a firm I could trust to prepare our books in a timely and accurate manner. Having Portt & Co manage the books and provide monthly management accounts saves me a lot of time and staff cost, it also means I have timely and accurate information about our financial performance which is a necessary and fundamental foundation for any successful and growing business.

Dave Director, Centurion Chartered Financial Planners

The staff I deal with are very personable and I seem to deal with the same people which is lovely to not feel anonymous which you often do with a larger company. I like the personal connection I have with these guys. They are friendly, helpful and I have never waited any length of time for a response. When I met Portt & Co life became so much better for me. I felt like there was a two-way relationship and they cared about what was important to me. I have always appreciated their transparency as a company, and I feel part of their journey as a client of their company. This means a huge amount. I can't recommend them highly enough.

Becky Creative Director, New Leaf Workplace Wellbeing

Portt & Co process our payroll and are always there to offer support/provide information when required. After ongoing issues with our previous provider we made the decision to change to Portt & Co (and have never looked back). The move to Portt & Co was a no brainer, they made the on boarding process seamless and were always on hand to help – I wish we’d moved over to them sooner! Fabulous service with a great team. I like the fact they take ownership of anything you raise with them and get back to you in a timely fashion! We would definitely recommend them, they feel like an extension of our team rather than an external provider.

Blue Motor Finance

As the charity was rapidly growing we needed to improve the financial controls and reporting and then management to ensure we were and remain a well-run and financially knowledgeable organisation. By working with Portt & Co, we achieve this and more. As they are the experts, we don’t have to waste valuable time distracted from our mission as we know they have got our back always.

Andrew Wallis OBE CEO, Unseen

Portt & Co assist us with our bookkeeping and accounts. They are on hand to help with many other things such as tax issues, financial software integrations and coming up with finance solutions. We were managing this internally before we were introduced to Portt & Co at the right time, as we were growing we needed more help and specialist advice. We’ve found it great working with Portt & Co and would recommend them to other businesses. The staff are lovely, and always on hand to help. During lockdown they’ve been great at jumping on calls to go through all in person, and make sure all angles are covered!

SupplyCompass

Having Matt as our finance director enables me to focus on the expansion of our business, knowing that a skilled and experienced professional is constantly monitoring our margins, KPIs, cashflow and financial controls. Matt and his team have introduced extremely efficient and well-thought-out processes to our financial systems, meaning we are able to use the most innovative technology for our financial reporting and forecasting.

Alex Stewart Managing Director, PACK'D