Doing your accounts will probably never become your favourite task. But accountancy software may make you less prone to wanting to pull your hair out. Even if you’re not a numbers whiz.

However you decide to work as a contractor – via your own company, or an umbrella – or if you’re a self-employed freelancer, you must keep your financial records safe for a number of years. How long depends on the type of tax.

With hundreds of prospective accountancy firms to choose from, this table lists the monthly fees charged by some of the UK’s leading specialist accountants.

With hundreds of firms to choose from, we look at the factors you should bear in mind when comparing specialist contractor accountants.

If you strip away all the marketing and price differences between competing firms, there are a number of core tasks all specialist contractor accountants undertake for their clients.

What do you need to include on a limited company invoice to ensure you comply with the law and get paid on time. Includes .doc and Google Drive sample invoices for contractors.

You may have heard your accountant or bank manager talk about your “balance sheet” and “profit and loss account”. What do these terms mean, and what information can these documents provide you about your company?

With more accountants than ever offering either bespoke or third party software for their clients to use, we look at the significant benefits online accountancy systems can provide for contractors.

With the almost universal adoption of Cloud software by specialist contractor accountants, is any accounting ‘hassle’ associated with being a limited company contractor now a thing of the past?