How to Start an Accounting Practice in the UK: The Complete 2026 Guide

Who can start an accounting practice in the UK?

Although "accountant" is not a protected title in UK law, what you can call yourself and which services you can offer depend on your qualifications and body membership. Remindoo does not recommend starting a practice or bookkeeping business without the right footing: make sure you have the relevant qualifications or professional body membership, a practising licence where required, AML supervision, professional indemnity insurance and any other registrations in place, and check your position with an accountancy body such as ICAEW, ACCA, AAT or ICB, or with experienced peers, before taking on clients.

Unlike "solicitor" or "chartered surveyor", the word "accountant" carries no statutory protection in the UK. That does not make it a sensible way to start: we strongly recommend qualifications, a practising licence where required, AML supervision and insurance before trading. What is controlled is the use of designations such as "Chartered Accountant", "Chartered Certified Accountant" or "Certified Public Accountant", which are restricted to members of the relevant professional body (ICAEW, ACCA, CIPFA, AIA and equivalents), and the provision of certain regulated services such as statutory audit, which always requires a specific licence.

In practice, most people starting a UK accounting practice fall into one of three groups: qualified accountants leaving employment to go independent, bookkeepers building a practice around AAT or ICB qualifications, and tax specialists (CTA, ATT) setting up as advisers. Each route has a different mix of practising certificate requirements, AML supervision routes and insurance considerations, which is why the roadmap below treats "registrations" as a distinct phase from "trading readiness".

If you're not sure whether you need a practising certificate for your qualification and services, see our dedicated guide on practising certificates before you register anything.

It's also worth being clear-eyed about the difference between what you're legally permitted to do and what a sensible practice actually offers. Just because you can trade without a qualification doesn't mean clients, referrers or insurers will treat an unqualified practice the same way as a chartered one — qualification and body membership remain strong signals of credibility even where they aren't strictly mandatory, and they typically widen the range of services you can offer with confidence, from statutory accounts work through to more complex tax and advisory engagements.

What are the steps to start an accounting practice?

The practical path runs from confirming your right to practise, through AML and tax registrations, to picking a structure, insurance, software, engagement letters and finally client acquisition — twelve steps in total.

The order below is the order that avoids rework: for example, you need to know your legal structure before you can register for AML supervision in the firm's name, and you need AML supervision before HMRC will process an agent authorisation for most new agents. Skipping ahead — taking on clients before AML supervision is confirmed, say — is a common and avoidable compliance risk for new practices.

1. Confirm your right to practise and, if needed, apply for a practising certificate.
2. Choose your legal structure — sole trader, partnership, LLP or limited company.
3. Register for AML supervision with your body or with HMRC.
4. Register as a tax adviser under the Finance Act 2026 regime if you give tax advice.
5. Arrange professional indemnity insurance meeting your body's minimum cover.
6. Register with the ICO as a data controller.
7. Open a business bank account and set up your own bookkeeping.
8. Choose and set up your practice management software.
9. Prepare engagement letter templates for each service line.
10. Set up your Agent Services Account and HMRC agent authorisation process.
11. Register as a Companies House ACSP if you'll verify client identities or file for companies.
12. Start building your client base through referrals, your niche and local visibility.

It's worth being honest with yourself about which of these steps you can genuinely run in parallel and which need to happen in sequence. AML supervision, insurance and your legal structure are foundational and gate several later steps; software, engagement letters and marketing can be built up over the following weeks without blocking you from accepting your first client, provided the compliance foundations are already solid.

How much does it cost to start an accounting practice?

Costs vary widely by structure and ambition, but a realistic solo start-up budget covers professional indemnity insurance, AML/practising certificate fees, software, a website, and working capital until fees start arriving — often several thousand pounds in year one.

How these costs land depends heavily on your structure. A sole practitioner working from home with no staff can start for a modest outlay covering insurance, AML fees and software, whereas anyone taking premises, staff or a franchise licence from day one is looking at a materially larger budget. It's worth modelling a conservative income scenario for the first three to six months, since fee income from new clients rarely arrives as quickly as founders expect, particularly if you're building a client bank from scratch rather than bringing an existing book with you.

For a fuller breakdown with a worked budget, see our dedicated guide on the cost of starting an accounting firm in the UK.

How long does it take to set up a practice?

Once you are already qualified and hold or are eligible for a practising certificate, the administrative steps to start trading — AML supervision, insurance, software, engagement letters — typically take a few weeks rather than months.

The longest lead times are usually a practising certificate application if you don't already hold one, and AML supervision registration if you're registering directly with HMRC rather than through a body that already supervises you. Both can be running in parallel with setting up your legal structure, bank account and software, so a realistic target for a qualified accountant leaving employment is to be able to accept clients within four to eight weeks of starting the process, assuming no restrictive covenants or professional clearance issues from a previous employer.

What registrations does a new practice need?

At a minimum, a new practice needs an AML supervisor, appropriate professional indemnity insurance, and — if giving tax advice — registration under the new HMRC tax adviser regime; many will also need a practising certificate and Companies House agent registration.

• AML supervision — via your professional body if you hold a practising certificate, or directly with HMRC if you don't.
• Practising certificate — required by most bodies (ICAEW, ACCA, AAT and others) before you can offer public practice accountancy services under their name; bookkeeping-only members of some bodies are exempt but still need AML supervision.
• HMRC tax adviser registration — required under the Finance Act 2026 regime for anyone giving tax advice for a fee, phased in from 18 May 2026 with three-month registration windows; payroll-only advisers join from 18 November 2026, and existing Agent Services Account holders generally don't need to re-register from scratch.
• Professional indemnity insurance — a body requirement with minimum cover levels that scale with fee income.
• ICO registration — required if you process personal data as a data controller, which almost every practice does.
• Companies House ACSP registration — needed if you'll be verifying identities or filing on behalf of corporate clients as an authorised corporate service provider.
• HMRC agent authorisation set-up — your Agent Services Account and agent codes for Self Assessment, VAT, PAYE and Corporation Tax.

It's easy to treat these as a single block of "paperwork", but they sit with different bodies, have different timescales, and in some cases depend on each other. AML supervision, for instance, generally needs to be confirmed before HMRC will process certain agent authorisations, and your legal structure needs to be settled before you register for AML supervision in the firm's name rather than your own. Working through them in a logical order, rather than whichever feels most urgent on a given day, saves you from having to backtrack.

Each of these is covered in depth in its own guide — start with AML supervision for accountants, since it gates most of what follows.

What software and tech does a new practice need?

A workable starter stack covers practice management (client records, tasks, deadlines), engagement letters and e-signature, a secure client portal, accounting/bookkeeping software for client work, and basic accounting for your own firm.

New practices often try to piece together spreadsheets, email and a bookkeeping tool and find within a few months that nothing tracks deadlines, nothing chases clients automatically, and client information is scattered across inboxes. Consolidating client records, tasks, deadline reminders, engagement letters and document requests into one system from day one avoids a painful migration later. For a full comparison of what to look for, see our guides on practice management software and the wider tech stack for a new practice.

Core categories to cover

• Practice management: client records, tasks, deadline reminders and a place to see everything at a glance.
• Engagement letters and e-signature, so new clients can be signed up in minutes rather than waiting on printed and posted paperwork.
• A client portal for secure document exchange, rather than relying on email attachments for identity documents and financial records.
• Bookkeeping and accounts production software for client work — separate from your own practice management system.
• Your own firm's invoicing and, ideally, a way to collect fees by direct debit to smooth cash flow as your client bank grows.

Resist the temptation to buy everything at once. A sensible sequence is practice management and engagement letters first, since these touch every client from day one, followed by a client portal once document volumes justify it, and specialist software for niche services as those clients arrive.

How do you get your first clients?

Most new practices get their first clients from personal and professional referrals, a well-optimised Google Business Profile, directory listings, and a clear niche — paid advertising rarely pays back quickly for a solo start-up.

Before spending on marketing, tell everyone you know professionally that you're starting a practice: former colleagues, other advisers (solicitors, financial advisers, mortgage brokers) who refer accounting work, and any contacts from previous roles who aren't bound by a restrictive covenant. In parallel, set up a Google Business Profile, list your practice on relevant accountancy directories including AccountingFirms.co.uk, and pick a niche (a sector, a client size, or a service like MTD for Income Tax) that gives your marketing something specific to say. Our guides on getting your first 50 clients and marketing for accountants go into this in detail.

What is a practising certificate and do I need one?

A practising certificate is permission from your professional body to offer public practice accountancy services to the public under that body's name; most bodies require one before you can trade as a member in public practice, even if you don't need one to call yourself an accountant at all.

Each body sets its own eligibility criteria, application process and renewal cycle. ICAEW, ACCA and AAT all have practising certificate regimes, and each treats certain lower-risk services — bookkeeping being the most common example — differently from full accountancy or audit work. It's entirely possible to be a member of a body, be qualified, and still be committing a disciplinary breach if you offer public practice services without the certificate your body requires for them.

The application itself typically asks about your experience, the services you intend to offer, your proposed AML supervision arrangements, professional indemnity insurance, and sometimes a business plan or references from existing members. Processing times vary by body and by how complete your application is, so it pays to gather your AML and insurance arrangements before you submit, rather than leaving your certificate application to sit in a queue while you chase the rest separately.

If you hold a qualification from a body that doesn't operate a practising certificate scheme for your intended services, or you're unqualified, you can still start a practice — you'll just need to register directly with HMRC for AML supervision instead of relying on your body. See our comparison of ACCA, ICAEW, AAT, ATT, CIOT and ICB routes and our dedicated practising certificates guide for eligibility criteria and timescales by body.

What if I'm leaving an existing firm to start my own practice?

Check your employment contract for restrictive covenants — non-compete, non-solicitation and confidentiality clauses — before you approach any client or colleague, and follow the professional clearance process with your former employer once you do start taking on clients you've worked with previously.

Many accountancy employment contracts include a period during which you can't solicit clients or staff, and sometimes a wider non-compete restricting you from practising in a defined area. Not all such clauses are enforceable — courts will strike down restrictions that go further than necessary to protect a legitimate business interest — but ignoring them without advice can lead to expensive disputes at exactly the point you can least afford one.

Separately from any contractual restriction, professional ethics require you to request professional clearance from a client's previous accountant before you accept an appointment, and to give clearance yourself when a client leaves you for another firm. This is a courtesy and a safeguard, not a formality to skip: it gives the outgoing firm a chance to flag unpaid fees, outstanding advice, or reasons they can't in good conscience hand over a client. Our guide on leaving a firm to start a practice covers covenant enforceability and ethical handling of clients in more depth, and our professional clearance letter guide gives you a template and expected response timescales.

How to start an accounting practice in the UK

1. 1

   Confirm your right to practise

   Check whether your qualification and body require a practising certificate for the services you plan to offer, and apply for one if needed. Read your body's eligibility rules carefully, since some bodies distinguish between accountancy, bookkeeping, tax and insolvency services, each with different requirements.

2. 2

   Choose your legal structure

   Decide between sole trader, partnership, LLP or limited company, considering liability, tax treatment, how you'll extract profits, and any rules your body sets about the legal form a practice can take. This decision also affects how you register for AML supervision, so settle it before moving to the next step.

3. 3

   Register for AML supervision

   Register with your professional body (if it supervises members in practice) or with HMRC directly if you have no qualifying body supervision. Complete a firm-wide risk assessment and put basic client due diligence procedures in writing as part of this step, since supervisors expect to see them from day one.

4. 4

   Register as a tax adviser if applicable

   If you'll give tax advice for a fee, register under the HMRC tax adviser registration regime within your applicable window under the Finance Act 2026. Existing Agent Services Account holders should check whether they need to take any action, since many won't need to register again from scratch.

5. 5

   Arrange professional indemnity insurance

   Obtain cover meeting your body's minimum requirements before you take on any client work, and check whether your intended services (such as insolvency or investment-related advice) need enhanced cover beyond the standard minimum.

6. 6

   Register with the ICO

   Register as a data controller and put basic GDPR documentation — a privacy notice, a retention policy and a record of processing activities — in place before you collect any client personal data.

7. 7

   Set up your business bank account and bookkeeping

   Open a dedicated business account, separate from personal finances, and set up your own firm's bookkeeping, invoicing and a simple management accounts routine so you can track your own numbers as closely as you'll expect clients to.

8. 8

   Choose your practice management software

   Set up a system for client records, tasks, deadlines and document requests before you have clients to manage manually. Migrating from spreadsheets once you're busy is far more disruptive than starting with the right system.

9. 9

   Prepare engagement letter templates

   Draft or adopt engagement letter templates covering each service line you'll offer — accounts, tax, bookkeeping, payroll — with clear scope, fees and limitation of liability clauses, ready for e-signature.

10. 10

    Register for HMRC agent authorisation

    Set up your Agent Services Account and agent codes so you can act for clients with HMRC across Self Assessment, VAT, PAYE and Corporation Tax, and understand the authorisation process for each before your first client needs it.

11. 11

    Register as a Companies House ACSP if needed

    Apply for authorised corporate service provider status if you'll verify identities of directors and people with significant control, or file on behalf of corporate clients, since this is now a distinct registration from your other permissions.

12. 12

    Start building your client base

    Reach out to your network, set up your Google Business Profile and directory listings, and define your niche before spending on wider marketing, so that every enquiry that comes in matches services you're genuinely set up to deliver well.

Frequently asked questions

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