White label tax services for solicitors

Law firms need tax and accounts work done for the same reason accountancy firms do. It keeps landing on fee earners who would rather be doing legal work, and there is rarely enough of it to justify employing an accountant. Our own delivery business, Buzz, does that work for solicitors on a white label basis. The client stays yours, what we prepare carries your firm’s name, and your fee earner reviews it before it goes anywhere.

For private client teams

• Estate accounts for the administration of an estate
• Income tax and capital gains tax returns for the administration period
• Trust accounts and trust tax returns
• The deceased’s tax affairs to the date of death, including outstanding self assessment returns
• Capital gains calculations when executors or trustees sell property or investments

Probate work tends to stall on the numbers. An estate can be ready to distribute apart from a final tax position that nobody in the team has time to work out. Handing that part to someone who does it every week shortens the matter, and the file still sits with your firm from start to finish.

For property teams

• Capital gains tax calculations on the sale of residential property, and the UK property return that is due within 60 days of completion
• Rental income schedules and landlord tax returns for clients whose affairs are behind

For corporate and commercial teams

• Tax figures to support share sales, asset sales and reorganisations
• Accounts and tax returns brought up to date for a company before a transaction

The firm’s own books

We also do the accounting behind the law firm itself: bookkeeping, management accounts, year-end accounts, VAT, payroll and partners’ or members’ tax returns. Client money is its own discipline. The SRA Accounts Rules require a reconciliation of every client account at least every five weeks, comparing the bank statement, the cash book and the total of the client ledgers, and signed off by your compliance officer for finance and administration or a manager. We prepare that reconciliation and list any differences for them to investigate and sign. Responsibility for the client account stays where the rules put it, which is with your firm.

How it works with your team

Your fee earner sends the papers and the deadline. One named person prepares the work and comes back with a single list of questions. The finished work arrives in your house style, with the workings attached, for your review. You decide what is sent to the client and when. We have no contact with your client unless you ask for it, and if you do, it is in your firm’s name.

Anything that is legal advice, or a reserved legal activity, stays with your solicitors. We prepare the accounting and tax work that sits behind it. What it costs depends on how much work there is and what kind, so that is a conversation. The way we work with accountancy firms is described on our white label accounting services page.

Frequently asked questions

Will our clients know the tax work was prepared outside the firm?

Only if you choose to tell them. The work is issued under your firm’s name and in your house style, and we have no contact with your client unless you ask us to.

Who is responsible for the advice?

Your firm remains responsible to its client for what it issues. We prepare figures, accounts and returns for your review, and we set out the assumptions behind them so your fee earner can see what they are signing off.

Can you take on a single estate or does it need to be a regular arrangement?

You can start with a single estate or transaction and see how the work comes back before sending more.

Do you prepare client account reconciliations?

Yes. We prepare the three-way reconciliation that the SRA Accounts Rules require at least every five weeks, and list any differences. Sign-off stays with your compliance officer for finance and administration or a manager, as the rules require.

How do you keep client information confidential?

Written confidentiality and data processing terms are signed before any papers are sent. Work is done by Buzz’s own employed staff, under named individual logins, and client papers stay in the systems you choose.

The rest of the back office

• White label bookkeeping
• White label payroll
• White label accounts and tax
• White label company secretarial