Project Description
Professional practices
Established over twenty years ago, the expertise and experience of our professional practices team has grown to support an ever-increasing number of law firms and a range of legal professionals including; sole traders, partnerships, limited liability partnerships (LLPs) and limited companies.
Our specialist team includes audit, tax and M&A experts with a wealth of expertise and a deep understanding of professional services clients.
Adding value beyond the numbers – we’ll help you make money, save you time, support you now and in the future and give you peace of mind.
Some of the ways we do this:
Delivering genuine business advice that looks beyond your numbers
Maximising your business performance
Minimising your tax liabilities & reducing your costs
Agreeing deadlines that you can be confident we’ll stick to
Taking care of your regulatory & compliance obligations
Working with you to build a bigger, more efficient and profitable business
Areas of expertise
We know what’s what when it comes to understanding the legal sector. Alongside the core accounting, tax and payroll services that we can provide, we can help ensure the future success of your law firm with specialist support in the following areas:
- Solicitors’ Accounts Rules audit
- Business accounts & tax compliance
- Business plans
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Tax planning
- Financial benchmarking
- Financial and cashflow management
- Interim financial manager services
- Outsourced services – helping to meet your clients’ demands
- Specialist VAT advice for lawyers
- Succession planning
- Incorporating your practice or forming an LLP
- Strategic review
- Finance training for fee earners
Solicitors
Whether you’re a sole trader or a partner in a law firm, all solicitors must submit a personal tax return and can benefit from our personal tax services and private client expertise. In addition to dealing with personal tax compliance matters for individual solicitors, we’re experienced in liaising with partnerships to plan for future tax payments with the intention of improving cash-flow and ensuring adequate provision for the payment of tax at the right time.
Our membership of the ICAEW Solicitors Interest Group means we are always up to date with the financial issues that will affect you.
Financial services is an increasingly complex and heavily regulated environment and we understand the issues and regulatory pressures our financial services clients face. Our team of specialists have a wealth of experience across audit, tax & advisory services and are well equipped with the technical expertise needed to find practical and strategic solutions.
Financial services advisory
We gain a deep understanding of you and your business to fully understand and support your goals. The team can and provide a bespoke & individual service that adds value and delivers the best outcomes for you.
Services include;
- Management Buy Out / Buy In
- Business Valuations
- Business Flotation Advice
- Business Exit Strategy Planning
- Financial Due Diligence
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Raising Finance
- Business Sales
We understand you’ll want to concentrate on your legal career and leave the accounting and financial matters to someone else. Rest assured that you can rely on our dedicated barrister team, and the wider experience available within Sagars, to take care of everything from bookkeeping, accounts and tax compliance, to wider tax planning issues that require bespoke solutions.
We act for over 300 barristers and chambers, so you can have complete confidence that we understand the intricacies of the taxman’s rules relating to barristers’ accounts and, thanks to the efficiencies and opportunities that cloud accounting is delivering, all that you really have to do is choose how much you’d like us to help and we’ll do the rest.
Services for Barristers, Judges & QCs include:
- Tax planning
- VAT (preparation, returns)
- Expenses
- Self assessment for individuals
- Self employed accounts
- Making Tax Digital (MTD)
What Our Clients Say
As with all working in the legal sector we are faced with new challenges in the changing landscape of legal services and the management of professional service firms. n order to compete, move forward and excel, we need the assistance & guidance of a forward-thinking and innovative firm such as Sagars. We have always found John’s advice helpful and to the point of issue.
At the outset, we wanted to find advisers who would fit with our principles: Approachable; Individual; Straightforward; and Sagars have certainly proved to be an excellent match. From strategic tax advice, practice and tax compliance work, liaising with our bankers, reviewing our systems, helping us to recruit a cashier and looking after the partners’ personal tax affairs, the Sagars team has done it all.
The Sagars team guided us through the inevitable pitfalls & emotive issues of a four-sided merger, with a sensible and logical approach. Whilst the issues were complex & varied, you gave us straightforward and easy to understand explanations and advice. Now that we’re established as a single firm, the on-going advice & support is valuable and we look forward to a long & successful working relationship.
When we employ lawyers, we look for individuals with personality who are approachable, understand our business needs and those of our clients. People who are capable of conversing in plain English but who are skilled and confident in their approach. Those who will do what they say within the timescale that they agree – understandably, we expect the same from our advisers and Sagars absolutely deliver.
Trusted advice and support for your business
There’s plenty of information here about the different support we can provide but if you want to talk about how we can help you, you’ll find key contacts for the Professional Services sector below
Professional Practices Partner
A Chartered Accountant, Chartered Tax Adviser and an ICAEW Solicitors’ Special Interest Group committee member, John specialises in advising growing businesses and professional practices.
John’s profile >
Tax Partner
Kate works with businesses and their owners on tax strategies and mitigation, looking at business and personal tax structures to achieve long term goals.
Kate’s profile >
Partner
A qualified Chartered Accountant and Chartered Taxation Adviser, James manages a mixed portfolio of business clients, providing solutions to clients’ challenges and supporting them to achieve their goals across audit, accountancy, taxation and business advisory services.
James’s profile >
Senior Manager
Helen specialises in looking after the personal tax affairs of our business clients including many from the legal profession such as solicitors, barristers, judges and QCs. She deals with personal accounts, tax returns, capital gains tax issues and tax planning matters.
Director
A Chartered Accountant and Tax Advisor, Helen provides audit, accounting, taxation and business advisory services to small and medium sized companies, solicitors’ practices, charities and not-for-profit organisations. She has considerable experience in preparing monthly management accounts and cashflow forecasts and assists clients with a range of business management issues.
Senior Manager
An experienced and qualified accountant, Sarah provides accounting, taxation and business advisory services to owner-managers of small and medium sized companies and solicitors practices. She is particularly experienced in providing monthly management accounts and cash flow forecasts to clients, whilst supporting them with a range of business management challenges.
Director
Joel is a qualified Chartered Accountant and an experienced business adviser with a varied portfolio. He is particularly experienced in looking after family-owned businesses and solicitors’ practices, advising on business management, accounting and taxation, and specialising in solicitors’ accounts, SAR and partnership tax.
Senior Manager
A qualified Chartered Accountant, Neil supports clients with audit, accounting, corporate tax and business advisory services to help them solve their challenges and achieve their goals.
Senior Manager
Alexandra manages a portfolio of clients across a variety of industries and sectors, supporting them to achieve their business and personal goals by providing audit, accounting, tax and bespoke advisory services. A Chartered Accountant, Alexandra is also an experienced member of our cloud accounting team, with certifications for a variety of cloud solutions, and has particular expertise in bookkeeping and management accounting.
Senior
Tracy specialises in looking after professionals in private practice and has particular experience in supporting our barrister clients. She provides bookkeeping, accounting, taxation and VAT return services to her clients, whilst also solving a range of queries.