Bookkeeper in Market Harborough.

I'm Jon Sternal. I keep the books for sole traders and small companies, and I run Sternal Finance from 47 Northampton Road, Market Harborough, LE16 9HB. I work from here, and I visit clients locally. The ledger sits in cloud software, so the same monthly bookkeeping is also available across the UK.

The month-end close is delivered by the 10th of the following month. Some people only need the bank reconciled and a profit and loss they can read. Others need the VAT return in the same retainer. The longer account is on the bookkeeping page. Scope and the monthly fee are confirmed in writing before any work starts.

Starter is for a sole trader or a small limited company that wants the books kept. It is £150 a month, excluding VAT: monthly bookkeeping, a bank reconciliation, a simple profit and loss, and the cloud ledger, up to about 40 bank transactions. If the bank is busier than that, the fee is revisited in writing.

Most clients are on Xero, and Sternal Finance is a Xero partner. QuickBooks is supported where that is already the ledger. You keep the subscription in your own name, and the fee does not include the software.

VAT returns and payroll are not inside the £150. On Starter they are separate add-ons, quoted individually, because the price depends on the complexity of the business. There is no fixed fee for either. If you are not VAT registered, you do not pay for a return. Catch-up bookkeeping is quoted after a conversation, because the cost depends on how far behind the books are, the volume of transactions, and the state of the records.

Foundation, at £250 a month excluding VAT, is the recommended starting point when the books and the filings should sit together. It adds the quarterly VAT return where you are registered, year-end accounts, the corporation tax computation, the confirmation statement, and one director's Self Assessment. Online Self Assessment is due by 31 January after the tax year.

Management accounts start at £650 a month excluding VAT, with a 13-week cash forecast and a quarterly review. A fractional finance director starts at £1,800. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is agreed on its own. It started on 6 April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, and from 6 April 2027 for those over £30,000. It is not part of the £150 bookkeeping fee. The places nearby are on areas served.

I'm CIMA qualified (ACMA CGMA), and I've spent more than fifteen years inside companies in management accounting and commercial finance. Statutory audit is not offered. Personal tax is taken on where the affairs are straightforward, and referred where they are not.