Accountants in Shrewsbury, Shropshire
AAT-licensed accountancy for Shrewsbury limited companies, contractors and owner-managed firms. Partner-level service, provincial fees, replies within hours. Based in Oswestry, 25 minutes up the A5 — or by direct train to Gobowen.
Book a Free Call →Shrewsbury is a professional-services town — price your accountancy like one
Shrewsbury is the largest commercial centre in Shropshire (population ~75,000) and the county town. The economy here looks different from Oswestry or Ludlow: a substantial professional-services cluster around Pride Hill, English Bridge and The Square; significant public-sector employment via Shropshire Council and the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust; established private employers across lubricants, leisure, legal and professional services; and a long tail of owner-managed SMEs in business consulting, IT, marketing, design, healthcare and specialist trades.
Shrewsbury also has the largest concentration of accountancy firms in the county. Several mid-tier multi-partner firms have their head offices on Belmont, around Smithfield Road, and across the river in Frankwell — with the fee structures to match. For a one-director limited company turning over £80k–£400k a year, that pricing rarely matches the value delivered.
Finstem is the alternative. A single AAT-licensed principal (Huw Davies MAAT, licence 1009866), low overhead, modern stack, no junior-staff hand-off. You get partner-level attention on every reply, every return and every decision. Same time zone, same town, same week.
+44 7517 269864 · info@finstem.co.uk · WhatsApp
The kinds of Shrewsbury clients Finstem is built for
- Owner-managed limited companies, £80k–£500k turnover. Director-shareholders who want salary / dividend planning done properly, not just paperwork filed. Tax planning happens through the year, not in March.
- IT and management consultants. Day-rate B2B contractors with one or two clients on the books. Often dealing with post-2021 IR35 changes — reviewing engagement basis (inside / outside IR35), CIS where relevant, expense regimes, and the implications of any umbrella periods.
- Healthcare locums. Anaesthetists, surgeons and consultants splitting NHS PAYE income with private locum work between the Royal Shrewsbury and the Princess Royal Telford. Specialist treatment of private practice / spread of income / pension annual allowance taper.
- Marketing, design and creative agencies. 2–6 person teams in town-centre offices. Often shifting between fixed-fee and retainer revenue, with WIP and deferred income that needs handling under FRS 102 1A.
- Family-owned businesses around the Shrewsbury hinterland. Bayston Hill, Bicton, Pontesbury, Atcham, Wroxeter, Cross Houses. Often second-generation Ltds with property in the company — succession and extraction planning becomes the real conversation.
Switching to Finstem from a Shrewsbury firm
The professional clearance process is straightforward and Finstem handles it end-to-end. Most Shrewsbury switches complete in 2–3 weeks:
- You sign Finstem's engagement letter and 64-8 (HMRC agent authorisation).
- Finstem writes to your current accountant requesting professional clearance and the handover pack — trial balance, tax returns, fixed-asset register, working papers.
- Records and cloud accounting access transfer over. If you're already on a cloud platform, no switching of software is needed.
- Finstem reconciles the prior-year position and confirms where everything stands.
More detail at the switching accountants page.
Services for Shrewsbury businesses
Statutory accounts
FRS 102 Section 1A and FRS 105 accounts prepared and filed with Companies House.
Corporation tax (CT600)
Year-end computation, capital allowances reviewed, return filed with HMRC.
Self assessment (SA100)
Directors, consultants, locums, landlords — salary, dividend, private practice income reconciled.
VAT (Making Tax Digital)
Standard, flat-rate and partial exemption schemes. Quarterly returns filed.
Payroll & pension
RTI submissions, FPS, EPS, P60, P11D and pension auto-enrolment.
Salary / dividend planning
Director extraction reviewed each year against tax thresholds, dividend allowance and personal circumstances.
IR35 review
Engagement-by-engagement IR35 status review for contractors operating through their own limited company.
Bookkeeping
Cloud bookkeeping on your existing accounting software, or a fresh setup if you don't yet have one.
Shrewsbury accountancy — common questions
Where is Finstem based if I'm in Shrewsbury?
21 Hampton Road, Oswestry — 17 miles up the A5 from Shrewsbury, about 25 minutes by car. Direct trains run Shrewsbury → Gobowen in around 25 minutes; the office is a short taxi ride from Gobowen station.
Do I really need a Shrewsbury-based accountant?
Not really. Cloud accounting and secure portals have made physical proximity less important than reply speed. The deciding factor is usually whether your accountant knows your business well enough to give a useful answer on the spot — not the postcode of the office.
What kind of Shrewsbury businesses do you work with?
Owner-managed limited companies (£80k–£500k turnover), IT and management consultants, healthcare locums between the Royal Shrewsbury and Princess Royal Telford, marketing and design agencies, and family-owned businesses across Bayston Hill, Bicton, Pontesbury and Atcham.
How much do you charge Shrewsbury clients?
Pricing is bespoke and quoted in writing after a free discovery call, once scope is understood. Most owner-managed limited companies find Finstem's fees noticeably lower than the Shrewsbury mid-tier firms for genuinely comparable service.
Will you come to Shrewsbury for meetings?
Yes, by arrangement. New-engagement and significant decision-point meetings are usually in person; routine catch-ups and year-end reviews work efficiently by video.
Are you regulated and insured?
Yes. Finstem is an AAT-licensed practice (1009866), supervised by AAT for anti-money-laundering purposes, ICO-registered for data protection, and PI-insured.
Talk to a Shrewsbury-serving accountant
A short free call. No obligation. We'll understand your business and come back with a written quote. If Finstem isn't the right fit, we'll say so.
Book a Free Call →