Haulage and transport accountants
for limited companies.

A haulage accountant keeps a transport company’s records, tax and payroll correct and reports what the numbers say about vehicles, routes and customers. Finstem provides bookkeeping in cloud accounting software, VAT returns under Making Tax Digital, RTI driver payroll, year-end accounts, corporation tax, vehicle capital allowances and regular figures on margin, fuel and cash, through one named accountant who replies within one working day.

Yes, where the company owns the vehicle, including on hire purchase. Lorries and vans are not cars for capital allowances, so they qualify for the £1 million annual investment allowance in each accounting period. Double-cab pick-ups are normally treated as cars for spending from 1 April 2025, so neither the allowance nor full expensing applies to them. Full expensing covers new and unused main-rate plant bought from 1 April 2023, not second-hand vehicles. The main-rate writing down allowance is 14% for periods starting on or after 1 April 2026 and 18% for periods ending before it, with a hybrid rate for a period that includes that date. Finstem reviews the claim every year as part of your tax planning.

There is no blanket answer; it depends on your cash, how long you keep the vehicle and your tax position. Buying outright uses cash now and gives you capital allowances. Hire purchase also gives you capital allowances, with the interest deducted as a finance cost. You cannot claim capital allowances on a leased vehicle unless it is a hire purchase contract or a long funding lease. Whichever you choose, Finstem sets the treatment up correctly, so the relief and the finance charges are both claimed properly.

Two questions are answered in order: where the supply is made, which follows whether your customer is in business and where it belongs, then its VAT liability. Where the place of supply is the UK, transport of goods from the UK to another country, or into the UK, is zero-rated; where it is outside the UK, UK VAT does not apply and you may have to register in that country. Keep commercial documents such as consignment notes. Journeys wholly outside the UK and work for customers not in business follow different rules. Finstem checks each customer’s treatment when you join and on every return.

In Great Britain, a standard licence for heavy goods vehicles needs £8,000 for the first vehicle and £4,500 for each additional one; light goods vehicles need £1,600 and £800, and restricted licences have lower figures. For a limited company the evidence must be in the company’s name, shown as average balances over 28 days for a new application or variation and over three months for an existing licence. Bank statements and formal overdrafts can count, and accounts count when certified by a properly accredited person; aged debtor lists and physical assets cannot. Finstem prepares the financial figures for the Traffic Commissioner, a bank or a lender.

Late payment is a cash flow problem before it is a profit problem, so the first job is seeing it coming. Finstem keeps the bookkeeping current and prepares regular cash position figures showing who owes what and for how long, against the wages, fuel and finance payments still to go out. The law also lets you charge statutory interest on late business payments, 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, unless your contract sets a different rate.

Employed drivers are paid through PAYE with payslips. Where the agency rules apply, the agency operates PAYE for agency drivers; if drivers come through an umbrella company, since 6 April 2026 the agency or end client can be made to pay PAYE the umbrella company does not. Self-employed workers are not paid through PAYE. Which applies depends on the facts: HMRC’s employment status tool asks about the contract, who decides what work is done and when, where and how, and how the worker is paid. A wrong call can mean unpaid tax and penalties, so Finstem advises on the treatment before you pay anyone.

Yes. Finstem runs RTI payroll for drivers and office staff, alongside your accounts and tax. Payslips and the Full Payment Submission to HMRC are both due on or before payday, even if you pay HMRC quarterly, and the run is timed to that. Pensions are handled too: employers must provide a workplace pension scheme for eligible staff from the day the first member of staff starts.

Fuel is tracked as a cost per mile or per drop for each vehicle, so a rise shows up in the next figures, not at the year end. Fuel card statements are reconciled in the bookkeeping, matching every charge to a vehicle and period. A business making taxable supplies can claim the VAT on road fuel bought for business use; where the fuel also funds private motoring, a car fuel scale charge, output tax on private use or detailed mileage records apply.

Yes. Finstem reports margin by vehicle, route and customer from the same bookkeeping as your accounts. Fuel, driver pay, finance charges and repairs are coded to the vehicle or job as they are entered, so the report shows what each one leaves after those costs. That tells you whether to reprice a customer, drop a route or keep a vehicle. See management accounts for how the reporting works.

Keep VAT records for at least 6 years: invoices issued and received, credit and debit notes, and bank statements. Keep company accounting records for 6 years from the end of the financial year, longer for equipment expected to last more than 6 years. For an operator licence, keep financial evidence up to date and tell the Traffic Commissioner promptly about significant changes. Finstem keeps your bookkeeping so these records exist and agree with the figures.

No. Finstem works online with limited companies across the UK, using cloud accounting software and video calls. In person, meetings are held near Oswestry and across Shropshire, at your yard or in Oswestry. Wherever you are based, you deal with the same named accountant, who replies within one working day.

Finstem charges a fixed monthly fee, quoted in writing after a free discovery call and before any work starts. The fee is driven by the work your company needs: the number of payroll runs, how often VAT is returned, the volume of bookkeeping, and the number of vehicles and entities involved. A single-vehicle company and a multi-entity fleet are quoted differently for that reason.

No. Finstem acts for limited companies only, so it does not act for sole traders or for drivers who are self-employed in their own name. If your lorry is owned by your own limited company, Finstem can act for you, whether you run one vehicle or a fleet. It also advises a limited company on how to treat the self-employed owner-drivers it engages.