Accountant for freelance designers, editors and developers

Design, editing and development work is a trade, and the profit is what you are taxed on: client fees less the cost of producing the work. Because this trade is equipment and software heavy, the expense side genuinely matters to the bill.

Claim computers, monitors, tablets, cameras and drives at the business proportion, plus software subscriptions, plugins, font and stock licences, cloud storage and render credits, coworking or studio hire, and the business share of home running costs.

Subcontractors are common when a project is bigger than one person. Declare the full fee you invoice, claim what you pay out, and keep written terms that transfer copyright to you so the client receives what they paid for.

Sole trader profits carry Income Tax and Class 4 National Insurance. Project work is lumpy, so hold a reserve from each payment rather than relying on a good month arriving before the January deadline.

Overseas clients are normal in this field. Invoice in the agreed currency, record the sterling value on receipt, complete a W-8BEN for US clients, and claim platform and conversion fees as costs.

VAT is often a positive for designers once turnover approaches the threshold, because the client base is largely VAT-registered and the cost base carries a lot of recoverable VAT on equipment and software.

When fees become predictable, incorporation is worth modelling properly. A company can retain profit to fund a kit refresh, pay a salary at an efficient level and separate liability on larger builds — but it brings filings and payroll, so the comparison must include those costs.

Source: Income Tax rates and allowances (gov.uk) · Self Assessment (gov.uk)