Big Four training. Contractor focus.
Why Woodcock Accounting exists, who's behind it, and what makes a contractor-only practice different from a generalist accountant.
I'm an ICAEW Chartered Accountant. I trained at Deloitte in audit for three and a half years, working across listed companies, group consolidations, and complex IFRS reporting. After Deloitte, I moved into industry as a Group Accountant within a listed group — month-end processes, technical accounting papers, financial analysis, and stakeholder management.
That chartered audit background brings a particular kind of technical rigour — the habit of checking the detail, understanding why the numbers are what they are, and standing behind the work. I've spent the last year focusing that experience specifically on the areas that matter most to contractors: salary and dividend optimisation, corporation tax for owner-managed companies, IR35, VAT schemes, and director's loan accounts.
Woodcock Accounting is built around a deliberately small client base: each client genuinely looked after, with the technical depth to work through situations properly rather than apply a one-size-fits-all template. Fewer clients, more attention, and the time to get the details right.
Ollie Woodcock ACA
ICAEW Chartered Accountant · Founder
Why a contractor-only practice is different
Specialisation isn't a marketing line — it changes how the practice is actually run.
A general practice accountant might serve a café, a construction firm, a retail shop, and a contractor — all in the same week. Each of those businesses has completely different VAT treatment, different payroll needs, different risk profiles, and different planning opportunities. Spreading attention across that range means no client gets truly specialist treatment.
Woodcock Accounting specialises in one type of client: UK limited company contractors, freelancers, and consultants — predominantly in IT and engineering. That focus means every process, template, and piece of advice is built around the situations that actually arise for this client group: optimal salary and dividend extraction, IR35 status risk, director's loan account management, VAT scheme selection, and tax-efficient profit extraction as income grows.
It also means faster, more confident answers. When a client asks "should I increase my dividends this quarter?" or "is my new contract likely to be inside IR35?", the answer comes from someone who deals with exactly that question regularly — not someone reaching for a general reference guide.
What we don't do (and why)
Being clear about scope protects you as much as it protects us.
We don't take on hospitality, retail, or high-volume bookkeeping clients. These businesses have different needs that a contractor specialist isn't the best fit for.
We don't give definitive IR35 status opinions. We explain the framework, identify risk indicators, and refer to specialist IR35 contract reviewers (Qdos, IR35 Shield, Kingsbridge) for a formal determination.
We don't handle complex international tax, trusts, or large group structures. If your situation grows beyond a straightforward UK limited company, we'll refer you to a specialist and tell you clearly when that point is reached.
We don't do unlimited ad hoc work within fixed packages. Packages cover defined, recurring compliance and planning work. One-off advisory projects outside scope are quoted separately — always agreed before any work begins.
We don't give regulated financial advice. Pension contributions, investment decisions, and retirement planning require an FCA-regulated Independent Financial Adviser. We model the tax numbers — they advise on the product.
We don't form or close companies. Company formation and incorporation, and company closures — strike-off, members' voluntary liquidation or any other winding-up — sit outside what we offer. For a closure you'll want a licensed insolvency practitioner; for a formation, a company formation agent or your solicitor.
We don't provide accountant's references or 60-day CGT property returns. References for mortgage or letting applications, and capital gains tax returns on residential property disposals, aren't part of our service. We'll point you to someone who handles them.
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