Brown, Scott & Main

Taxation advice across the whole year

Offices in Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy house Brown, Scott & Main Chartered Accountants. It works with small and medium-sized businesses across both areas and with sole traders and individuals, offering a wide range of accounting services. The firm says it is independent and personal in the way it works with each client, and that it arranges accounts professionally on the client's behalf.

The firm's tax advice covers business and personal taxes. It treats tax as something to deal with throughout the year rather than only at the year-end deadline.

Keeping records in order

Business owners often underestimate how much paperwork a business generates. The firm offers to bring a client's financial records back into order, so that the owner can see where the money goes, how it is spent and how much of it is taxable. The firm says its team can help a client regain track of records that have fallen behind, so that the figures are clearly managed on the owner's behalf.

Payroll and employee obligations

Payroll is a substantial part of the work because it carries a range of legal obligations. The firm handles the calculation and running of staff pay, and it covers the duties that go with employing people, including pensions and holiday pay. Its opening message to prospective clients asks whether those obligations are being met, and the firm offers to take that load off the owner.

Audit work that can be turned around

Audits are described by the firm as time consuming and a task many owners dread. The practice says it helps clients turn their audit around, so that the process produces clear results and, in its words, lets the client make future savings more easily.

Business advice as a company grows

The firm offers business advice alongside its compliance and accounts work. It says every business faces its own set of questions, and that its accountants work with the client to see where progress may be affected in future and to plan for it. The emphasis is on guidance that keeps a company's finances clearly managed as it grows.

Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy, with clients in the surrounding areas

Both offices serve clients in their own towns and in the surrounding areas. The firm's team says it is qualified to deal with personal and business taxes, and presents its work as a way of taking the stress out of a client's accounts.