Online bookkeeping
Keep your records current—and your time focused on the business.
Whether you want us to handle the bookkeeping or help you maintain a simpler FreeAgent routine, we’ll keep income, costs and bank activity organised, reduce manual work through suitable integrations and prepare the records for accounts, tax and Making Tax Digital.
Quick start
Start your bookkeeping enquiry
Share what is messy, behind or hard to trust in your records.
Bookkeeping that fits your business
Choose how much of the routine you want us to handle.
Some clients want to manage their own day-to-day records with a little support. Others would rather hand over most of the bookkeeping. We’ll agree a clear division of responsibilities so nothing is duplicated or overlooked.
You manage the records
We’ll set up FreeAgent, connect suitable bank feeds and integrations, and show you how to maintain the records efficiently. We can then review the bookkeeping at agreed points and help resolve questions.
We share the routine
You handle the tasks closest to the business—such as raising invoices or uploading receipts—while we process and review the remaining transactions, keep the records organised and identify missing information.
We handle the bookkeeping
Provide the agreed information and access, and we’ll complete the regular bookkeeping work for you. We’ll keep you informed of questions and make sure the records are ready for the connected accounting and tax services.
Your records need bringing up to date
If the bookkeeping is behind or spread across different systems, we can first complete a catch-up project and then establish a more manageable ongoing routine.
You stay involved where it adds value—and hand over the work that gets in the way.
What we can take care of
The everyday work that keeps reliable accounts on track.
We’ll shape the bookkeeping scope around the volume and type of activity in your business. Responsibilities and service limits will be agreed clearly before the routine begins.
Processing transactions
Record and categorise income, purchases, expenses and other bank activity using the information available through FreeAgent and connected systems.
Reconciling bank accounts
Match the records to the bank activity, investigate differences and identify transactions that still need an explanation or supporting document.
Organising invoices and receipts
Connect sales invoices, purchase documents and receipts to the appropriate transactions so the supporting information remains easier to find.
Reviewing amounts owed
Keep sales and purchase balances organised so you can see which customer invoices remain unpaid and which supplier amounts are outstanding.
Resolving bookkeeping questions
Collect unclear or missing items into a manageable query rather than allowing unexplained transactions to build up until the year end.
Preparing records for connected services
Maintain a reliable base for annual accounts, tax returns and Making Tax Digital. Where selected separately, the same records can also support VAT returns, payroll journals and management reporting.
The exact work and frequency will be set out in your proposal, so you know what we handle and what we need from you.
FreeAgent and automation
Let the information travel—without entering it twice.
Good bookkeeping automation does not remove oversight. It moves routine information into the right place, leaving fewer transactions to enter manually and making it easier to focus attention where judgement is needed.
Secure bank feeds
Bring bank and card activity into FreeAgent automatically, ready to be matched, explained and reconciled.
Receipt capture
Upload or photograph receipts and purchase documents, keeping the evidence connected to the relevant cost instead of stored across inboxes and folders.
Connected invoicing
Create invoices within FreeAgent or connect suitable sales systems so income records and customer balances stay easier to follow.
Payment and business integrations
Where appropriate, connect payment providers, ecommerce platforms, expense tools and other business systems to reduce repeated data entry.
Rules for recurring activity
Apply carefully configured explanations or categories to familiar transactions, helping routine items move through the bookkeeping more efficiently.
Human review where it matters
We’ll review the automated records, investigate exceptions and correct items that software cannot understand from the transaction alone.
Automate the repetition. Keep human judgement around the decisions.
One connected set of records
Bookkeeping is the starting point—not an isolated task.
When the underlying records are current and reliable, the wider accounting work becomes easier to prepare and more useful to the business.
Accounts and tax returns
The year-end work begins from records that have already been maintained and reviewed, reducing the need to reconstruct a full year of activity at once.
Making Tax Digital
The same digital records provide the income-and-expense information needed for quarterly MTD updates and the final annual tax return.
VAT returns
Where VAT applies, the bookkeeping supports the digital VAT records and return calculations. VAT preparation and submission can be included as a connected service.
Payroll
Payroll reports and journals can be reflected within the accounts, keeping staff costs, deductions and amounts due connected to the wider records.
Management accounts
Regular bookkeeping provides the base for timely profit, cash-flow and performance reporting when management accounts are included in your package.
Questions and guidance
Current records give your accountant better information when you ask about spending, tax, cash flow or a decision affecting the business.
Record it once. Use it throughout the business.
How it works
A repeatable routine—not a year-end rescue.
We’ll agree how often the bookkeeping is completed, what information needs to be supplied and which tasks sit with each of us. The same clear cycle then keeps the records moving.
1. Information flows into FreeAgent
Bank feeds, invoices, receipts and connected systems bring the available activity into one place. You provide anything that cannot be collected automatically.
2. Transactions are processed
At the agreed frequency, we record and categorise the relevant income, costs and other activity within the scope of your service.
3. Questions are grouped together
We’ll identify unclear transactions or missing documents and send a manageable request for the information needed.
4. Accounts are reconciled and reviewed
We’ll check the bookkeeping against the bank activity, resolve differences and review the records for items that appear incomplete or unusual.
5. The records move into the next service
The completed information remains ready for the relevant VAT return, MTD update, management report or annual accounts and tax work.
A little information at the right time prevents a much larger job later.
A clearer everyday view
Know what has happened before the year has ended.
Current bookkeeping gives you a more useful working view of the business than a bank balance alone. It helps organise the questions you need to ask and highlights areas that may require closer attention.
Income and spending
See the income and costs recorded for the period, with transactions organised into meaningful categories.
Outstanding customer invoices
Track which invoices have been paid and which remain outstanding, making it easier to follow up amounts owed to the business.
Supplier amounts due
Keep purchase invoices and upcoming payments visible instead of relying on separate emails, notes or memory.
Cash movement
Understand how money has moved through the business and investigate unexpected changes or unreconciled activity.
An emerging profit position
Use the records to monitor how income and costs are developing during the year, rather than waiting for the annual accounts to see the overall direction.
Bookkeeping records provide a useful working view but are not automatically the same as final accounts or tailored management accounts. Where you need deeper analysis, forecasts or regular performance reporting, we can add a management accounts service.
Catch-up bookkeeping
Behind with the books doesn’t mean you have to stay there.
If transactions, receipts or reconciliations have built up, we’ll first establish the true position. We can then bring the records up to date and replace the backlog with a routine that is easier to maintain.
Assess what is outstanding
We’ll review the periods involved, transaction volume, available records and any approaching accounts, VAT, MTD or tax deadlines.
Bring the information together
Collect the relevant bank activity, invoices, receipts and existing spreadsheets or software records into one organised working process.
Reconstruct and reconcile
Process the missing activity, investigate differences and reconcile the records to the available bank and supporting information.
Prioritise urgent deadlines
Where a filing is overdue or approaching, we’ll identify the work needed for that submission and agree the order in which the backlog should be addressed.
Agree the position before moving forward
We’ll explain any remaining gaps, assumptions or unresolved transactions before using the records for accounts or tax work.
Create a better ongoing routine
Once the backlog is cleared, we’ll configure FreeAgent, suitable integrations and an agreed division of responsibilities to help prevent it building up again.
No judgement—just a clear route from incomplete records to a reliable starting point.
Bookkeeping FAQs
Common questions about keeping your records
What is bookkeeping?
Bookkeeping is the process of recording and organising the financial activity of a business. It includes income, purchases, expenses, bank transactions and supporting documents, creating the underlying records used for accounts, tax returns and other reporting.
Can I complete my own bookkeeping?
Yes. We can set up FreeAgent and help you establish a practical routine, while you maintain the day-to-day records. We can also review the bookkeeping at agreed points or take over more of the work if your needs change.
How often should bookkeeping be completed?
That depends on the number of transactions, the services connected to the records and how quickly you need useful information. Some businesses need frequent bookkeeping, while a simpler business may require a lighter routine. We’ll recommend an appropriate frequency.
What will you need from me?
You may need to provide invoices, receipts, explanations for unfamiliar transactions and access to relevant systems. Bank feeds and integrations can collect some information automatically, but they cannot explain every transaction without your input.
Does a bank feed make the bookkeeping automatic?
It removes much of the manual entry, but transactions still need to be reviewed, categorised and matched to the correct supporting information. Unusual or unclear items will still require human judgement.
Can you work with my existing accounting software?
We’ll review the current system and records first. Where appropriate, we may continue using the existing information during the transition, but our ongoing bookkeeping service is normally built around FreeAgent so the process remains consistent and connected.
Is FreeAgent included?
FreeAgent is included without a separate software charge in our ongoing accounting and bookkeeping packages. We’ll configure the account and help connect suitable bank feeds and integrations.
Can you bring overdue bookkeeping up to date?
Yes. We’ll assess the backlog, available records and relevant deadlines before agreeing the scope. Once the catch-up work is complete, we can establish an ongoing routine to help keep the records current.
What affects the scope of the bookkeeping service?
The main factors include transaction volume, number of bank or payment accounts, VAT status, payroll activity, sales systems, quality of the existing records and how much of the routine you want us to handle. The agreed responsibilities and service limits will be set out clearly in your proposal.
Not sure which approach suits your business? Tell us how you currently keep your records and we’ll help you choose.
Bookkeeping next step
Share what is messy, missing or hard to trust in your records.
Tell us whether you need catch-up bookkeeping, monthly records or software-led bookkeeping support.
Bookkeeping route
Cleaner records start with the right context.
We can review whether you need catch-up work, monthly bookkeeping, VAT-linked records or software support.
- Tell us whether your records are behind, ongoing or linked to a deadline.
- Forest Finance reviews the bookkeeping route that fits your setup.
- You receive a clearer next step for cleaner, more useful records.
Useful if your records are behind, inconsistent, hard to trust or connected to VAT, tax or MTD deadlines.
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