From what you've described, you're standing right on the tipping point — so this is a good moment to be asking.
The honest answer: DIY stops being worth it when one of these becomes true, and you've just hit the first two at once.
- Your time is worth more than the fee. Do the maths: if admin takes you, say, 6 hours a month and your billable rate is £50 an hour, that's £300 a month of lost revenue. If an accountant costs less than that, the fee pays for itself before you even talk about tax. This is the calculation most people skip, and it's usually the decisive one.
2. VAT registration. This is the classic tipping point. VAT schemes (standard vs flat rate), partial exemption, and the MTD filing requirements are where DIY mistakes get expensive — and the flat-rate scheme choice alone can be worth hundreds or thousands a year either way if you pick wrong. You're about to register, so this one is live for you right now.
3. Taking on staff. Payroll, PAYE and (as you've seen) auto-enrolment pensions each carry their own deadlines and penalties. One missed RTI submission or late pension declaration costs more in fines and stress than a month of accountant fees.
4. Incorporating, or first property income. The other common triggers — deciding whether to go limited, dividends vs salary, or a first rental property — each involve one-off decisions with five-figure consequences. People rarely regret paying for advice at those moments.
Do the fees pay for themselves? A good accountant should save you — or find you — multiples of their fee: legitimate expenses and reliefs you wouldn't have spotted, one avoided penalty, a better VAT scheme choice, or simply the hours back to do billable work. Ask any prospective accountant what they typically save a business like yours; the honest ones will give you a straight answer.
My practical suggestion: you don't have to hand over everything at once. Many small businesses start with year-end accounts and tax returns handled professionally while keeping day-to-day bookkeeping in-house, then widen the relationship as things grow. Given the VAT registration and first employee landing together, I'd say you're at the point where the conversation is worth having.
