Recruitment

Running a recruitment company is a tough business, irrespective of whether your company is well established or a start-up. Your need to find the right skills, knowledge and experience to help your clients, also applies to your choice in an accountant.

You want to reach your maximum potential, and to do that you need accountants who understand your business and can provide expert support and tailored advice. With years of experience working with clients in the sector, we offer dedicated accounting expertise.

If you’d like to explore the possibility of having a financial expert on your side that understands recruitment, why not get in touch? You might be surprised at the value we can add to your recruitment business. 

Testimonials from our recruitment sector clients

Recruitment specialists

At UHY Hacker Young we believe that to really add value to our clients’ businesses, we need to understand those businesses. We know that to go the extra mile, we need to have real insight into the opportunities and threats in your marketplace, as well as a comprehensive view of the legislative environment in which you trade. Only by being familiar with these things can we really help you grow your business and seize the opportunities that are out there waiting for you.

Of course we carry out the standard recruitment business accountancy, finance and taxation activities, but we go well beyond that in everything we do. By means of example, we have sourced bespoke recruitment software to make your life easier and have developed specific business strategies that are unique to the recruitment sector to help recruitment managers and recruitment directors run their businesses more efficiently and more effectively.

If you think your business might benefit from the extra boost an expert will bring, contact us today.

To find out more about how our specialist Recruitment Accountants can support you, please download our Recruitment Accountants Brochure.

Helping make life easier 

For more details about our services, please visit our dedicated website here

Growing your business

From the beginning, we work with you to cover everything from initial business plans, to advising on the business direction as it matures, and onto exit planning.

Our team of experienced accountants and financial experts can help you define a clear strategic direction for your agency and assist you in crafting a robust business plan that outlines your growth trajectory, financial projections, and key milestones. We provide real-time financial data and industry insights, that enable you to make informed decisions, identify areas of improvement, secure funding, measure the performance of your consultants, optimise resource allocation, manage cash flow effectively and navigate expansion while maintaining financial stability.

We understand that as the driving force behind your business you are also usually the top biller, leaving you with little time to focus on the strategic side of your business. Attracting and retaining top talent is crucial for sustained success and allows you to step back and take time to focus on running and growing the business. Our experts can assist you in designing competitive compensation and incentive structures that motivate and reward key players in your agency. Whether it's performance-based bonuses, commission structures, or equity options, we ensure that your compensation plans align with your agency's goals and culture.

As your business grows, building a strong management team becomes pivotal. Our guidance includes identifying and nurturing leadership potential within your organisation. We provide financial insights that support effective decision-making, allowing your management team to steer your business confidently and execute growth strategies.

As part of the UHY international network, we can help you expand into new markets in over 100 countries, helping you to understand the overseas market, as well as any regulatory and compliance requirements to trading there.

Exit planning

As an ambitious recruitment business owner, mapping out your exit strategy is an essential milestone on the path to realising your long-term goals. Whether you’re considering a trade sale, private equity partnership, management buyout, or exploring the merits of an employee ownership trust, we’ve got you covered.

  • Trade sales involve selling your recruitment business to an external buyer. This option offers several advantages, such as a potentially higher valuation, access to resources, and the opportunity to exit quickly. However, it also comes with challenges, including finding the right buyer and securing the initial agreed-upon value via an earn out. 
  • A private equity sale involves partnering with a private equity firm that invests in your business in exchange for ownership. This option can provide access to capital, strategic guidance, and industry expertise. However, it may involve giving up a significant portion of your ownership and autonomy.
  • A management buyout (MBO) occurs when the existing management team purchases the business from the current owner(s). This option allows for continuity, as the management team is already familiar with the operations and culture. However, securing financing for the buyout and negotiating a fair valuation can be challenging.
  • An Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) is a unique option where the ownership of the business is transferred to a trust, benefiting the employees as a whole. This option promotes employee engagement, loyalty, and a shared sense of ownership. However, it requires careful planning and navigating legal and tax considerations. For more information on EOTs, you can download our comprehensive ‘A Guide to Employee Ownership Trusts’.

Whichever exit option you are interested in, valuing your recruitment business is an important first step. To find out the indicative value of your recruitment business you can complete our Recruitment Business Valuation Calculator here.

If you’re undecided on the best exit strategy for your recruitment business, you’re not alone. Our expert team has in depth experience in guiding recruitment businesses to pinpoint and implement the most suitable exit strategy. 
 

In recruitment, cashflow is king

We know that your business will sink or swim based on how tightly your cashflow is managed. We understand that running a recruitment business is a cash-hungry affair. Keeping up-to-date with payroll commitments and overheads calls for on-time payments, which don’t always materialise. We can help improve your cashflow by introducing the most appropriate financial products for your business and if needs be introducing you to recruitment-focused lenders. Add to this, our acute awareness of the big recruitment picture, and you start to see why more and more recruitment firms are choosing UHY Hacker Young.

If your cashflow needs some forward planning, why not speak to one of our experts today?
 

Financing your business

We provide an array of experts who you can turn to for advice when making decisions about financing, acquisitions, management buy-outs or buy-ins, or disposals. 

We understand that sourcing the capital needed to grow your recruitment business can be a time consuming, and often expensive, endeavour. We are partnered with Capitalise, a business funding platform designed to help SMEs discover finance partners who can add value to your business. Funding success requires more than just completing an application. You’ll need to provide information that is easily understood and attractive to lenders. We can support you in all stages of the funding process and position your company in the best possible light for securing finance. 

Back office services

We can take care of routine activities – from timesheet processing through to payroll, invoicing, credit control and management reporting – freeing your time up to develop your business.

Where possible we use Xero accounting software and Evertime online timesheets as well as other cloud accounting apps so that you can keep your fingers on the pulse of your business. Online bookkeeping enables you and us to view your live data at all times on any device. Whether it is processing timesheets, reconciling your bank account, sending invoices to clients, paying your suppliers, preparing your VAT return or producing monthly management reports, our back office service can be tailored to suit you. 

For everything you need to know to produce useful management information and KPI analysis, download our ‘A Guide to Useful Management Information’.

In addition, to Xero and Evertime, we work with some of the best software providers to help you build a tech stack that works specifically for your recruitment business. We also work with an amazing selection of recruitment specialists, such as funding providers like Sonovate and Simplicity, who enable us to provide the most effective and valuable service that goes way beyond accounting. 

Our specialist recruitment payroll team routinely deal with different classes and categories of staff, permanent and temporary staff, tax calculations, benefit allowances, pension auto enrolment, holiday pay, commissions and expense reimbursements. We understand and deal with these complexities, so you can focus on moving your business forward.

Accounts & audit

Our recruitment industry experts deliver you far more than statutory compliance when preparing your accounts or providing an annual audit. Our experts offer advice based on a wealth of experience from dealing with a wide variety of recruitment clients of varying size and complexity, covering a range of activities and objectives.

Our highly experienced audit team strive not only to highlight areas of opportunity, but also to identify practical solutions to hidden challenges within your sector, helping you reduce risk and protect your business. 

Tax planning

A meeting with our tax experts should be enough to show that there are opportunities to organise your finances to ensure you do not pay any more tax than you need to. Whether it’s corporate tax, personal tax, VAT or exploring R&D tax relief, as recruitment industry specialists we understand the tax saving opportunities and risks within the industry. We also get to know you, your business and your personal circumstances which enables us to offer proactive tax advice and ensure the right strategies are put in place in order to relieve your tax burden and achieve your financial goals.

IR35 Off-payroll

IR35, often referred to as the "off-payroll" rules, is designed to ascertain the employment status of contractors and ensure that they pay the correct amount of tax. The duty of employment status assessment now lies with the organisation receiving the individual's services, known as "the client". Concurrently, the fee payer, often the recruitment business, is responsible for deducting the necessary taxes. Often, agencies and end clients collaborate to facilitate this assessment process.

To determine if a contractor falls within the scope of IR35, four primary tests are in place:

  • Control: This covers where, when, and how a contractor carries out their tasks.
  • Personal Service (or Substitution): The ability of a contractor to use a substitute (another individual to execute the work).
  • Mutuality of Obligation (MOO): An implicit understanding that the client provides ongoing work and the contractor accepts any given task.
  • Risk & Reward: Unlike regular employees, contractors might face financial losses due to non-payment by clients or potential litigations for sub-par services.

There are also additional factors to consider such as provision of equipment, payment structure, integration of the contractor into the client's organisational structure, access to employee benefits, exclusivity of work with one client and extended notice periods for contract termination.

The Insights section of our website has a wealth of information covering the IR35 Off-payroll changes, including resources such as our Net Pay and Hourly Margin calculators. We are also partnered with Qdos contractor who can provide support on status determination statements and IR35 insurance.

For more details about our services, please visit our dedicated website www.recruitmentaccountants.com.

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The recruitment accountants team have worked extremely hard to build a reputation as experts in the sector and deliver a service that is paramount to the success of a recruitment business.

APSCO Trusted Partner

APSCo was formed to provide all firms involved in the recruitment of professional talent, who have a commitment to excellence, the specialist support and distinctive voice they need to be successful.APSCo Affiliate member

We are proud to be an APSCO Affiliate. Affiliate members of APSCo are organisations providing services to the recruitment sector, all of which have been reference checked and abide by a strict Code of Conduct. Find out more about APSCO: https://www.apsco.org/

Let’s talk

If you like the sound of what we have to offer then we would love to hear from you. We can organise to meet and discuss the challenges you’re facing. If we have immediate help to offer, we’ll give it there and then. If not then getting together will be an ideal opportunity for you to see how we work and to decide if you think we can add value to your business.

If you would like to find out more, please get in touch using the form below.

Let's talk! Send an enquiry to your local UHY expert.

Insights