The Friendly Accountants

Online accountancy for small businesses, contractors and technology firms

The Friendly Accountants (TFA) is a small firm of qualified accountants and tax advisers working online with clients across the UK and overseas. Its client base centres on small businesses, contractors and entrepreneurs, and the firm combines general small business accountancy with specialist tax work in several niches.

Services are delivered remotely through phone, Skype, email, online accounting software and remote control support, and the firm states that it charges affordable fixed fees with year-round support and advice in plain English.

Specialist areas: crypto, Web3, e-commerce and technology

Beyond mainstream small business accountancy, TFA highlights dedicated expertise in the following fields:

• Crypto and Web3, including crypto taxes and NFTs
• Content creators
• E-commerce
• AI, SaaS and technology businesses

The firm's published material also covers crypto and inheritance tax, crypto taxes for UK companies, and financing instruments such as Advance Subscription Agreements, SAFEs and equity rounds.

Xero and FreeAgent packages

TFA positions itself as a specialist in two cloud accounting platforms. For Xero, it targets smaller businesses that need more functionality from their system; for FreeAgent, it points to contractors and freelancers as the natural users. In both cases the packages include a software subscription together with training and support, and accounting software is described as included as standard in most business packages.

Compliance and time-saving services

The service menu is organised around compliance work, time-saving services, value-added services and auto-enrolment, alongside the core accounting and tax offering. The firm also publishes free guides, including a salary and dividend tax calculator for 2026/27 and a Making Tax Digital guide aimed at landlords and sole traders.

Client support hub and business advice

Clients receive access to an online support resource called The Friendly Hub, which gathers guidance on business structure, expenses, VAT, dividend tax, IR35, record-keeping and related questions for sole traders and limited companies. The firm maintains a blog on accountancy topics for business owners.

The team's background

The site names two senior figures: Richard Baldwyn, described as ex-HMRC and a qualified tax adviser with over 30 years of experience, and Lesley Ward, a qualified chartered accountant and former finance director of a FTSE company, also with more than 30 years of experience. The firm states that all team members are appropriately experienced and qualified.

Reputation as presented on the site

The website displayed a rating of 5/5 from more than 120 reviews when this profile was written. Published testimonials come from clients in fields including technology, media and consulting, and reference topics such as correcting the tax treatment of crypto transactions, handling HMRC queries and year-end reporting.