Fund the busy season before the fees roll in
Staff costs peak at filing time while client fees sit in lockup for months. One request lines up working-capital and acquisition offers from competing partners, with a soft search your credit score never registers.
The work is done long before the fee is raised.
Year-end accounts, VAT returns and tax computations run over weeks or months, and the fee often is not raised until the job is filed and signed off. That gap between effort and billing is lockup, and for a busy practice it can tie up a large share of annual fees in work in progress and unpaid debtors at any one time.
Meanwhile the costs are overwhelmingly people. Salaries go out every month whatever the debtor ledger is doing, and software, insurance and tax lines renew on their own schedule. Funding here exists to bridge that timing so payroll never depends on a single slow-paying client.
Back-loaded income, level costsA facility put in place ahead of the busy season beats one arranged in the middle of it, and comparing options is a soft search that leaves your credit score untouched.
No single product suits every practice.
The right fit depends on whether you are smoothing a seasonal dip, funding growth, or buying another firm’s client base. These are the options mapped onto how a practice actually runs, so you compare like for like rather than guessing.
Payroll and renewals through the busy season
Salaries for qualified staff, bookkeepers and trainees leave every month whether or not clients have paid, and the bill rises when you take on temporary help or pay overtime to clear a deadline. Working capital covers that run-up, alongside professional indemnity premiums and the cloud ledger, tax and practice management subscriptions that renew on their own cycle.
The swing between quarters
If the gap is a few weeks rather than a season, business line of credit buffers the quarterly and monthly swings without paying for money you are not using. It sits idle until you draw on it, which is what most practices want between billing runs.
Fees raised, and clients taking their time
Once the work is filed and the fee is out, invoice finance releases most of that invoice value straight away instead of leaving it to sit for weeks in the debtor ledger. It is the shortest route from a billed fee to cash in the account.
Buying a block of fees, or a retiring practitioner’s client bank
Acquiring a client bank typically costs around the value of one year of recurring fees, payable up front or over a short earn out, while the income arrives month by month. business term loan bridges that so you grow the fee base without draining partner reserves, and it is the usual home for an office fit-out or a full software migration too.
Steady collection, so the repayment can flex
Practices collecting fees by regular standing order or card can look at revenue advance, where repayment is an agreed share of incoming revenue and eases through the quieter months. Most practices end up blending two facilities rather than choosing one.
Because Capvant’s partners compete, you can weigh the cost and structure of each against how your fees actually arrive rather than taking the first facility offered. The whole range sits on the funding types Capvant covers, and the route from first question to funds is set out on how Capvant works.
Hiring happens in the autumn. The fees land in the spring.
Few businesses are as tied to a calendar as an accountancy practice. The 31 January self assessment deadline drives a workload spike from November to January, the 5 April tax year end brings payroll year end and a fresh wave of planning work, and quarterly VAT and monthly payroll filings keep a steady drumbeat in between.
That rhythm has a cost. You often need to hire or pay overtime well before the fees from the January self assessment deadline land, and many practices give clients longer to pay at exactly the point their own outgoings are highest. It works the other way too: the post-deadline lull and the summer quiet period are when income dips and salaries do not, which is why a facility you draw down and repay around the swings can be more useful than a fixed lump sum. Amounts shown in the artwork are illustrative only, in £.
Asset light, so the fee income does the talking.
Funding partners spend less time on equipment or property here and more on the quality and predictability of what clients pay you. A clean, well presented set of numbers, which a practice is better placed than most to produce, makes for a stronger request.
Recurring fee income
Fees collected by direct debit or standing order are viewed favourably because they are contracted and sticky rather than one off. Retention matters as much as the headline number.
Lockup and debtor days
How long the gap runs between doing the work and being paid for it, and how much of the fee base is sitting in work in progress and unpaid debtors at any one time.
The shape of the book
The mix of compliance and advisory work, the trend in fee income over the last couple of years, and whether the book leans heavily on one or two large clients.
The firm behind it
Recent bank statements and management accounts, the structure of the business, and the track record of the partners or directors. Asset-light means the numbers do the talking.
You are already sitting on the documents most funding partners want: up to date management accounts, recent business bank statements, an aged debtor and work in progress report, and a short note on how the funds will be used. Being clear on how much you need and over what period helps partners quote accurately rather than conservatively. Capvant is a funding marketplace and does not lend, set rates or make the credit decision itself, so every offer, limit and term rests with the individual funding partner and is subject to their approval. Funding is for business purposes only.
Pick the range that covers the season, the software move or the fee block, and see what competing funding partners come back with.
Frequently asked questions
A practice owns almost nothing. Does that rule funding out?
No. Because an accounting or bookkeeping firm is asset light, funding partners focus on the quality and predictability of fee income rather than equipment or property, so recurring fees and a clean set of management figures carry more weight than a balance sheet. Every decision, limit and term still sits with the individual funding partner and is subject to their approval.
Can my accounting and bookkeeping business get funding through Capvant?
Yes. Capvant works with funding partners that fund accounting and bookkeeping businesses across the United Kingdom. One request matches you with the partners most likely to say yes.
What funding suits accounting and bookkeeping businesses?
It depends on your goal, common options include working capital, business line of credit, business term loan, invoice finance, revenue advance. Compare them side by side and pick what fits.
Will checking my options affect my credit score?
No. Seeing your options through Capvant is a soft search, so it leaves no mark on your credit file. A lender only runs a full credit check if you decide to accept an offer.
Is Capvant a lender?
No. Capvant is a funding marketplace, we match you with funding partners and you choose the offer that suits you. Funding decisions, rates and terms are set by the lender, subject to approval.
How fast can I get funded?
Once you accept an offer, many businesses receive funds within a few working days, some products fund same day.
Stop letting lockup set the pace of the practice.
One request puts your firm in front of competing funding partners who read fee income rather than fixed assets, and looking never touches your credit score.
No obligation. Checking your offers won’t affect your credit score.
Disclaimers & footnotes
- 1Capvant is a funding marketplace, not a lender. We match business owners with third-party funding partners; we do not make credit decisions, lend money, or set rates or terms. All funding decisions, rates, terms and approvals are made solely by the lenders in our network, subject to their criteria.
- 2Checking your options through Capvant does not affect your credit score. A lender may carry out a soft or hard credit search depending on the product, stage and your consent. A full hard credit check is only carried out where required by a lender before you proceed.
- 3Funding speed, including any reference to funding in as little as 24 hours, is typical for some products and lenders and is not guaranteed. Actual timescales depend on the lender, the product, and how quickly requested information and documents are provided.
- 4Funding amounts and ranges are indicative only and vary with your business profile, trading history, the lender and the market. Figures shown are not an offer of finance and do not guarantee any particular amount, rate or approval.
- 5Any offers, rates or repayment figures shown in illustrations or examples are for demonstration only and are not real quotes. Your actual offers, if any, are provided by lenders and are subject to approval.
- 6Product availability varies by market. Some products are only available in certain countries. Capvant currently serves businesses in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Capvant is not a lender and does not make credit decisions, we introduce businesses to third-party funding providers. Capvant is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Capvant does not compare every lender, broker, funding product or offer available in the market. We only show options from funding partners in our network that may be relevant based on the information you provide.
Capvant may receive compensation from lenders, brokers, funding partners or referral partners when a customer is introduced, approved, funded or takes another qualifying action. This compensation does not guarantee that any lender will approve an application or offer specific terms. Capvant does not charge business owners a fee to compare funding options unless clearly stated otherwise.
If you access Capvant through a partner, introducer or embedded funding page, that partner may receive a referral fee or commission if your request results in funding. This does not increase your cost unless expressly disclosed.
Capvant is intended for business-purpose funding only. Eligibility may depend on entity type, location, trading history, revenue, industry and lender criteria. In the UK, Capvant currently focuses on limited companies, LLPs and plcs, and does not currently support sole traders or ordinary partnerships.
Information on Capvant is general information only and is not financial, legal, tax or accounting advice. You should consider whether funding is suitable for your business and seek professional advice where appropriate.
Calculators, eligibility checkers and funding-readiness tools are estimates only. They are based on limited information and assumptions, and do not represent a credit decision, quote, approval or recommendation.
Company information may be sourced from public registers such as Companies House, or from information you provide. Public register data may be incomplete, delayed or inaccurate and should not be treated as a full credit assessment.
The Business Credit Score by Capvant is an independent statistical assessment based on public register data. It is not provided by a credit reference agency and may differ from scores used by individual lenders.
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Some US commercial financing offers may be subject to state-specific disclosure requirements. Where required, additional disclosures will be provided and must be accepted before a transaction is finalised.