How a 12-Partner Firm Cut Overhead by 38% Without Redundancies

The firm had grown to 85 staff but was struggling with a classic capacity-cost squeeze. Their bookkeeping and VAT team — 12 people — cost approximately £480,000 per year in salaries and overheads. Despite this, the team was frequently overwhelmed during busy periods (January, March, October) and underpaid managers were using their time on routine compliance rather than the advisory work that commanded higher fees.

The firm engaged Taxperts to take on all routine bookkeeping and VAT return preparation for their SME client base. The 12 bookkeepers were redeployed into client-facing roles with new job titles and responsibilities, rather than being made redundant — avoiding a difficult HR process and retaining institutional client knowledge. Over a 90-day transition, Taxperts onboarded all 285 bookkeeping clients using the firm's existing Xero and IRIS setup.

In the first 12 months after transition, the firm saved £182,000 in net costs (the Taxperts fee partially offsetting the eliminated bookkeeping overhead). They onboarded 62 new SME clients that would previously have been turned away for capacity reasons. The 12 redeployed staff generated an estimated £110,000 in additional advisory fee revenue. Total net benefit in year one: approximately £290,000.