Accountants in Dublin for SMEs
Dublin had 1,458,154 residents at the 2022 census, and 41% of its workforce (284,885 people) worked from home at least one day a week, against 32% nationally, according to the CSO's Census 2022 summary for Dublin. Much of the county already works remotely. So why are you still driving across the city to drop off a folder of receipts?
You know the rest. A VAT return started the evening before it's due, and an email to your accountant that sits unanswered for a week.
First Accounts is an online accountancy firm for SMEs, run by Chartered and Certified accountants. We keep your bookkeeping live on Xero, file your VAT, corporation tax and CRO returns on time, and reply to every message within 24 hours. Our office is at Maynooth Business Campus in Co. Kildare, but you will never need to visit it.
What do Dublin businesses get when they work with First Accounts?
Working with us comes down to a handful of concrete things:
Filings that go in on time. Your VAT returns, CT1 and B1 sit on a deadline calendar we own, not in your memory.
Bookkeeping that is current, not three months behind. Transactions are coded on Xero as they arrive, so Tuesday's numbers reflect Tuesday.
Bank feeds and Hubdoc receipt capture. Your bank data flows into Xero automatically. Photograph a receipt on your phone and it gets matched to the transaction.
Pricing agreed before we start. No hidden extras turning up on a later invoice.
Direct access to qualified accountants. You speak with Chartered and Certified accountants who know your file.
A reply within 24 hours. Even when the full answer needs longer, you'll hear back within a day so you know it's in hand.
24-Hour Response
Chartered and Certified Accountants
Chartered and Certified Accountants
What accounting services does First Accounts offer Dublin businesses?
You can take one service on its own or combine several. Everything runs from the same Xero file, so nothing gets keyed in twice and your accountant is always looking at the same numbers you are.
Who can keep my bookkeeping up to date on Xero?
Bookkeeping is where most accounting problems start, usually because it quietly falls behind. Our bookkeeping services on Xero cover data entry, receipt capture and integrations with the sales platforms you already use. Transactions are reconciled against your bank feed on a regular schedule, not in a panic the week a return is due. If your books have slipped badly, we clean up the backlog first so the figures you start from are right.
Can an online accountant handle my VAT returns?
Yes, and VAT suits remote working well because everything it needs already lives in your accounting software. Our VAT return service prepares each return from reconciled books, checks the rates applied to sales and purchases, and files it with Revenue before the deadline. We also tell you whether you need to register in the first place. A services business reaches its threshold much sooner than one selling goods. Where your business needs them, we handle RCT, Income Tax and CGT returns too.
Who prepares year-end accounts and files the B1 for a Dublin company?
Limited companies file an annual return (Form B1) with the Companies Registration Office each year, together with financial statements. We prepare your year-end accounts and B1 filing from books that have been kept tidy all year, which makes the whole job faster and far less stressful. When something changes in the company, such as a new director, a different registered address or a shift in shareholding, we look after the CRO updates as well.
Can I outsource payroll for a small team in Dublin?
You can. Whether you employ two people or twenty, payroll is a job with no margin for error, and it doesn't need to sit on your desk. Our outsourced payroll service runs each pay cycle, reports to Revenue in real time and deals with payslips, new starters and leavers. Enhanced Reporting Requirements now sit alongside ordinary payroll, and we keep those reports in step with each pay run so nothing is missed.
What are management accounts and does my business need them?
Management accounts are a regular snapshot of how the business is really doing: profit, margin, cash and what customers owe you. Our quarterly management accounts come with a meeting to talk them through, and we can build and maintain KPI dashboards that track cash runway and debtor days. If you're making hiring or pricing decisions by glancing at your bank balance, this is the fix.
Do I need a Xero accountant to set up my software properly?
A badly configured Xero file causes problems for years, from the wrong VAT rates on invoices to bank rules that quietly code costs to the wrong account. Working with a Xero accountant for set-up and ongoing support means your chart of accounts, tax settings and bank feeds are right from day one. Moving across from another package or from spreadsheets? We bring the data over and check it before you rely on it.
Why do Dublin business owners choose an online accountant?
Because Dublin already works this way. Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown had the highest rate of working from home in the country in 2022, and almost 119,800 people in Dublin City worked from home at least some of the time, according to the CSO's employment and commuting profile for Dublin. The same profile puts average commutes at 29.7 minutes in Dublin City and 33.7 minutes in Fingal. That's an hour lost for a meeting that could have been a phone call.
It's a big market, too. Almost 698,900 people were at work in the county in April 2022, across four local authority areas. A consultancy in Dun Laoghaire and a trades business in Swords keep very different books, yet both file with the same Revenue and CRO, and neither needs to sit across a desk from an accountant to do it.
| Obligation | What it involves | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| VAT registration |
Registration thresholds are €42,500 for services and €85,000 for goods, per Revenue's VAT thresholds page |
When your turnover goes over the relevant threshold |
|
Corporation tax |
Form CT1 and Form 46G filed through ROS, with preliminary tax |
Nine months after the accounting period ends, by the 23rd of that month |
Why Dublin business owners go online
Documents go up through Xero and Hubdoc, so nothing gets posted, scanned or dropped off.
Calls happen by phone or video when a conversation is quicker than email.
You and your accountant see the same live books, so questions get answered against the same figures.
Moving premises within the county, or out of it, changes nothing about the service.
What services does an accountant in Dublin provide?
Two jobs, really. One is keeping you compliant with Revenue and the CRO. The other is giving you numbers you can actually run the business on, and plenty of owners only think about the first until cash gets tight.
Which Revenue and CRO deadlines does a Dublin company have to meet?
A Dublin company carries the same obligations as one in Donegal, but they run on different clocks, and that is where things get missed. Corporation tax is filed on Form CT1, along with Form 46G, through ROS nine months after the end of the accounting period, by the 23rd of that month, as set out in Revenue's corporation tax payment and filing guidance. A company with a 31 December year end therefore files by 23 September. Preliminary tax applies on top of that.
What does an accountant do for a Dublin SME beyond tax and filing?
This is the side that keeps a business open. Dublin had 136,809 active enterprises in 2023, yet only 47.6% of enterprises born nationally in 2018 were still trading five years later, according to the CSO's Business in Ireland 2023 findings. Operational accounting covers current bookkeeping, payroll, management accounts, budgeting and cash flow forecasting. A 13-week forecast won't make customers pay faster, but it tells you in March that June looks tight, while you still have time to act. We also prepare the figures that grant and mortgage applications ask for.
What do Dublin business owners ask before hiring an online accountant?
Do I need to visit your office in Maynooth?
No. First Accounts is fully remote, so onboarding, monthly bookkeeping, filings and year-end sign-off all happen online and by phone. Our office is at Block B, Maynooth Business Campus, Straffan Road, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, but there is no need to make the trip out from Dublin to get your accounts done.
Which Local Enterprise Office covers my Dublin business?
Dublin has four, one for each local authority: Dublin City, Fingal, South Dublin and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown. They are part of a network of 31 Local Enterprise Offices across the country. Which one you deal with depends on where your business is based. If you're applying for support, we can pull the financial information together straight from your Xero records.
Can you take over from my current accountant partway through the year?
Yes. You don't need to wait for your year end to switch. We get access to your existing records, check where your filings stand with Revenue and the CRO, and close any gaps in the books before picking up the routine work. If the previous records are a mess, we clean them up first rather than building on top of them.