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Here's what you need to know

How it Works

The legal bits

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We need to make sure that we're the right fit for you, and you for us. To do this, we need some info off you before we can get started. If you click here, you'll be redirected to our application form. Once complete, it'll send directly to our review team who will reach out if they have any questions.

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If we're a match, then we'll email you with the next steps:

We'll ask you to read through our Terms & Conditions. This page will contain our Letter of Engagement- it outlines what we're going to cover, what we don't cover, and what you can expect from us, and us from you. It's important to note that the Letter of Engagement will not take effect until the 1st payment has been made and we have successfully carried out our Client Due Diligence (CDD) in line with Money Laundering Regulations (you'll see this repeated a few times over as it is really important).

 

You'll then receive an email from Xama asking you to upload photo ID and residential address details.* Again, this is a legal requirement under the Money Laundering Regulations.

You'll also receive a link to the checkout so that you can enter your payment details.**

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*If we are unable to verify your identity, we'll process a full refund for your 1st payment, and the service will be cancelled with immediate effect.

**Please note that if payment fails, both the services and the Letter of Engagement will be void. If we are unable

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We'll add you to our client portal- this is where we'll ask you for information such as:

  • Corporation Tax Reference

  • Personal UTR

  • Companies House Authentication Code

  • PAYE and Accounts Office References

  • Pension Provider details

  • VAT Number

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Set up

  • If you've already got a Xero account, we'll ask you to add us as a user, and we'll give you the details on who to transfer your Xero subscription to. 

  • If you don't have a Xero account, we'll get one set up for you and walk you through what you need to do to bring it up to date as of the end of the month before our Engagement starts.

  • We'll set up an Apron account for you and give you access.

  • We'll link your EPOS system to Xero (please note that your provider may charge a fee for the Xero integration. Some do, some don't).

  • We'll get you set up on our payroll system and confirm a start date based on the information that you provided during the application process.

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Handling invoices and receipts

  • We'll ask you to upload all of these to Apron.

  • Any receipts/invoices paid for in cash should clearly state this on the receipt/invoice. This includes where a member of staff (or yourself) has paid for something on a personal card and taken cash back out of the till.

  • Any receipts/invoices paid by the director(s) personally should clearly state this on the receipt/invoice.

  • We'll give you an email address dedicated to sending digital invoices into Apron- you'll need to share this with your suppliers and ask them to add it to your account.

  • We recommend uploading invoices/ receipts to Apron (whether online or via the app) as soon as you receive them.

    • This includes downloading invoices from Amazon and any other supplier portals.

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Staying on Track

  • We'll take care of the invoice/receipt processing in Apron- you only need to upload them.

  • We'll reconcile the bank and complete all bookkeeping.

    • We'll send a list of bank transactions that we need information for at the start of each month and ask you to upload the missing invoices/receipts directly to Apron.​​

  • We'll get your VAT Returns ready and submit them to HMRC.

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Joining the Community

Once you've signed up and we've carried out our legally required checks, we'll invite you to two separate things:

1. Open Book Hospitality- the course we've built to empower hospitality employees to think more about finance when carrying out their tasks.

2. The monthly community call.

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Our Criteria

We built HospoBase for the kind of businesses we wish more accountants understood — small, single-site hospitality operators juggling everything themselves.

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To keep things simple and make sure you get the right support, we only work with businesses that fit a certain profile.

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If you tick the boxes below, you’re exactly who we built this for.

✅ UK-based hospitality business (e.g. restaurant, café, bar, deli, takeaway). We are not qualified or licensed to work with businesses outside of Mainland UK.


✅ Annual turnover under £200,000. If your annual turnover is under £200,000 when you start working with us, but exceeds £250,000 during our time working together, then we'll have a conversation about your needs, current service levels, and the extra support that you may now need. If you don't want and/or need any additional support, then you are well within your rights to engage another accountancy firm.


✅ Owner-operated (not investor-backed or part of a chain). This also includes Franchisees/Franchisors. There can be many hidden complications when running a Franchise, such as only being allowed to use certain EPOS systems and follow certain processes. Most Franchisees/Franchisors will also have some form of complex reporting that is required by Head Office.


✅ Single-site only. Single-site and single-entity are two separate things. Single-site means one location, and single-entity means one company. We can work with single-entity companies (even if you own more than one company provided that you only operate as one site per company), but we can't offer services for multi-site/ multi-location businesses as this adds a high level of complexity to the work that we're carrying out.


✅ Trading for at least 6 months. Although at 6 months a business may still be considered a start up, the level of knowledge and experience gained in those 6 months is often astronomical. We aren't right for you if you're in the pre-launch phase.


✅ Using (or willing to switch to) Xero and Apron. All of our team have had years of experience in using Xero. It's what we use across every client that we look after, and so they are experts in all things Xero.


✅ “One invoice = one payment” setup — no batching or multi-site splits. The main reason behind this is that most hospitality business owners will pay suppliers based on the statement- if you get a digit wrong, or the supplier statement is incorrect, then it can take up a huge amount of time to reconcile the payment, and to chase for the missing information. Our "One invoice= one payment" approach cuts down on our time spent chasing you for a breakdown, and your time on chasing your supplier for missing invoices and payment breakdowns.


✅ Books fully reconciled as of the end of the month before joining us. If your books aren't up to date, we'll ask you to bring them up to date before working with us, or we can put you in touch with someone who can- an estimated cost for this is roughly £1.10 + VAT per transaction (we appreciate that this sounds like a lot of money, but almost every transaction will also have a corresponding invoice that needs to be processed and reconciled, so it can be a very big job!)

As a Xero-based service, we’re ideal for independent food businesses using Xero and looking to simplify their accounting with Apron.

What's Included (and What's Not)

Included:

  • Monthly Bookkeeping and bank reconciliation

  • VAT Return Preparation and submission

  • Annual Accounts & Corporation Tax Returns

  • Confirmation Statements

  • Simple Self-Assessments for Directors (i.e. no rental property, CGT, IHT, etc).

  • Payroll and Pension Filings

  • Xero & Apron subscription fees (covered by us)

  • Access to monthly group call

  • Email support during business hours

  • Access to the "Open Book Hospitality" Platform (see below for more details)

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Not Included:

  • Catch-up or "rescue" work. We'll ask you to complete your bookkeeping up until the end of the month prior to us working together, or we'll recommend someone who can do it for you

  • Multi-site or Franchise support

  • HR Support

  • 1 to 1 advisory or strategy sessions

  • Phone support (unless in an emergency, or if our bookkeepers need to get in contact with you)

  • Budgeting, Forecasting, or Cashflow forecasting (these are specialist areas that require a large amount of input- they can be completed by our main firm, Evans & Co Hospitality Accountants)

  • Staff and supplier payments

We’re not just any small business accountant — we’re bookkeepers for cafés, delis, takeaways and food-led pubs under £200k in turnover.

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