Accountants for SEO Agencies.
Long client lifecycles, retainer-heavy revenue, delivery split across employees and contractors. SEO agencies live or die on retention and margin. We give you the numbers to protect both.
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We know how SEO agencies run.
Most accountants treat every business the same. We work only with agencies, so we already understand your model before you explain it.
Retainer revenue hides your true margin.
Steady monthly fees feel safe, but contractor costs and delivery time quietly erode profit on each account. We show you margin per client, not just total revenue.
Contractor-heavy delivery and payroll questions.
Freelance link builders, writers and technical specialists. We keep IR35, payments and reporting clean so you can scale the team without the admin.
Forecasting around client churn.
One lost retainer changes the picture. We build forecasts that flex with your pipeline so you always know your runway.
Why SEO agencies
need a specialist.
A generalist keeps you compliant. A specialist makes the numbers work as hard as you do.
Proactive tax planning.
Agency income is rarely smooth. We plan ahead across the year so SEO agencies are not overpaying tax or scrambling at year end.
Financial strategy that scales.
Payroll, freelancers, pricing and margin. We help you grow without the profitability quietly slipping away underneath you.
Real-time agency insight.
Monthly management accounts and fractional CFO support, so you always know your margin, your runway and your next move.
One system. Two levels. Get to the end game.
The foundation keeps your books clean, your tax planned and your numbers understood. The next level turns them into growth: sharper pricing, stronger margins, cash you can forecast. Run both, and exit planning becomes the end game: a buyer-ready business that’s yours to sell at full value. Sidekick gets you there, from day one.
The
foundation.
Bookkeeping, tax planning, accounts, VAT and management reports done properly, on time, in plain English.
The
next level.
Financial infrastructure, strategic clarity and hands-on advisory built specifically for agencies. We install the systems, deliver the insight, and stay on it.
Both levels build towards the same destination: a business that’s commercially attractive and buyer-ready, whether you sell in 1 year or 5. We help you build towards it from day one, so when the offer comes, you keep more of it.
When the numbers are clean and the strategy is right, SEO agencies grow with confidence. That is the work.
Results that speak for themselves.
Here’s what changed when we built the financial layer underneath, in the numbers and in their words.
We've always got the information we need to make decisions quickly ... We've saved £10k in taxes since working with Sidekick. They're not your usual accountant.
One of the absolute best in the game. Thoroughly enjoy working with Rayhaan. Still actively working with him and intend to do so over the long term. He's been a game-changer for my business and is a thorough gentleman and really does go above and beyond.
Everybody wants clarity. My stress levels have decreased and I'm able to operate at a higher level, the biz is performing much better as a result.
See where your agency stands.
Two quick self-checks, no jargon: how you compare with the most profitable agencies, and what tax you could be leaving on the table.
Do you know your agency’s numbers?
Six lines of your monthly P&L. See how you compare with the most profitable agencies, in pounds, not percentages. Free · 90 seconds · Instant result.
How much tax is your agency overpaying?
Eight quick questions with figures you already know off the top of your head. Corporation and personal tax estimated together. Free · 90 seconds · Instant result.
What SEO agencies ask us.
How should an SEO agency recognise retainer revenue?
Recognise each month's retainer in the month you deliver the work, not when the cash lands. If a client pays a quarter or a year up front, the unearned portion sits on the balance sheet as deferred income until you deliver it, which stops one good cash month masquerading as profit. Getting this right is also what makes your margin per client believable.
What profit margin should an SEO agency make on its retainer book?
Measure gross margin per client: the retainer fee minus the delivery time, contractor costs and client-specific tools that go into serving it. A lean agency flexing with freelancers should hold 70% or better across the book, while a fully salaried delivery team makes 55 to 60% the equivalent standard. Most SEO agencies that run this exercise for the first time find one or two legacy retainers being quietly subsidised by everyone else.
Does IR35 apply to my freelance link builders and writers?
IR35 only bites where a freelancer works through their own limited company, and if your agency counts as small the status decision sits with their company rather than yours. Sole trader freelancers are a different test: someone working set hours under your direction with no other clients can be treated by HMRC as an employee, and that PAYE bill lands on you. Genuine freelancers with multiple clients, their own tools and control over how they work are fine; keep the contracts and the working reality matching.
How do I forecast revenue when any client could churn?
Build the forecast in layers: contracted retainers at full value, likely renewals discounted for your historical churn rate, and pipeline at realistic win rates. Then stress test it, because the useful question is not what next quarter looks like but how many months you survive if your two biggest retainers left tomorrow. Three months of true cash runway is the floor; six changes how you negotiate.
What does a specialist accountant do differently for an SEO agency?
A generalist files what happened; a specialist tells you what your numbers mean against other agencies. That means margin per retainer rather than one blended profit figure, contractor costs and IR35 handled as routine, deferred income done properly, and benchmarks for where your gross margin, net margin and cash runway should sit. The compliance is table stakes; the difference is better decisions.
We specialise across agency types.
Accountants who get
SEO agencies.
We're not right for every agency, and the call is how we both find out. Pick a time and book straight into the team's calendar.
Book a call“Rayhaan is brilliant. Highly responsive & up for tackling complex challenges. We had an unreasonably tricky business model which he rose to the challenge of handling. I feel confident in our numbers with his expertise at hand.”
