CIS Returns — Contractors and Subcontractors
Your CIS returns filed, every month without fail.
Monthly CIS obligations have a fixed deadline and a fixed penalty for missing it. If you are a contractor verifying subcontractors and submitting returns, or a subcontractor watching deductions pile up that should be coming back to you, the admin compounds quickly. OD Accountants handles the monthly submission, the verification checks and the reclaim process — fixed fee, FCMA-qualified, same-day replies.
- Monthly CIS returns submitted accurately before the 19th deadline
- Subcontractor verifications handled before payments are made
- Overpaid CIS deductions reclaimed through your tax return or payroll
- HMRC correspondence and queries dealt with on your behalf
No long-term contract. If the arrangement is not working after three months, you leave with your CIS records current and nothing owed.
Get a free CIS quote
Fixed pricing. Same-day reply.
What our clients say
★★★★★
Always Available When You Need Them
"They're always on the end of the phone to advise and assist and provide a top service for our accounting needs."
★★★★★
More Hands-On Than Any Previous Accountant
"Unlike my previous Accountants, Niall is far more hands-on, available for advice and able to care for me as an individual, rather than a faceless client."
★★★★★
Goes Well Beyond Basic Accounting Duties
"Niall and his team go above and beyond the duties to provide accounting services but also general advices. They are always available if you need anything."
★★★★★
Confident, Integrated Financial Guidance
"It's great to have access to a financial team who can guide us with such confidence and seamlessly integrate with our internal team."
Sound familiar?
CIS paperwork eating time you do not have?
The Construction Industry Scheme is one of the more demanding monthly compliance obligations a UK contractor faces. Miss the 19th-of-the-month deadline and HMRC starts issuing penalties almost immediately. Forget to verify a new subcontractor and you may be deducting at the wrong rate. And if you are a subcontractor, those deductions taken from your payments need actively reclaiming — they do not come back automatically.
- Monthly CIS returns missed or filed late, triggering avoidable HMRC penalties
- Subcontractors paid at the wrong deduction rate because verification was skipped
- CIS deductions overpaid and sitting with HMRC rather than back in the business
What CIS sorted actually looks like
The deadline does not move. What changes is who is responsible for meeting it. With OD Accountants handling your CIS, the monthly return goes in on time, subcontractor statuses are checked before payment, and overpaid deductions are actively reclaimed rather than left to accumulate.
- Returns submitted by the 19th every month — no late-filing penalties building up
- Every subcontractor verified through HMRC before a payment is made
- Overpaid deductions identified and reclaimed through your Self Assessment or corporation tax
- Fixed monthly fee — no surprises at year end, no hourly billing for routine submissions
What clients say about working with us
The Construction Industry Scheme demands consistent, accurate monthly action. These clients found that having an accountant who is genuinely available makes a material difference.
Niall and his team are supportive, clear and directional accountants who have supported our small business staff up. They're always on the end of the phone to advise and assist and provide a top service for our accounting needs. Plus they're just nice people which helps too!!
My other-half introduced me to Niall at OD Accountants and I have to say my finances are so much the better for it. Unlike my previous Accountants, Niall is far more hands-on, available for advice and able to care for me as an individual, rather than a faceless client. His fees are very reasonable and the money he has saved me more than covers them. If you need an Accountant who cares, Niall and OD Chartered Management Accountants are the way to go.
What the CIS service covers
A fixed monthly service that takes the Construction Industry Scheme off your desk — submission, verification, reclaim and any HMRC correspondence included.
Monthly Returns Filed On Time
Your CIS return is prepared and submitted to HMRC before the 19th of each month. We pull the relevant payment information, apply the correct deduction rates for each subcontractor, and confirm submission — so the deadline is never your problem to track.
Included as standardSubcontractor Verification Managed
Every new subcontractor is verified through HMRC before payment is made, so the right deduction rate is applied from the start. Getting this wrong — deducting at 30% when a subcontractor should be on 20%, or not verifying at all — is one of the more common and avoidable CIS errors. It will not happen here.
Included as standardOverpaid Deductions Reclaimed
If you are a subcontractor, deductions taken from your payments by contractors count against your tax liability — but only if they are correctly claimed. We identify what has been deducted, match it against the tax you owe, and either reclaim the overpayment through your Self Assessment return or offset it against corporation tax. Money sitting with HMRC unnecessarily is money the business is not using.
SubcontractorsClients who have been with us for years
OD Accountants has verified Google reviews going back over a decade. A few of them — in their own words.
Years of Service, Always Above and Beyond
“I've been there for years and Niall and his team go above and beyond the duties to provide accounting services but also general advices. They are always available if you need anything while charging very competitive prices. I could not recommend them enough.”
Confident Guidance, Seamlessly Integrated With Our Team
“The service from OD has been excellent, as has their advice. It's great to have access to a financial team who can guide us with such confidence and seamlessly integrate with our internal team. We always feel well-informed and confident about our financial processes and data. Highly recommend.”
Welcoming, Supportive and Always Available
“As a new start up and having never dealt with an accountant, Niall at OD Accountants has been very welcoming and supportive. All our prior queries and issues have been resolved, and he is always available to meet the needs of our team.”
Why contractors choose us for CIS
CIS compliance is not complicated accounting — but it does require consistency, accuracy and someone who picks up when HMRC writes. Here is what makes the difference in practice.
The 19th Is Never Your Problem
The CIS monthly deadline is fixed and HMRC's penalty regime begins immediately after it passes. With OD handling your submissions, the return goes in before the deadline every month as a matter of process, not a last-minute effort. You will not receive a penalty notice for a return that was simply forgotten.
Cloud-First Means Less Manual Work
OD Accountants is built around modern cloud accounting software. That means your subcontractor payments, deduction records and submission history are maintained in real time rather than reconstructed from spreadsheets at month end. If HMRC asks a question, the answer is usually available the same day.
Chartered Depth Behind the Compliance
Founder Niall O'Driscoll is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (FCMA, CGMA) with a background that includes commercial finance roles and more than a decade of freelance restructure and turnaround work. CIS filing is handled by a firm with that level of experience behind it — not a junior bookkeeper working from a checklist.
Up and running in four steps
Most CIS clients are fully set up within a week of the initial call. There is not much you need to do beyond making introductions.
Book a Discovery Call
A brief conversation — usually 20 to 30 minutes — to understand your CIS position. Are you a contractor, a subcontractor, or both? Are returns currently being filed, and is anything behind? You will leave the call knowing exactly what the fixed monthly fee will be.
We Get Access and Review
You introduce us to your existing accounting software or records. We review the current CIS position, check for any gaps in the filing history, and flag anything that needs catching up before we take over the monthly cycle. If books are behind, we will tell you what that involves and cost.
We Take Over the Monthly Cycle
From the first return under our management, your CIS submissions go in on time and the verification records are maintained. If you take on a new subcontractor, you let us know and we verify them before payment goes out. The admin transfers to us almost entirely.
Compliance Handled, Deductions Reclaimed
Returns go in each month without prompting. At year end, any overpaid CIS deductions are swept into your Self Assessment or corporation tax return and reclaimed. The compliance runs in the background while you run the business.
“Been with OD Accountants for over a year now. Niall and the team are brilliant. They helped me set up a company and get everything I needed in place to run my business. I'm a tricky client due to my 'digital nomad' status, but their advice…”
CIS questions we hear most often
Do you handle CIS for both contractors and subcontractors, or just one?
Both. For contractors, the service covers monthly return submission and subcontractor verification before payments are made. For subcontractors, the focus is on ensuring deductions taken from your payments are correctly recorded and reclaimed against your tax liability — either through Self Assessment or corporation tax. If you operate as both simultaneously, which is common in construction, the service covers both positions.
What does CIS return handling cost and what does the fee include?
Fees are fixed monthly and depend on the volume of subcontractors and the complexity of your setup. The monthly fee covers return preparation and submission, subcontractor verification, and deduction record maintenance. Reclaiming overpaid CIS deductions is handled through your year-end tax return, which is a separate engagement. We will give you a precise figure on the discovery call — no estimates that shift once we are engaged.
Our CIS returns are behind. Can you still help?
Yes. Late or missing CIS returns are not unusual, and they are manageable. We will review the filing history, identify what is outstanding, and work out what needs to be submitted to bring things current. HMRC's penalty structure for late CIS returns is predictable, and in some cases it is possible to seek mitigation. We will be direct about what the catch-up involves and what it costs before any work starts.
Is there a minimum contract or lock-in period?
No long-term contract. CIS clients are on a rolling monthly arrangement. If the service is not working for any reason, you give notice and we hand over clean, current records. There is no exit penalty and no awkward conversation about fees. In practice, most clients stay because the compliance simply runs without them having to think about it.
What happens if HMRC queries a CIS return or sends a compliance check notice?
We deal with it. HMRC queries on CIS submissions — whether about deduction rates, verification records or late-payment interest — are handled by us directly. Because records are maintained in cloud software, we can usually respond quickly and with a complete audit trail. You do not need to dig out paperwork or correspond with HMRC yourself.
How do I know how much CIS tax has been deducted from my payments this year?
Your deduction record is kept current throughout the year in your cloud accounting software. At any point, you can see exactly how much has been deducted by contractors and what that means for your tax position. There are no year-end surprises where a large deduction reclaim appears without context — you will know the running total throughout.
Related services for contractors and subcontractors
CIS returns off your plate, every month.
Fixed monthly fee, no lock-in, and a chartered management accounting firm behind every submission. Most clients are fully set up within a week of the initial call.