Creators & influencers

Nine income streams. None of them look like a payslip.

Accounting for UK content creators — YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, OnlyFans, Twitch, Patreon, affiliates and brand deals reconciled into one set of numbers, with the tax planned for before it lands.

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Discreet by default

We act for creators across adult platforms, gaming, beauty, fitness and everything between. No lectures, no raised eyebrows.

Your work is your business. Ours is that the numbers are right, the filings are on time, and nothing about you leaves this firm.

The problem

The money arrives from everywhere, in every currency, on nobody's schedule.

AdSense pays in dollars on the 21st. A brand pays 60 days after an invoice their agency raised. Subscription platforms pay out fortnightly, net of their cut, sometimes net of tax you've never heard of. Affiliate links trickle in from four different networks. A PR box turns up with no paperwork at all.

Most creators find out what they owe when the self assessment deadline arrives — often a bill for the year just gone plus half of the next one on account, in the same January. That's not a tax problem. It's a bookkeeping problem that was left too long.

What good looks like

Every platform payout reconciled monthly, gross and net.
One figure for what you've actually earned this year.
A running number for what to set aside for tax.
No January surprises, because you saw it coming in July.
What we handle

The whole finance side, so you can keep making things.

Platform reconciliation

Payout reports from every platform matched to what actually hit your bank — gross earnings, platform fees, refunds, chargebacks and FX all recorded properly rather than netted into one mystery deposit.

Self assessment

Your return prepared, checked and filed early, with the bill and both payments on account calculated months ahead so the money is already set aside.

VAT, when it applies

Watching the £90,000 rolling threshold before you cross it, registering at the right time, and getting the treatment right on overseas platform fees and cross-border digital services.

Company or sole trader

Modelled on your real numbers, not a rule of thumb — including whether a company's privacy on public record is worth the extra filing to you.

Expenses that stand up

Cameras, lighting, editing software, studio space at home, travel to shoots, props and wardrobe where genuinely allowable — claimed properly and evidenced, so a check doesn't unravel it.

Growing beyond yourself

Payroll for an editor or assistant, contracts with a manager or agency, and the accounting for merch, courses and licensing when the channel becomes a business.

Platform by platform

Each one pays differently. Each one is treated differently.

The tax outcome depends on who you're actually contracting with, where they are, and what they've already deducted.

YouTube · AdSense

Ad revenue in dollars

Paid monthly from an overseas entity, in USD, after any US withholding on US-sourced views. We handle the W-8BEN position, the FX on translation, and relief for tax already withheld so you're not paying twice.

Instagram · TikTok

Brand deals and gifting

Sponsored posts invoiced through agencies, sometimes with commission deducted before you see it. We record income gross, claim the commission as a cost, and value gifted product and trips correctly — because barter is taxable.

OnlyFans · Fansly

Subscriptions and tips

Statements show gross earnings and the platform's cut; your bank shows only the net. We reconcile both, get the VAT position right, and handle it with the discretion the work deserves.

Twitch · Kick

Subs, bits and donations

Multiple revenue types on one statement, some of it genuine gifts and some of it plainly trading income. The distinction matters, and it isn't always the one people assume.

Patreon · Substack

Membership income

Recurring revenue with tiers, refunds and platform fees — plus the cost of whatever you promised those members. We show membership profitability, not just the payout.

Affiliates · Merch

Commission and product

Amazon Associates, affiliate networks, Shopify and print-on-demand reconciled with their fees and returns, so a busy month with poor margin doesn't read as a good one.

What catches people out

Five things we fix in the first month.

01

The gifted-product bill

A £2,000 handbag posted in exchange for a story is £2,000 of taxable income and £2,000 towards your VAT threshold. Nobody sends an invoice for it, and HMRC still expects it declared.

02

Net payouts recorded as turnover

Recording only what reaches your bank understates your turnover and hides the platform's commission as a deductible cost. It also means you cross VAT thresholds without realising, because the test is on gross.

03

The January double hit

Your first self assessment can land as the full year's tax plus 50% of the next year on account, all due at once. Planned for, it's manageable. Discovered in January, it isn't.

04

Overseas platform fees

Fees and ad spend bought from overseas suppliers can bring reverse-charge VAT obligations once you're registered — a rule that surprises almost everyone the first time.

05

Assuming nobody can see it

Digital platforms now report seller and creator income to HMRC directly. Undeclared platform income is no longer invisible, and voluntary disclosure costs far less than being found.

Privacy

Your name, kept off things it doesn't need to be on.

Plenty of creators would rather their legal name, home address and earnings weren't a search away.

Where a limited company makes sense, we can provide a registered office so your home address stays off the public register, keep your filings to the statutory minimum, and structure things so what's public is only what has to be. Where a company doesn't make sense, we'll tell you that instead.

Everything you send us is confidential and handled under our privacy policy. We're an AAT-licensed practice, supervised for anti-money laundering, and we hold client data in access-controlled systems rather than an inbox.

"
Can't recommend highly enough Pete and the team at City Solution. They have been an invaluable help to my company and meant I can concentrate on gaining new business, safe in the knowledge the important financials are being taken care of.
— Steve Bees, Google review · ★★★★★
Common questions

Asked most often.

Do I need to tell HMRC at all?

If your gross creator income tops the £1,000 trading allowance in a tax year, yes — register for self assessment and report it. Platforms report creator income to HMRC directly now, so the question is only whether you get there first.

I've not declared previous years. Can you help?

Yes, and it's more common than you'd think. There are disclosure routes designed for exactly this. Handled properly and voluntarily, the penalties are far lower — and we'll deal with HMRC on your behalf.

Should I be a limited company?

Often above roughly £50,000 of profit, rarely below it, and the privacy on public record can tip the balance. We model both on your figures before recommending either.

What do you actually need from me?

Read-only access to your bank, your platform payout statements, and a receipt inbox you forward things to. We do the rest. Most creators spend under an hour a month on us.

Get started

Find out where you actually stand.

A 30-minute call, no jargon and no judgement. We'll tell you what you owe, what you can claim, and what it costs to hand this over.

General guidance only, and tax rules change — nothing here is advice on your specific position.