Looking for a Leon & Company Alternative for Your Agency?
Leon & Company is an established ICAEW-chartered practice based in Leeds, serving a range of industries including creative businesses. If you’re exploring options, here’s how Alto’s agency-only focus compares.
What Leon & Company Offers
Leon & Company is a long-established chartered accountancy practice based in Leeds, founded in 1976. They are ICAEW members offering a full range of accountancy services including tax advisory, payroll, VAT compliance, cloud-based bookkeeping, and management accounting.
Their client base spans multiple industries — from architects and IT contractors to doctors, freelancers, and creative businesses. They list marketing agencies and creatives as sectors they serve alongside their broader small business client base across Yorkshire and the wider UK.
- ICAEW-chartered practice based in Leeds, established 1976
- Full-service accountancy including payroll, VAT, tax planning, and bookkeeping
- Serves multiple sectors: architects, IT contractors, doctors, freelancers, and creatives
- Regional focus across Yorkshire with clients nationwide
- Business startup and advisory services
What Alto Specialises In
Alto is built exclusively for marketing, creative, and digital agencies. Every client is an agency, which means the entire practice is structured around the financial patterns, challenges, and opportunities that agency founders and finance directors deal with daily.
Rather than offering agency accounting as one sector among many, Alto’s tools, processes, and advisory services are designed from the ground up for agency workflows — from revenue recognition across retainer, project, and media passthrough income to IR35 compliance for contractor-heavy teams.
- ACCA-chartered practice focused exclusively on agencies
- Revenue recognition expertise: retainer, project, and media passthrough models
- IR35 compliance support for agencies engaging contractors and freelancers
- R&D tax credit identification for creative and technology work
- Cash flow forecasting built around agency revenue patterns
- Free calculators: salary, profitability, runway, VAT, and IR35
Key Differences at a Glance
Both firms are chartered practices with professional credentials. The core difference is depth of agency specialisation versus breadth of industry coverage.
| Feature | Leon & Company | Alto |
|---|---|---|
| Industry focus | Multi-sector: architects, IT, medical, freelancers, agencies, and more | Agency-only: marketing, creative, digital, and PR agencies |
| Charter body | ICAEW | ACCA |
| Location | Leeds (Yorkshire-based, serving UK) | Remote-first, serving agencies across the UK |
| Media passthrough | General VAT compliance services | Specialist treatment of media passthrough and principal vs agent VAT |
| IR35 support | IT contractor services listed | IR35 compliance tailored to agency contractor engagements |
| Agency tools | Standard accountancy software | Free calculators for salary, profitability, runway, VAT, and IR35 |
When to Choose Which
Leon & Company is a solid choice if you’re a Leeds-based business that values face-to-face meetings with a well-established local practice and you operate across industries beyond just agency work. Their multi-sector experience means they can support diverse business structures.
Alto may be a better fit if your business is specifically a marketing, creative, or digital agency and you want an accountant who already understands your revenue model, contractor arrangements, and industry-specific tax opportunities without needing to explain them. If you value agency-specific tools like profitability calculators and cash flow forecasting tailored to project-based income, Alto’s specialist focus is designed for that.
Frequently asked questions.
Is Leon & Company a good accountant for agencies?
What is the main difference between Leon & Company and Alto?
Can I switch from Leon & Company to Alto mid-year?
Does Alto work with agencies based in Leeds and Yorkshire?
We work with every creative + digital vertical.
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