Overview
Jobs that land ready to sign. Less back-and-forth this busy season.
Syntax is automated corporation tax review for UK accountants. It helps your team prepare jobs better. It checks each company job against the bookkeeping and last year’s figures, and picks up the things that get missed when it’s busy, before the job reaches you.
That means less senior time spent reviewing, and the same checks on every job, whether it’s your own work or your team’s.
What Syntax checks
Your tax software checks the return is ready to file. Syntax checks the job behind it, the way a senior tax partner would: the technical treatment, the movements on last year, and the claims and reliefs that get missed.
- Compares the draft accounts, tax computation and return with the bookkeeping and last year’s figures
- Runs 100+ checks across areas including disallowables and add-backs, capital allowances and directors’ loans
- Shows review points in under 30 seconds, each with supporting figures and an explanation
- Tells you when missing information stops a check from running
Better-prepared jobs. Whoever prepares them.
Preparers work through each review point, resolving it or escalating it to the reviewer when it needs a decision. They upload amended drafts and rerun the checks before the job moves on.
Your review starts with the completed checks, the explanations your team recorded and the points that need your decision. You get a record of who prepared, reviewed and signed off, and your firm’s branded client letter is already drafted, ready to edit, approve and send.
Tax cannot be probably right.
Syntax’s core tax checks are defined rules written by tax specialists, not an AI-generated opinion. The same facts, checked against the same version of the rules, give the same result, and every review point shows its figures and explanation. You make the final decision, with a record of how it was made.
Built for the busy weeks
Things get missed when it’s busiest. Syntax runs the same checks on every job, however many are waiting, so partner time goes on decisions rather than basics.
Syntax + Xero
You connect through Xero’s own login, and each client organisation is approved separately. Syntax reads the accounts, reports and invoices listed under Shared data on this page.
Read-only access
Syntax reads only the data it needs to run the checks and cannot change anything in Xero. Your clients’ records stay exactly as they are.
What Syntax does with the Xero data
Syntax compares the bookkeeping with the draft accounts, tax computation and return you upload, and with last year’s figures. Review points appear in under 30 seconds, each with supporting figures and an explanation. The 100+ checks cover areas including disallowables and add-backs, capital allowances and directors’ loans. You can click through from a review point to the transactions behind it, so you can see exactly why something was flagged.
Works alongside your tax software
Syntax doesn’t replace your tax software, and it works with whichever one your practice already uses. You upload the tax computation and the CT600 file (XML) it produces, and Syntax checks them against the Xero bookkeeping and the draft accounts. Your tax software checks the return is ready to file; Syntax checks the job behind it.
Refresh when the bookkeeping changes
If the bookkeeping changes after a review, refresh the Xero data and rerun the checks. The review points always reflect the latest figures, and each review keeps a record of who prepared, reviewed and signed off.
Syntax Review works with Xero for limited company jobs now, with individuals from November.
Start with the Get this app button
The easiest way to begin is the Get this app button on this page. Sign up with your Xero login and you can review three clients free during your seven-day trial.
What you’ll need
- Access to the client’s Xero organisation
- The draft accounts and tax computation for the job
- The CT600 file (XML) from your tax software
- Last year’s return, if you have it
- Connect a client
From your Syntax dashboard, click Add client. You’re taken to Xero to log in securely. Choose the client’s organisation and click allow, and Syntax pulls the trial balance and ledger data through automatically.
- Upload the drafts
Add the draft accounts, the tax computation and the CT600 file (XML). Add last year’s return where you have it, then confirm the period and mappings.
- See review points in under 30 seconds
Syntax runs its checks automatically and lists what it picks up as review points, each with supporting figures and an explanation. It also tells you when missing information stops a check from running.
- Put things right
Preparers work through each point, resolving it or escalating it to the reviewer when it needs a decision. They upload amended drafts and rerun the checks.
- Review and sign off
Your review starts with the completed checks, the recorded explanations and the points that need your decision. Approve the work, then edit and send the drafted client letter.
Pricing plans
This app includes a free 7 day trial
General Availability
- Limited Companies (CT600)
- Individual Self-Assessment (SA100)
Getting started
Run your first tax review in minutes...
- Add the Client
Click “Add Client” from your dashboard. You’re taken to Xero to log in securely.
- Approve Access
Select the client. Click allow. Syntax pulls the trial balance and ledger data automatically.
- Add Extra Info (if you want)
Have a draft CT600? Upload it for a deeper review. If not, skip it.
- Review the Report
The tax review is generated automatically. See flagged risks. Spot missed opportunities. Click through to the underlying transactions. Export the report for your team or the client.
Simple.
Connect. Run. Review.
That’s the whole process.
