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Darren Brown on accounting for development

By Darren Brown

Partner, Underwood Barron LLP

Taking on the profession of accountancy with an apprenticeship straight from school at the age of 16, Darren Brown had already qualified as an accountant by the time he was 22.

With 15 years of experience in the industry, Darren is now a Partner at Underwood Barron and a specialist in tax accounting.

With a love for business and seeing his clients’ companies thrive, Darren has now diversified, and alongside his accountancy profession, he has founded Hansen Homes – a property development company giving back to the community and city he comes from.

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How do you stay ahead of the game in a sphere like accounting that is constantly changing?

Continuing professional development, learning courses, and many different subscriptions for tax advice and tax legislation mean that a lot of the information comes to me through the different platforms that we're signed up for.

Part of an accountant’s job is to know the up-to-date rules but that doesn’t necessarily make them a good accountant. A good accountant is one that’s on the same level as a business owner and can understand their challenges and help them to sort out those issues.

What are the common mistakes businesses make when it comes to tax?

I think the first thing is you've got to have a goal in mind to know where you want to get to. Once you know what you're trying to achieve, the whole structure of the business can be set up in the most tax-efficient way.

We find a lot of clients go ahead and then end up in a bit of a mess because things aren’t set up correctly from day one. The biggest mistake is when clients go ahead without getting advice beforehand. Legally, you're then stuck with a certain setup or a certain business structure. Once it's done, it's very hard to undo. Anything can be fixed, but it's very costly to do so.

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"I always want to be in accountancy. I love helping people and businesses: I get a buzz out of them being successful."

Do you have any tax top tips for businesses?

You always need to know what your profits are and what you’re taking out of the company. You need to understand what your living costs are, and what you need to take from the business to know how much profit you need to be making.

Sometimes clients take a lot of money out of the company, and the business isn’t making enough profits to do so which is then very costly in tax from both the company’s point of view and the individual’s point of view.

Know your numbers from day one, and then work back to have a full structure in place to know what you can and can’t take out of the company rather than just taking money out and worrying about it later. SMEs in particular tend to take money out and then realise that the tax implications are quite high.

Talk to us about your work as a property developer

Property development is very new to me; the company was set up 15 months ago. It’s a massive passion of mine; I’ve always been interested in property.

We’re looking to breathe new life back into unused buildings, and restore and repurpose them for residential use, converting them into flats or small houses to either rent or sell on.

The impact on the community drives our property development projects. I was brought up in Southampton, I’ve lived here all my life and I want to contribute positively and make the city better.

"The impact on the community drives our property development projects. I was brought up in Southampton, I've lived here all my life and I want to contribute positively and make the city better."

Darren Brown - Partner, Underwood Barron LLP

As a tax accountant and a property developer, do you find these separate fields complement each other?

I know a lot about property tax, which helps with the new property venture.

I’m finding that I’m speaking to people in property, and they need an accountant and I’m speaking to accountancy clients and they’re potential investors or they’ve got land or buildings that they’re looking to sell, so there is definitely a crossover between the two.

I always want to be in accountancy. I love helping people and businesses: I get a buzz out of them being successful. On the property side, I want to be able to help repurpose buildings to create more homes and jobs for the local community.

What do you enjoy listening to, reading, or watching?

There are two books that have inspired me to take things to the next level: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, and The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber.

Where is your favourite place to visit when you need to get some headspace?

For the business, it’s the Old Bond Store: to get away from the day-to-day running of the business and be in a different environment with different people.

Outside of work, I’ve got two young daughters. Together, we enjoy going to the south of Spain, so a family holiday is my relaxation; it’s good to go away to completely switch off from the work environment.

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