Nebula is the Compliance-as-a-Service platform for UK Ltd contractors and PSCs — IR35 assessments, Corporation Tax and salary/dividend optimisation in one place. Traditional accounting software stores your numbers; Nebula's AI does the work. Compliance on autopilot.
Bookkeeping tools log what happened — but they don't assess your IR35 status, optimise your salary/dividend split, or set your tax aside. Those judgement calls get left to you, or an expensive accountant. That's the gap Nebula was built to close.
If HMRC questions your status, "I'm pretty sure I'm outside" is not a defence. Without a scored, factor-by-factor assessment and a documented audit trail, you're exposed to back-tax and penalties on the engagement.
Get the balance wrong and you hand HMRC more than you owe — every year. The optimal split shifts with your Corporation Tax position, personal allowance, and the dividend allowance, and few contractors recalculate it.
Corporation Tax, VAT, and dividend tax stack up across the year. Under-reserve and the deadline arrives with a bill you can't cover. Nebula tracks what you owe in real time, so nothing lands unexpectedly.
Reconciling statements and staying on top of your PSC obligations every month is time you could have billed. Nebula cuts that overhead so the hours go back into the work that pays.
Contractor compliance is moving in two directions at once: HMRC is tightening, and the technology to stay ahead of it has finally caught up. This is the moment the gap closes.
Since the off-payroll reforms, clients and agencies carry real financial exposure for getting your status wrong — so they scrutinise it harder, and a defensible, evidenced determination for every contract is no longer optional. See how inside vs outside IR35 works →
Making Tax Digital is expanding and deadlines are tightening — the direction of travel is more frequent, fully digital, evidenced submissions. Spreadsheets and once-a-year catch-ups won't keep pace.
For the first time, AI is reliable enough — and Open Banking data clean enough — to automate the judgement, not just the bookkeeping. The technology has finally caught up with the problem.
Three core features designed around the specific compliance needs of UK Ltd contractors.
Nebula calculates the optimal salary and dividend split from your Corporation Tax position, personal allowance, and current HMRC thresholds — updated each tax year. Clear numbers you can act on, or hand straight to your accountant.
Orion is Nebula's central intelligence — the domain-specific AI brain that runs your IR35, Corporation Tax, VAT and Self Assessment engines, trained on UK tax guidance for Ltd contractors. Claire, Orion's conversational assistant, is how you talk to it: she categorises transactions via Open Banking and answers tax questions in plain English, always referencing the underlying HMRC guidance so you can verify the answer yourself. More assistant agents are on the way.
The point of putting your company on autopilot is what you stop having to think about. Here's what that adds up to.
Every status call scored factor-by-factor, evidenced and defensible — ready for any HMRC enquiry or client review.
Your salary and dividend split tuned to live HMRC thresholds every year — so you keep more of what you earn.
Corporation Tax and VAT tracked in real time, set aside as you go — nothing missed, nothing left to the last minute.
The monthly reconciliation-and-compliance grind, done for you — so your time goes back into billable work.
General tools store your data and leave the compliance to you. Here's what changes when the platform actually does the work.
| Capability |
Nebula
|
General Bookkeeping Tools | PSC-Adjacent Tools | Spreadsheets & AI Wrappers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What the software is | System of intelligence | System of record | System of record | DIY / point tools |
| Explainable IR35 assessment | Yes — scored, per-factor | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| HMRC-defensible audit trail | Full document trail | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Salary / dividend optimisation | Automated, real-time | Manual only | Manual only | Not available |
| Corporation Tax reserve tracking | Fully automated | Reminder only | Partial | Partial |
| Ltd contractor-specific UI | Purpose-built | Generic SME | Generic SME | Generic SME |
| AI with sourced reasoning | Orion — HMRC-cited | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| UK-sovereign data stack | Yes — GDPR-native | US cloud | NZ / US cloud | US cloud |
Cloud accounting made data entry faster — but you're still the one assessing IR35, choosing the salary/dividend split and setting aside the tax. Nebula's AI engine does that work and shows its reasoning; you just approve it.
Digital — but you're still the accountant
Compliance on autopilot
Accounting moved from people, to digital ledgers, to intelligence. The first two made record-keeping faster. Nebula automates the judgement and the work itself.
A person does the work
Expert, but reactive and monthly — and £80–£400/mo. The knowledge lives in one head, not your software.
A system of record
It digitised the ledger and sped up data entry — but you're still the accountant. IR35, the split and the reserves are left to you.
A system of intelligence
Orion does the judgement and the work — IR35, salary/dividend, reserves — and cites its reasoning. You supervise and approve.
Today, Orion runs four compliance engines and you talk to it through Claire. The roadmap is a team of specialist agents handling more of your back office — so running a limited company becomes something you supervise, not something you do.
These are early-access users — Ltd company directors and PSC contractors who reviewed Nebula before public launch. Unscripted.
"Idiot-proof. The colour-coded navigation and visual clarity make it more professional than anything else I've tried. It looks like it was built by people who actually understand what a Ltd contractor needs."
"Finally — one-go reconciliation. Bank feed, VAT calculations, and HMRC submissions in a single interface. I used to spend a Sunday every month on this. Nebula handles it in minutes."
"If Nebula keeps going in this direction, I won't have to think about finance day-to-day. That's not excitement — that's relief. And for contractors, relief is worth paying for."
Most contractor accountants charge between £80 and £200 per month. Nebula starts free, with the Initium plan at £19/month and full IR35 coverage on Aurora at £39/month. All prices exclude VAT.
Bank-feed, classify, and VAT light. Start understanding your finances with zero commitment.
£22.80/mo inc. VAT
Full PSC monthly compliance cycle — everything a single-director Ltd company needs.
£46.80/mo inc. VAT
Premium contractor workflows with full IR35 compliance infrastructure.
All prices exclude VAT at 20%. Upgrade path: Free → £19/mo → £39/mo.
† Estimated saving based on a director taking £12,570 salary with remaining profit as dividends vs. equivalent PAYE income. Individual results will vary.
We work with FCA-regulated specialists to protect and support UK contractors — starting with Broadbench, with more partners to come.
Broadbench
FCA-Regulated Financial Services
Yes. Nebula's IR35 Hub analyses your contract against all five key IR35 tests under the off-payroll working rules (Chapter 10, ITEPA 2003). It produces a scored assessment and a downloadable audit document that is defensible in an HMRC enquiry. Nebula does not replace legal advice for complex cases, but for the vast majority of standard contractor engagements it provides the clarity and documentation that no other tool offers.
Yes. Nebula connects to your business bank account via Open Banking, categorises your income and expenses automatically, and tracks what you owe across Corporation Tax and VAT in real time — so you always know how much to set aside and there are no surprises at the deadline.
Most general accounting tools are excellent for broader SMEs, but they were not built for Ltd contractors. They handle bookkeeping but have no IR35 assessment capability, no salary/dividend optimisation, and no contractor-specific compliance features. If you're a Ltd company contractor or PSC, they leave your most important compliance risks unmanaged. Nebula is purpose-built for your structure.
The April 2026 IR35 off-payroll reforms changed which party bears the Employer National Insurance liability — for contractors working through intermediaries, the obligation shifted further up the supply chain toward recruitment agencies. For genuine Ltd company contractors operating outside IR35, the core compliance picture is unchanged: you still need a defensible IR35 status determination for every engagement.
What has changed is that your agency or end client now has greater financial exposure to getting your IR35 status wrong — which means they will scrutinise your status determination more carefully. Nebula's IR35 engine generates a scored, factor-by-factor assessment with a full audit trail for each contract. That documentation protects you in any status review and gives your client or agency the evidence they need to make a compliant determination with confidence.
Orion is Nebula's central AI brain — a domain-specific model fine-tuned on UK tax legislation, HMRC guidance, and PSC-specific accounting, built by an FCCA-qualified accountant. It runs Nebula's IR35, Corporation Tax, VAT and Self Assessment engines. Claire, Orion's conversational assistant, is how you talk to it, and every answer she gives includes the source it draws on — the HMRC manual reference, legislation section, or ACCA guidance. This is not a generic AI chatbot; it is transparent, cited, and auditable, so you can verify every answer yourself.
All data is stored on AWS (Amazon Web Services) infrastructure and is fully compliant with AWS GDPR standards, including encryption at rest and in transit. AWS maintains ISO 27001, SOC 1/2/3, and GDPR certifications across its EU regions. Your financial data is processed and stored within AWS EU (London) region — it never leaves UK/EEA jurisdiction. Nebula is built GDPR-compliant by design, with a full audit trail and data subject rights processes in place.
Nebula is currently in private beta. Join the waitlist and we'll be in touch as soon as access is available. Waitlist members will be the first to get access when we open up.
Free IR35 status guidance, contract checks, and the latest HMRC rules — on our dedicated hub.
IR35 assessments, Corporation Tax, and salary/dividend optimisation — run by Orion, approved by you. Join the waitlist for early access.