How much do FCA fees and the FSCS levy cost a small financial advice firm in 2026/27? The rates, and one firm's £6,052.05 bill line by line

A directly authorised advice firm with £450,000 a year of investment advice income pays £6,052.05 in FCA fees and levies for 2026/27. That is the total on the FCA's own fee calculator, read on 1 October 2026, and £2,710.29 of it is the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) levy.

The FCA fee has a £100,000 threshold before the income rate applies. The FSCS levy has none, so a one-adviser firm pays it from the first pound.

The rates behind the invoice

The FSCS rate is not in the Handbook. It is set each year from what the scheme expects to pay out, and the calculator is where a firm can see it.

Three firms through the calculator

We ticked one fee block, A013, on the "2026/27 Final Rates" setting. The calculator added the ombudsman block and the FSCS class itself. We entered the same income in all three boxes.

The smallest firm pays the largest share, because the £2,200 minimum does not shrink. For the largest, the FSCS levy is more than the FCA fee.

The £450,000 firm, line by line

1. Minimum fee: £2,200.
2. Income is £350,000 over the threshold, so 350 × £2.697 = £943.95. The calculator takes off 6% under the label "Deduction for penalties received", £56.63, which leaves £887.31.
3. Prudential fee: £943.95 × 0.10094 = £95.28. It is worked on the figure before the deduction.
4. FCA fee: £2,200 + £887.31 + £95.28 = £3,182.59.
5. Ombudsman levy: 450 × £0.203 = £91.35.
6. Guidance levies: £10 + (350 × £0.0558 = £19.53) + (350 × £0.1094 = £38.29) = £67.82.
7. FSCS class levy: £2,666.78 on £450,000 of eligible income.
8. FSCS base costs: £30.32 + £11.91 + £1.28 = £43.51.
9. FSCS levy: £2,666.78 + £43.51 = £2,710.29.
10. Total: £3,182.59 + £91.35 + £67.82 + £2,710.29 = £6,052.05.

The FSCS line is 45% of this firm's bill.

Why the FSCS line moves

The FSCS said in its May 2026 Outlook that the annual levy for 2026/27 is projected at £247m, with compensation payments of £267m expected in the year. Advice firms sit in the life distribution and investment intermediation class. The FSCS's levy information page gives that class a yearly limit of £330m, of which product providers contribute £90m.

So the rate a firm sees this year tells it little about next year. Budget on this year's figure and read the FSCS Outlook each May and November.

What this page does not price

• Protection and mortgage income. They fall in other fee blocks with their own rates. Our guide to FCA fees for a mortgage broker works three firms through them, and gives the payment date and the late fee.
• Ombudsman case fees. These are charged per case, on top of the levy. See how long a firm has to answer a complaint.
• Professional indemnity insurance. No regulator publishes the premium.
• Software. Our page on adviser back-office software prices covers the systems that publish a price.

Check your own figure

1. Open the FCA's fee calculator and leave it on "2026/27 Final Rates".
2. Answer "No" to the questions above the fee blocks unless one applies.
3. Tick A013. A firm that holds client money is in ombudsman block I008 and FCA block A021 as well; we did not run that case.
4. Enter your annual income, as FEES 4 Annex 11AR defines it, in the A013 and I009 boxes, and your eligible income in the CLII-1 box.
5. Compare the total with the invoice. The calculator says it is for guidance only and that the invoice is the figure to pay.

The income figures are the firm's own, so the person who signs the regulatory return should check them. The adviser, and compliance where the firm's procedures require it, reviews and signs anything a tool drafts. This page is general information, not legal, regulatory or financial advice.