Anyone who has tried to get a mortgage while self-employed probably won’t look back fondly on the memory.

Many more documents may be required, from tax returns to bank statements dating back several years.

And then there’s the fact that most accountants will have tried over the years to reduce your tax liability by claiming expenses that reduce your profit and adding lump sums to pensions.

But that profit is exactly what mortgage providers will look at to determine how much they’ll lend you.

“Many self-employed borrowers want to beat the taxman and the mortgage at the same time, but that’s impossible,” says broker Mike Staton.

Here’s some advice from mortgage experts…

Cut out creative accounting before applying

“Accountants often use creative accounting to reduce tax liabilities, but this can reduce your reported income, impacting on mortgage affordability. Lower fees mean lower income,” says mortgage broker Harps Garcha.

How far back will you need documentation?

Non-PAYE applicants should plan ahead as lenders often look at income from the last one or two years, unlike PAYE which focuses on the last three to six months.

David Stirling, financial adviser at Mint Mortgages and Protection, says: “For an independent borrower, we would advise trying to get a few solid accounts for years, preferably with little variation.

“A large increase or decrease in the most recent year will result in additional inquiries from the lender to assess the plausibility of the application, with an often unpredictable affordability calculation.”

Be aware of what is being looked at

If your income goes down, lenders will focus on your most recent statements, says Adam Stiles, managing director at Helix Financial Partners.

“By income we mean self-employment profit if a sole trader, partnership profit/withdrawals if in an LLP, or salary and dividends or salary and net profit if from a limited company and your holdings are 15 %-25%+ (depends on lender),” says Stiles.

Different lenders, different rules

HSBC, for example, will use the director’s profit share, while other general lenders will often use a two to three year average.

“These can lead to very different affordability calculations for borrowers,” says Stirling.

You may have better luck with smaller lenders

“There is a whole market of smaller lenders who, like non-PAYE workers, are not afraid to innovate and understand the complexities and challenges of not having a standard pay slip every month,” says Peter Dockar , commercial director at Gen H.

He recommends keeping things in your control, like your credit history, as clean as possible.

You will have to put in the time

It will be a mountain of documents.

“Any problem with any of these usually gets a decline from lenders,” says Rohit Kohli, director at The Mortgage Shop.

“Talk to a broker well in advance when applying for a mortgage and get organized.”

A positive development

Jack Tutton, director at SJ Mortgages, says there has been some improvement in the outlook for the self-employed in recent years.

Some lenders now ask accountants for a reference to check someone’s accounts.

“In my experience, this has made the process in some scenarios much simpler with a higher success rate,” says Tutton.

Beware of brokers who claim to be independent mortgage experts

Broker Mike Staton says, “A lot of brokers try to make the self-employed a difficult mortgage, then claim to be specialists, then charge a premium to make an application for clients.”

The interviews above were conducted by industry news agency Newspage and provided to the Money blog