Accounting fees when no account activity?

[dinosaur]

I had "end of year" Company Accounts done recently.
For the period in question there was no activity of any sort.
No income, no payments, no bank transactions...nothing.
(yeah...check me!)

Anyway, I was surprised to be charged the normal fee (£865) for this service that
I had previously been charged in more successful times.

Is this standard?

Can't help but feeling a bit ripped off!

[Chuck]

You have been ripped off, but you should have agreed a fee up front I'm afraid.

Talk to the accountant and see if they will reduce their rate. They should, but they don't have to.

[Kenny@MyAccountantFriend]

Full accounts would have been required if the company has previously traded so guess they are justifying the fee on this basis.

However if you have no traded the work is reduced so would expect them to offer a reduced fee accordingly.

It will come down to what was agreed with them for the non trading periods though and if you had not discussed this with them they would continue as before.

[DotasScandal]

I had "end of year" Company Accounts done recently.
For the period in question there was no activity of any sort.
No income, no payments, no bank transactions...nothing.
(yeah...check me!)
Anyway, I was surprised to be charged the normal fee (£865) for this service that
I had previously been charged in more successful times.
Is this standard?
Can't help but feeling a bit ripped off!

Yes, it is standard, unless you have made some special agreement with your accountant beforehand.
You should not assume any automatic discount for "absence of activity".

It's like buying a pay monthly phone plan...it doesn't matter if you don't use it, you still have to pay for it.

[Dan@OrangeGenie]

I had "end of year" Company Accounts done recently.
For the period in question there was no activity of any sort.
No income, no payments, no bank transactions...nothing.
(yeah...check me!)

Anyway, I was surprised to be charged the normal fee (£865) for this service that
I had previously been charged in more successful times.

Is this standard?

Can't help but feeling a bit ripped off!

If there were no transactions over the 12 month period then a reduced rate should have been agreed first.

If a client doesn't trade for a shorter period, like a couple of months, then accountants have to be careful of compliance and ensure they do not reflect this in the fee they charge.

[dinosaur]

Thanks for all the replies.
Yes, I should have cleared the fee with him first.
But saying that, I've been a loyal customer to him for more than 10 years.and just assumed (wrongly), he'd
cut me a bit of slack in my fallow period.

[BolshieBastard]

I had "end of year" Company Accounts done recently.
For the period in question there was no activity of any sort.
No income, no payments, no bank transactions...nothing.
(yeah...check me!)

Anyway, I was surprised to be charged the normal fee (£865) for this service that
I had previously been charged in more successful times.

Is this standard?

Can't help but feeling a bit ripped off!

Id be very hacked off with that. Did you not think to ask how much they'd charge in such situation?

[dinosaur]

Yup, I obviously should have had that conversation....