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SJD: Yay or Nay?

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    #51
    Economics. A ratio of 150+ contractors to one accountant plus support team is needed to make the figures work, if not the accountants bottom line isn't there.

    150, or more, is easy enough to manage with automation and IT, and still able to be personal and proactive when necessary.

    On 150 clients/accountant figures are something like

    Turnover £150k
    Accountants salary £50k
    Support staff £40k
    Overheads £20k
    Contribution to profit £40k

    Obviously very rough

    Comment


      #52
      Originally posted by SueEllen View Post
      If they only had 4 clients they wouldn't make any money.

      Contractor's accounts are apparently very straight forward in most cases.

      Clearly your accountant wasn't organised enough to deal with people whose circumstances weren't the norm.
      So are you saying 150 clients per accountant is the normal ratio? My philosophy is take as many clients as you can but make each one feel like they are the only ones you have.

      He was so stretched he would ask me for the same things again and again. But you know it's really bad when an accountant forgets to charge you - that's just how much under the water he was. That topped up with not filing my basic accounts did it for me.

      Comment


        #53
        Originally posted by Einstein Jnr View Post
        So are you saying 150 clients per accountant is the normal ratio? My philosophy is take as many clients as you can but make each one feel like they are the only ones you have.

        He was so stretched he would ask me for the same things again and again. But you know it's really bad when an accountant forgets to charge you - that's just how much under the water he was. That topped up with not filing my basic accounts did it for me.
        We are at the bottom rung of clients that accountants actually want. Generally inexperienced without internal bookkeepers to compensate, earning small amounts (relatively) of revenue and pay the accountants equally small retainers.

        You can't blame them for having this business model.

        Comment


          #54
          Originally posted by Einstein Jnr View Post
          So are you saying 150 clients per accountant is the normal ratio? My philosophy is take as many clients as you can but make each one feel like they are the only ones you have.
          Agreed. It's one thing explaining to clients that they can't leave giving you their personal tax info to 31 January and expect you to turn it around same day because it's only an hour or two's work (as of course they're not your sole priority). It's quite another to make them generally feel like they're of no importance to you throughout the year.

          I imagine that'll have just been one staff member having a bad day and putting in writing something they shouldn't.

          Comment


            #55
            Originally posted by Michael at BI Accountancy View Post
            Not necessarily...if you switch at your year end there should be very minimal disruption.

            Granted this is dependent on whether your old accountants "play ball".
            Cunningly enough they take a good few months to prepare the accounts, so you're 6 months in before they're ready. I did get agreement from a competitor that they'd complete the books if I jumped even though they wouldn't be getting the whole year.

            It's on my list of things to do if I ever land on the bench for more than a few days.
            See You Next Tuesday

            Comment


              #56
              Originally posted by Lance View Post
              Cunningly enough they take a good few months to prepare the accounts, so you're 6 months in before they're ready. I did get agreement from a competitor that they'd complete the books if I jumped even though they wouldn't be getting the whole year.

              It's on my list of things to do if I ever land on the bench for more than a few days.
              It's going to get a lot easier the more people migrate to FreeAgent. You take the data with you when you swap accountants.
              Public Service Posting by the BBC - Bloggs Bulls**t Corp.
              Officially CUK certified - Thick as f**k.

              Comment


                #57
                Originally posted by Jessica@WhiteFieldTax View Post
                On 150 clients/accountant figures are something like

                Turnover £150k
                Accountants salary £50k
                Support staff £40k
                Overheads £20k
                Contribution to profit £40k

                Obviously very rough
                Very rough!

                From experience the accountant's are on under half of that salary! Also turnover on 150 would be looking around £216k net. (For SJD of course).

                Comment


                  #58
                  Originally posted by Lance View Post
                  Cunningly enough they take a good few months to prepare the accounts
                  You'll tend to find they get this done sooner once the pro clearance has been sent to them.

                  Also they do have a service guarantee of accounts within four weeks of info being received.

                  Comment


                    #59
                    Originally posted by Michael at BI Accountancy View Post
                    Also they do have a service guarantee of accounts within four weeks of info being received.
                    I'll ask the question this time. Just submitted my final month spreadsheet today.
                    See You Next Tuesday

                    Comment


                      #60
                      Originally posted by Lance View Post
                      I'll ask the question this time. Just submitted my final month spreadsheet today.

                      That's the guarantee,

                      Also proceed to get your new accountant's to send over a professional clearance and this tends to hurry them up further.
                      Last edited by Contractor UK; 25 August 2021, 17:28.

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