P11D vs Accountant

[fiddlesticks]

So I've been berated my my accountant for not filling in their P11D questionnaire, and I'm thinking: all the info's in the spreadsheet I fill in for them, so why is this down to me?

At a cost of > £100/month I'm wondering exactly what it is they're doing for me.

Or am I missing something?

[daviejones]

Originally Posted by fiddlesticks

So I've been berated my my accountant for not filling in their P11D questionnaire, and I'm thinking: all the info's in the spreadsheet I fill in for them, so why is this down to me?

At a cost of > £100/month I'm wondering exactly what it is they're doing for me.

Or am I missing something?

Is this SJD by any chance?

[expat]

Originally Posted by fiddlesticks

So I've been berated my my accountant for not filling in their P11D questionnaire, and I'm thinking: all the info's in the spreadsheet I fill in for them, so why is this down to me?

At a cost of > £100/month I'm wondering exactly what it is they're doing for me.

Or am I missing something?

Perhaps they want you to be the one who makes the statement to HMRC, and therefore you to be the one who bears the responsibility?

[Ruprect]

Originally Posted by fiddlesticks

So I've been berated my my accountant for not filling in their P11D questionnaire, and I'm thinking: all the info's in the spreadsheet I fill in for them, so why is this down to me?

At a cost of > £100/month I'm wondering exactly what it is they're doing for me.

Or am I missing something?

> £100/month and they only actually do anything at EOY and vat return time? sounds familiar

[tay]

I agree, am starting to wonder what they actually do for the £100 a month.

[fiddlesticks]

Originally Posted by expat

Perhaps they want you to be the one who makes the statement to HMRC, and therefore you to be the one who bears the responsibility?

Surely everything they submit to HMRC, they do so as my agent, and ultimately I'm responsible anyway?

I'd be happier if their "accounting software" could do this for me rather than me having to haul the numbers myself. How hard can it be? It surely doesn't require human intervention.


Anyway, the latest is that:

* their web form for data entry doesn't have enough fields in the misc section to cover my misc items.
* they've said they won't double check my submission against my books.

Hmm and humpf.

[kirk]

Same here! SJD as well, gunna fill it in on Friday and kick off if they don't accept it.

Oh, and my accountant was going on holiday for a week so he needed my VAT figures for calculation a week early!!! What???!? I'll do it myself then!

[GreenerGrass]

"they've said they won't double check my submission against my books."

Hmmm, SJD please hire more staff if you can't cope with the volumes. I am starting to lose a little faith myself.
I don't think they've asked to see a single receipt ever.

[Lewis]

As a comparison, Nixon Williams (£60 p/month) insist on seeing every receipt, bill, invoice etc.. along with all bank account statements. At first I thought this was a big pain in the bum - having to photocopy stuff each month as opposed to just emailing a spreadsheet - but I now think it is really good as it means they are double checking everything for me. All forms, P11D etc.. are obtained from their accounting software (SAGE I believe) so are always in line with the books. They sent me the P11D figures, I confirmed they were OK according to my numbers and they filed the form online for me. Do SJD expect you to come up with the numbers yourself? How do you know which expenses should be on the form and which should not?

[simonsjdaccountancy]

OK - few things then to comment on here - just the specific ones first:

Originally Posted by kirk

Oh, and my accountant was going on holiday for a week so he needed my VAT figures for calculation a week early!!! What???!? I'll do it myself then!

Well, even accountants have a holiday now and then - and when they do they let all the clients know in order to plan the workload.

£100/month and they only actually do anything at EOY and vat return time? sounds familiar

£95 a month is of course just a convenient way of paying £1140 a year. At various times of the year we will be doing more for you than other times simply because of filing requirements and deadlines. Just because the fees are spread out evenly doesn't mean the work is.

So, on to the main point of the post - the P11d's.

A bugbear every year and I must admit one area where I feel there has to be a better way of doing things (We are working on it!). We've tried various different things over the years, none of which have been 100% satisfactory, although bearing in mind we have nearly 9000 clients whatever we put in place will be subject to complaints from some - you can't please all the people all the time and all that.

Please email me - simonatsjdaccountancy.com with details of any gripes over the P11d's and I'll do my very best to help out.