Getting rid of SJD, looking for Glasgow accountant reccomendations

[Waldorf]

Originally Posted by Alf W

I think SJD are great and I've never had a single problem with them (that was 30% off the fees, wasn't it Simon?).

No, 30% off your fees you would need to change accountants! I use Nixon Williams and pay 36% less than with SJD.

Most accountants are fine and yes I am sure they all make mistakes, but it seems to me it comes down to having to fill a spreadsheet in each quarter and pay £95 a month for the privilege or pay £60 a month and just send my accountants the invoices, expenses etc, I know which I prefer.

[chris79]

I think doing your laundry in public is not the right thing to do, and doing it on a public forum is clearly intended to damage the guys business.

There's always 2 sides to a coin and like I said earlier if you have issues you should take them up direct rather than discuss them publicly. If their service is so bad people will make their own minds up and leave, and at that point I'm sure the issue will hit them if it already hasn't. The purpose of this forum is to discuss accounting and legal issues, not to slag off companies who didn't meet your expectations.

[VectraMan]

Originally Posted by Waldorf

Most accountants are fine and yes I am sure they all make mistakes, but it seems to me it comes down to having to fill a spreadsheet in each quarter and pay £95 a month for the privilege or pay £60 a month and just send my accountants the invoices, expenses etc, I know which I prefer.

I know which I prefer too. I cannot understand this "my accountant will sort it out" approach to business; I just cannot imagine having such little grasp of what's going on with my company. And why do you think entering invoices and expenses into a spreadsheet is more difficult than sending invoices and expenses to an accountant?

[Numpty]

Originally Posted by simonsjdaccountancy

I would please ask that you edit your initial post as there is at least one potentially libellous remark in there.

... makes personal note never to do business with this outfit ...


Every so often someone will post "Why does no-one ever name & shame the bad accountants?"

That'll be why, then.

[The Lone Gunman]

Originally Posted by Numpty

... makes personal note never to do business with this outfit ...


Every so often someone will post "Why does no-one ever name & shame the bad accountants?"

That'll be why, then.

He could have just gone after him instead of politely asking him to edit his post.
If it had been true it would not have been libelous.
I am sure Simon takes criticism well and always seems serious about sorting it.

Wind your neck in.

[Waldorf]

Originally Posted by VectraMan

I know which I prefer too. I cannot understand this "my accountant will sort it out" approach to business; I just cannot imagine having such little grasp of what's going on with my company. And why do you think entering invoices and expenses into a spreadsheet is more difficult than sending invoices and expenses to an accountant?

I certainly do take an interest in what my company finances are, but the donkey work is done by my accountants. They prepare the documents etc and do more work for me than the spreadsheet operations, as far as I can see they only use the details you enter to prepare the VAT returns, so effectively £285 for each VAT return, that presumably takes 10 minutes to complete.

Using a spreadsheet is fine but I would expect this service to be cheaper than a full accountancy service - that is m main point.

[snaw]

Originally Posted by chris79

The purpose of this forum is to discuss accounting and legal issues, not to slag off companies who didn't meet your expectations.

Actually completly disagree. I want to know about peoples thoughts on accountants, and on agencies etc in this forum. The accountants touting for business, or agents, or anyone who clearly have a bias/self interest shouldn't be posting touting their business.

[Numpty]

Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

He could have just gone after him instead of politely asking him to edit his post.
If it had been true it would not have been libelous.
I am sure Simon takes criticism well and always seems serious about sorting it.

Wind your neck in.

That wasn't polite. It was a public threat of legal action. Polite would have been a PM.

A public threat of legal action is done for the benefit of everyone else. It is a way of clearly saying "Criticise me and I'll sue so don't criticise me".

I would not want to do business with a supplier with such an attitude: there is too much risk. I'll just go elsewhere.

It is the absolute opposite extreme of customer care: it is customer punishment.

No, he does not take criticism well. He responds volubly and demands evidence. Taking it well is "Thanks for raising this, I've sent you a PM, let's take this off-line". Then fix the problem and once the customer is happy ask them if they would do a follow-up message to the effect of "I was wrong, he actually does care!"

I'll stick my neck out further: doing business with someone whose first reaction to "I'm having trouble with X, please help" is "I'm X and I'll see you in court" is an unnecessary and foolhardy business risk.

EDIT: PS And that is why people are too frightened to make full use of ContractorUK's knowledge: some of us are too frightened of the accountants on here.

[Gonzo]

Originally Posted by Numpty

EDIT: PS And that is why people are too frightened to make full use of ContractorUK's knowledge: some of us are too frightened of the accountants on here.

Frightened of Accountants Now I've heard everything.

EDIT:

Actually, it looks like it might not be so far fetched. Perhaps these people can help http://www.phobia-fear-release.com/f...countants.html

[Archangel]

Originally Posted by Waldorf

Most accountants are fine and yes I am sure they all make mistakes, but it seems to me it comes down to having to fill a spreadsheet in each quarter and pay £95 a month for the privilege or pay £60 a month and just send my accountants the invoices, expenses etc, I know which I prefer.

I do all my own PAYE, VAT returns, P35/P11 etc, Personal tax return.

I fill in my own spreadsheet which I send to my accountant at yearend with my bank statements etc.

He does the company yearend (P & L, CT60 etc).

I pay him approx £750+VAT for this.

So £60 a month sounds great for what you are getting.
£95 a month doesn't sound too expensive either.

I should really change accountants, but I've been with him for 20 years and really CBA for a couple of hundred a year.

My $0.02