DIY guide to setting up a limited company

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

Oh, you mean the 5min spend every now and then to send a reminder about filing VAT return and paying the VAT and once a year 1-2h to go through the "massive" amount of 50 or so outgoing invoices and about the same amount of incoming ones at the end of the year? When everything is already in IOB or similar electronic system already... C'mon

Besides the key word in your post is GOOD accountant - there aren't that many out there, most are only drones in a big consultancy and don't give a tulip as long as they have done the bare minimum promised in the contract if even that.

Clearly you've had a bad experience with accountants in the past. The important thing isn't how much time the accountants spends, it's how they spend the time.

In my experience, there are a lot of good accountants out there. Maybe the big contractor factories are only interested in doing the bare minimum, but a lot of the smaller contractor specialists are really good and really are worth their fees.

[ContrataxLtd]

Oh, Oh, you mean the 5min spend every now and then to send a reminder about filing VAT return and paying the VAT and once a year 1-2h to go through the "massive" amount of 50 or so outgoing invoices and about the same amount of incoming ones at the end of the year? When everything is already in IOB or similar electronic system already... C'mon

Besides the key word in your post is GOOD accountant - there aren't that many out there, most are only drones in a big consultancy and don't give a tulip as long as they have done the bare minimum promised in the contract if even that.

I agree that the key word is GOOD, some accountants I've heard of are shocking in the quality of service and advice, others I would say are worth their weight in gold. You may have had bad experiences before but not all firms are they same. We pride ourselves in personal service and giving great advice in a timely manner (I have to say that though don't I ).

Also, I'd echo just what The FaQQer said, it's not specifically the time spent dealing with the accounts on a monthly/yearly basis but the time spent keeping up to date with the ever changing tax laws, being there available to answer any queries that pop into the clients head and ensuring the client stays as tax efficient as possible without keeping into trouble.

Martin
Contratax Ltd

[sal]

Clearly you've had a bad experience with accountants in the past. The important thing isn't how much time the accountants spends, it's how they spend the time.

In my experience, there are a lot of good accountants out there. Maybe the big contractor factories are only interested in doing the bare minimum, but a lot of the smaller contractor specialists are really good and really are worth their fees.

Your assumption is correct i went through 2 accountants in 2 years and caught them making simple mistakes like at the end of the financial year stating that it doesn't matter if i pay myself the last £786 until i hit the Dividend income threshold as salary or as dividend despite the fact that the total salary i had paid myself was about 4k (long story why it was so low). So i had to explain to him about pre-tax and post-tax profit and how his "advice" would have costed me £150-200 (can't be bothered with the math right now). Or missing the deadline for filling my end of year accounts with Companies houses, then failing to forward me the 2 penalty notices for £150 until it went to debt collector and court claim so i ended up paying £225...

So much for relying on their "expertise", thanks god i haven't had the need for advise on an actual complicated issue.

Can't be bothered changing accountants anymore as i lost hope and the amount of effort required is much greater than me going through my books on my own 4 times / year for a total of 2-3 hours and only using the useless sorry excuses of accountants for references when needed. So spare me the "You can't live without us" and "it's only 1500/year it's less than you make in a week" routine

Apologies if my post sounded offending to any accountants reading these forums, it wasn't my intend.

[inniAccounts]

I don't feel it's appropriate to join the debate about appointing an accountant or not (we're a practice) but a couple of useful bits:

We've written a book which is proving popular, but it might not go in to enough detail for you. On the plus side, it's free so take a look and see for yourself:

• Direct DL: http://www.inniaccounts.co.uk/book/start
• Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Preparing-Se...dp/B00EDMLXYS/
• iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/pre...ed/id731022671

There's also Dave Chaplin's book which is a tome, but useful:
http://www.contractorshandbook.co.uk/Default.aspx

[CanadianExpat]

I don't feel it's appropriate to join the debate about appointing an accountant or not (we're a practice) but a couple of useful bits:

We've written a book which is proving popular, but it might not go in to enough detail for you. On the plus side, it's free so take a look and see for yourself:

• Direct DL: Starting Contracting? Download our Free eBook – inniAccounts
• Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Preparing-Se...dp/B00EDMLXYS/
• iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/pre...ed/id731022671

There's also Dave Chaplin's book which is a tome, but useful:
Contractors' Handbook: The expert guide for UK contractors and freelancers

Thanks very much for this list. I hadn't seen your book until now, but it's an excellent little guide (and you can't beat the price!)

I'm now largely up and running, having got very useful direction from an (only slightly bulkier) book, "The contractor's night job" . Very straightforward and has had everything I've needed so far.