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Waldorf

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#101

6 April 2018, 10:46

Originally posted by Maslins View Post

Fair point. A couple of hours perhaps. Responding to client queries is our primary priority. Completion of statutory accounts generally gets put on hold, unless they're particularly urgent for some reason (filing deadline or required for mortgage/similar). Hadn't realised you meant they literally weren't responding to anything.

How long are annual accounts “put on hold” for? Why is this a policy? Prompt annual accounts are a good discipline for both the accountant and the client. They can quickly highlight problems and in my view the sooner this can be done the better.

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." Cicero
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Maslins

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#102

6 April 2018, 11:17

Originally posted by Waldorf View Post

How long are annual accounts “put on hold” for? Why is this a policy? Prompt annual accounts are a good discipline for both the accountant and the client. They can quickly highlight problems and in my view the sooner this can be done the better.

It's not an official policy as such, just prioritising staff time. I agree having statutory accounts/CT returns done sooner is always better than having them done later. However, when it comes to priorities, they're fairly low for the client, hence also for us.

Perhaps in the past when getting your statutory accounts was the main input from your accountant for the year, and it'd only be at that point that they'd query a transaction you made 6-18 months earlier, then yes, they'd be more time critical.

With clients using FreeAgent, and us checking in periodically throughout the year, any non trivial problems/opportunities should be spotted and discussed way before completion of the statutory accounts. Hence completion of the statutory docs is mainly just a formality.
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PerfectStorm

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#103

26 April 2018, 11:59

Complete radio silence from NW again this week. Glad to see they're taking our feedback onboard and ignoring it.

Who's good in the market right now?

⭐️ Gold Star Contractor
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northernladuk

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#104

26 April 2018, 12:28

Originally posted by PerfectStorm View Post

Complete radio silence from NW again this week. Glad to see they're taking our feedback onboard and ignoring it.

Who's good in the market right now?

We need to make a sticky I think...

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rocketjet

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#105

26 April 2018, 14:36

Originally posted by PerfectStorm View Post

Complete radio silence from NW again this week. Glad to see they're taking our feedback onboard and ignoring it.

Who's good in the market right now?

They have lots of happy customers apparently who find the service 5*!

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.nixonwilliams.com
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DolanContractorGroup

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#106

27 April 2018, 10:45

Originally posted by PerfectStorm View Post

Complete radio silence from NW again this week. Glad to see they're taking our feedback onboard and ignoring it.

Who's good in the market right now?

Maybe change to an accountant with a service guarantee that responds to emails same day

Dolan Accountancy

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Dark Black

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#107

30 April 2018, 12:23

Originally posted by PerfectStorm View Post

Complete radio silence from NW again this week. Glad to see they're taking our feedback onboard and ignoring it.

Who's good in the market right now?

Yet to have payroll processed by them for this month - was fobbed off last week with an excuse about it being the first month in a new tax year - but that's true for this time every year and there's not been a delay previously.

Not good enough.

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PerfectStorm

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#108

30 April 2018, 12:55

Originally posted by DolanAccountancyJames View Post

Maybe change to an accountant with a service guarantee that responds to emails same day

When's your cutoff for that?

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Maslins

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#109

30 April 2018, 13:14

Originally posted by PerfectStorm View Post

When's your cutoff for that?

FWIW we've had a few clients who have pointed out how useless guaranteed response times are. Reason being what can happen is:

You - "[question]"
Accountant (within guaranteed time) - "hmmm...thanks for your question, we'll look into this and come back to you"
Accountant (well after guaranteed time) - "[answer]"

They technically meet their promise, but may as well have been an out of office auto responder.
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Dark Black

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#110

30 April 2018, 13:57

Originally posted by Maslins View Post

FWIW we've had a few clients who have pointed out how useless guaranteed response times are. Reason being what can happen is:

You - "[question]"
Accountant (within guaranteed time) - "hmmm...thanks for your question, we'll look into this and come back to you"
Accountant (well after guaranteed time) - "[answer]"

They technically meet their promise, but may as well have been an out of office auto responder.

I think guaranteed response times are more a marketing thing rather than a useful yardstick to service. I'm more interested in getting an informative reply within a sensible time frame (that doesn't necessarily equate to the same as the guaranteed time).

However a quick response of the order of "thanks, we're looking into it" I do find useful because I know they have got my question and it hasn't disappeared into a black hole.

More of an issue for me is the delays I've experienced with the normal accountancy services that I'd expect to be processed within a reasonable time frame. E.g. payroll, yearly accounts, self assessment etc.

Do what thou wilt
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