Accountants closing for the holidays

[Mscott]

Hi,

I have been with my accountancy for a while now and noticed the other day they are closing for almost 2 weeks over the holiday period. While I understand fully that permanent employees take holidays around these dates, i'm a bit miffed that I can't contact them regarding a new opportunity that has come up. Is this a usual thing? What's your thoughts?

Thanks.

[northernladuk]

Sounds a bit out of the ordinary but shouldn't be too much of a surprise if it's a smallish FA firm.

If there are only one or two senior people in and they've booked time away it's probably the only option they had.

What exactly do you need from an accountant when an opportunity comes up? I only tend to need mine either at accountant periods or when I'm doing my books which can be done anytime. I can't remember needing them at any gig start or end.

[Mscott]

Thanks for your response!

They do a check on my contracts regarding IR35 and as I am fairly new to this have a few basic questions that I want answered. I'm not bothered some of them take the time off, I am however bothered I'm being charged the full monthly amount and have no-one to actually offer a service for that.

Then again I've been considering moving accountants as I'm not too pleased with some of their responses / actions.

Was simply wondering if this is a common step here (not native UK) before I email them about it.

[pr1]

A reduced service is expected (people working half days and obviously off on the bank holidays) but being completely uncontactable for 2 full weeks is too much IMO

[Dom at Fox Bartfield]

Accountants

You'll likely find that some of them will be in the office for some of the time, especially at this time of the year leading up to self assessment deadline. It's possible, but they may well be closed from today until after New Year. We're in until Monday lunchtime then not officially open until after the New Year bank holiday but I know a few of the guys will be around or answering emails, just on a reduced numbers, with most clients also spending time with their families.

[DolanContractorGroup]

Like Dom mentioned above, most accountants will still be working in some capacity. For example we're closing office today, but with access to emails over the break to keep an eye out for anything that needs action.

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

In the past, we've opened in between but found that there's little activity from clients so not worth. For the last three or so years we've pretty well closed down completely but with key staff having email and phone contact where appropriate. It's important to give the team, who work damn hard and under quite a bit of pressure throughout the year, some genuine down time at this time of year. Having said that, two weeks for the whole firm to be completely off the grid would be a bit much.

[Maslins]

As a firm we're open all the non bank holidays. Staff have a choice, with all the bank hols they can either use a few days of annual leave to get a hefty chunk of time off, or they can come in on the working days, knowing that it will be a fairly relaxed vibe. Their decision often revolves around their relationship with their respective families For the clients this means there's a reasonable chance their main contact might not be around, but if not, there will be someone competent who can answer any queries.

Nobody should be begrudged some time off, and accountancy assistance isn't something that needs to be available 24/7. However, I do agree that it seems poor if all clients have to go a whole fortnight with no support at all.

[craigy1874]

As a firm we're open all the non bank holidays. Staff have a choice, with all the bank hols they can either use a few days of annual leave to get a hefty chunk of time off, or they can come in on the working days, knowing that it will be a fairly relaxed vibe. Their decision often revolves around their relationship with their respective families For the clients this means there's a reasonable chance their main contact might not be around, but if not, there will be someone competent who can answer any queries.

Nobody should be begrudged some time off, and accountancy assistance isn't something that needs to be available 24/7. However, I do agree that it seems poor if all clients have to go a whole fortnight with no support at all.

Agreed....again.

We agree so much, maybe our firms should merge?

[northernladuk]

Thanks for your response!

They do a check on my contracts regarding IR35 and as I am fairly new to this have a few basic questions that I want answered. I'm not bothered some of them take the time off, I am however bothered I'm being charged the full monthly amount and have no-one to actually offer a service for that.

Then again I've been considering moving accountants as I'm not too pleased with some of their responses / actions.

Was simply wondering if this is a common step here (not native UK) before I email them about it.

Two things here...

Firstly.... Don't use your accountants for IR35 reviews. Use a specialist like QDOS, Baur & Cottrell etc who are experts in IR35 and I believe will also negotiate any changes with the agency on your behalf.

Secondly, it's a monthly payment of a years services so it's not really per month even though it's spouted as this. If it was we'd all just join for two months, get our year ends done and leave again. Some accountants say you've got to have paid a full year before they do you year ends for free.

And if you aren't happy with them then I'd suggest you leave. Better to wait until year end so they've done that and you can start again but if it's a FA accountant it's an absolute doddle to swap. Don't stay with an accountant you really aren't happy with.