How do you choose your accountant?

[Jess inniAccounts]

Hi everyone,

When choosing an accountant, do you make your choice based on reviews and testimonials i.e Trustpilot etc, price, word of mouth or something else?

[DeludedKitten]

Hi everyone,

When choosing an accountant, do you make your choice based on reviews and testimonials i.e Trustpilot etc, price, word of mouth or something else?

I made my choice based on good forum advice and being named forum advisor of the year

Not sure how I'll make the decision in the future, but I'll possibly start with checking more carefully who they are (LinkedIn profile, digital footprint, etc etc) if I don't just give up on accountants and do it myself.

[Invisiblehand]

I made my choice based on good forum advice and being named forum advisor of the year

Not sure how I'll make the decision in the future, but I'll possibly start with checking more carefully who they are (LinkedIn profile, digital footprint, etc etc) if I don't just give up on accountants and do it myself.

LOL!

I was referred to mine.

[Craig@Clarity]

I made my choice based on good forum advice and being named forum advisor of the year

Not sure how I'll make the decision in the future, but I'll possibly start with checking more carefully who they are (LinkedIn profile, digital footprint, etc etc) if I don't just give up on accountants and do it myself.

I ended up marrying Best Forum Adviser of 2013

[mudskipper]

I ended up marrying Best Forum Adviser of 2013

Was it on her Tinder profile?

[Craig@Clarity]

Was it on her Tinder profile?

How did you know? She had a CUK sash on too!

[northernladuk]

I ended up marrying Best Forum Adviser of 2013

If you can't beat 'em, join' em hey.

[Waldorf]

I would ignore Trust Pilot and similar reviews, they are too easy to manipulate and the recent article in The Times exposed how these review companies allow companies to suppress negative feedback.

I would ask colleagues who actually use accountants and absolutely ignore agencies etc as these are solely motivated by the huge bungs that some accountants pay for recommendations.

The Bribery Act seems to be widely ignored by agencies and accountants!

[Maslins]

I would ignore Trust Pilot and similar reviews, they are too easy to manipulate and the recent article in The Times exposed how these review companies allow companies to suppress negative feedback.

Yeah I did a bit of research into Trustpilot a while back, and it seems basically if you pay them enough they'll remove negative reviews of you (under the guise of "removing erroneous/fraudulent reviews" of course).

I would ask colleagues who actually use accountants and absolutely ignore agencies etc as these are solely motivated by the huge bungs that some accountants pay for recommendations.

The Bribery Act seems to be widely ignored by agencies and accountants!

Re bribery act specifically, potentially so, I'm not too familiar. As I've said in other posts, one differential between firms accredited by the ICAEW/ACCA/ICAS) and those that aren't, is re accepting commissions. Generally it's more trouble than it's worth for chartered accountancy firms to get kickbacks, assuming they play by the rules. Those who aren't chartered as a firm (but may well have individual staff members who are) can do what they like. Clients become "products" to milk. Whether the accountancy firm is helping you set up a business bank account, a pension, insurance/IFA, use a liquidator...be aware there's a good chance they're profiting from it. Having said that, the specific issue you mention is more the agency profiting from the worker, with it being considered a marketing cost for the accountant. Often accountancy firms doing this will have particularly harsh get out clauses/minimum timeframe to be with them etc to ensure the big upfront cost to buy the client pays off.

[BrilloPad]

I choose one that begins with Q. Ends in S. And has DO in the middle.