Do you think there's still a compelling reason to use a "Contract" accountancy?

[vwdan]

So, again, my assigned accountant has been switched - which is fine, I get why, but I find myself wondering what real value I'm getting from my "contractor" accountancy nowadays.

IR35 has moved on to the point that they can't really tell me anything useful, most of my complex queries are nothing to do with generic contracting and as I'm doing less and less day to day through my Ltd, I find myself tempted just to find a long standing local accountant who can help me keep things ticking over.

I know NLUK had a bad experience with a contractor accountant, and my current lot aren't *bad*.

Just pondering, and wondered your thoughts?

[courtg9000]

At the start of my contracting career in the 90's I used a so called contractor specialist. They were ok. They merged with another and became crap. On IR35 they were a bit bend over and take it a contractor but could be challenged.
I moved to another so called contractor specialist who borked my accounts big time. They couldn't handle anything outside contracting and my business interests are by now varied.
I then moved to a local chap, who has since been rather good. IR35 hasn't really applied since 2013 with the exception of the odd thing.

[ladymuck]

My accountant isn't a contractor one, his little firm do lots of small businesses. I've never had a contractor specialist accountant.

[northernladuk]

So, again, my assigned accountant has been switched - which is fine, I get why, but I find myself wondering what real value I'm getting from my "contractor" accountancy nowadays.

IR35 has moved on to the point that they can't really tell me anything useful, most of my complex queries are nothing to do with generic contracting and as I'm doing less and less day to day through my Ltd, I find myself tempted just to find a long standing local accountant who can help me keep things ticking over.

I know NLUK had a bad experience with a contractor accountant, and my current lot aren't *bad*.

Just pondering, and wondered your thoughts?

Not quite. My worst experience was a non contractor, local guy, then SJD who were OK the first four years or so. They key for me is Freeagent nowadays. I can see most of what I do and they review it every quarter to tell me what I've missed/allocated wrong and apart from that and a few accountancy questions I'm covered.

I can't remember last time I had to ask them something IR35 related. I don't expect them to have much of a clue as it's not their area of expertise.

I tend to think of them as my Freeagent accountant rather than contractor accountant for probably the same reasons that have you thinking. Next to nothing I ask about is contractor specific but then I do spend a lot of time on here. I'm sure the 24 month rule and other topics that we see on here gets asked quite a lot.

For someone like you that can search on here and google for the contract specific stuff I can't see that a contractor only accountant really adds that much value as you say. The tools the accountant uses is more important now.

[vwdan]

They key for me is Freeagent nowadays. I can see most of what I do and they review it every quarter to tell me what I've missed/allocated wrong and apart from that and a few accountancy questions I'm covered.

Yes, absolutely - there's no way I'm losing FA now. I must admit, I almost called one the other day and then realised I'd have to investigate the whole FA side, first.

[Fred Bloggs]

Yes, absolutely - there's no way I'm losing FA now. I must admit, I almost called one the other day and then realised I'd have to investigate the whole FA side, first.

Depending how complex/simple your business is, perhaps you should be asking yourself if, as an experienced contractor, whether you need an accountant appointed to your business at all? If the answer is "yes" then start from there with the pre-requisite it's a Freeagent accountant. HTH.

[jamesbrown]

Depending how complex/simple your business is, perhaps you should be asking yourself if, as an experienced contractor, whether you need an accountant appointed to your business at all? If the answer is "yes" then start from there with the pre-requisite it's a Freeagent accountant. HTH.

This. The only reason I continue to use one is that their time (e.g., in preparing returns) is cheaper than my time, but if I had more time on my hands, I wouldn't bother. I frequently find mistakes, so I doubt the quality of the work would deteriorate to be brutally honest. Not that I am complaining, because you generally get what you pay for and I think I am getting what I pay for. Contractor accountants that use FA are charging something in the vicinity of £1k per year, which is absolutely feck all when you think about it.

[ladymuck]

I keep an accountant on because I like the independent look over the numbers at the end of the year. I picked up a minor mistake of a fiver this year but usually they're pretty good.

I probably could do it myself as there's nothing tricky or complicated going on.

[Fred Bloggs]

This. The only reason I continue to use one is that their time (e.g., in preparing returns) is cheaper than my time, but if I had more time on my hands, I wouldn't bother. I frequently find mistakes, so I doubt the quality of the work would deteriorate to be brutally honest. Not that I am complaining, because you generally get what you pay for and I think I am getting what I pay for. Contractor accountants that use FA are charging something in the vicinity of £1k per year, which is absolutely feck all when you think about it.

And that's great. Long ago, I got sick and tired of checking everything accountants did and always finding howlers. One year to the extent of several £000 where dividends had been reported as salary. I decided with the systems now available that I could do the job better myself and it was all my responsibility anyway at the end of the day. For my last contracting venture I did everything myself from creating the company through to striking it off (in the next few weeks after the 2nd Gazette notice) at the end of it's useful life. It was incredibly easy. But I did keep the company very, very simple to help facilitate that. DIY is not for everyone, for me it was absolutely fine. The £1k fees, I'll keep thanks!

[Fred Bloggs]

I keep an accountant on because I like the independent look over the numbers at the end of the year. I picked up a minor mistake of a fiver this year but usually they're pretty good.

I probably could do it myself as there's nothing tricky or complicated going on.

I bet you could, but DIY is not everyone's cup of tea.