Do I need an Accountant if I go for FreeAgent?

[BigDataPro]

I have been with an Accountant for over a decade, paying a minimum of £1300+ yearly. They are increasing their fee shortly in couple months. Given I don't have a complex setup (pretty much standard) and not much revenue since Covid, I am thinking of moving to FreeAgent. I need payroll for 2, SA for 2 etc.

Just wondering do I need an Accountant when I move to FA? Are there any scenarios that requires an Accountant?

[northernladuk]

IMO, because you have to ask then the answer is YES. If you knew enough about tax and were confident enough you'd not have to ask.

Freeagent is a bookkeeping tool, nothing more. It does know anything about tax legislation changes, expenses rules, change in tax brackets, your company tax timings. It's quality is based on your your ability to input the numbers right as well. Did you know postage stamps are VAT exempt so can select the right option on your expenses? You don't need someone to review it. You are 100% sure your VAT is correct and everything has been checked, particularly bearing in mind any changes etc?

Only a very small number of people on here go FA only and even they have to come on and ask some questions as well... so, again IMO, your question doesn't show any evidence of understanding basic accounting let alone advanced stuff so I'd say YES.

Get an accountant and FA, stick to them like glue. Learn everything you can and then go alone if you want but it's not for me. More than happy to pay a professional to make sure it's right. Remember the old addage, a good accountant is cheap. A bad accountant (or none) can be very expensive. In both those I don't mean the costs of their fees.. it's the cost of getting it wrong which can far outweigh the fees.

[BigDataPro]

IMO, because you have to ask then the answer is YES. If you knew enough about tax and were confident enough you'd not have to ask.

Freeagent is a bookkeeping tool, nothing more. It does know anything about tax legislation changes, expenses rules, change in tax brackets, your company tax timings. It's quality is based on your your ability to input the numbers right as well. Did you know postage stamps are VAT exempt so can select the right option on your expenses? You don't need someone to review it. You are 100% sure your VAT is correct and everything has been checked, particularly bearing in mind any changes etc?

Only a very small number of people on here go FA only and even they have to come on and ask some questions as well... so, again IMO, your question doesn't show any evidence of understanding basic accounting let alone advanced stuff so I'd say YES.

Get an accountant and FA, stick to them like glue. Learn everything you can and then go alone if you want but it's not for me. More than happy to pay a professional to make sure it's right. Remember the old addage, a good accountant is cheap. A bad accountant (or none) can be very expensive. In both those I don't mean the costs of their fees.. it's the cost of getting it wrong which can far outweigh the fees.

Thank you for taking time to explain. Much appreciated!

[Fred Bloggs]

I have done DIY, the full company cycle from setup, annual returns, self asessment, to company closure and strike off. So, it can be done. Especially if you're extremely well organised and well informed. The fact that you have asked tells me you aren't ready to go DIY. If you were, you wouldn't have to ask. Fact is, it's never been easier to go fully DIY. But I think it isn't for most people.

[siddzy]

I have done DIY, the full company cycle from setup, annual returns, self asessment, to company closure and strike off. So, it can be done. Especially if you're extremely well organised and well informed. The fact that you have asked tells me you aren't ready to go DIY. If you were, you wouldn't have to ask. Fact is, it's never been easier to go fully DIY. But I think it isn't for most people.

Agreed - I have certainly seen it being done.

However you still would need MVLOnline for strike-off.

[escapeUK]

No. You definitely do not need an accountant. Its so simple, it beggars belief that people would pay £1300 plus for something Freeagent does for, well free if you have a Natwest account. In these hard times, isn't that £1300 better in your bank account?

For my first few years I had an accountant, and found not only were they quite slow at submitting the accounts, I had to check all their work. As they stated that any mistakes were my responsibility and not theirs! As were any fines or penalties.

Because Freeagent links to your bank accounts you just assign categories to each transaction it automatically pulls in. So yes, it knows for instance that bank fees are tax free. Some of these categories it correctly suggests what it thinks it is and you just confirm it, others you have to select yourself. But its not difficult at all.

RTI payroll. All done automatically. Submitting of company accounts to HMRC and Companies house. All done by Freeagent. It even does a basic self assessment.

If you do have a question, just Google or ask here. As long as you discount NLUK's mostly wrong answers you'll be fine.

Also, did you know that some accountants offer reduced pricing for those who use Freeagent? They have access to your Freeagent data and can help as and when. I haven't needed to do this, but the first one I looked at charge £29 a month. You are doing most of the work, so of course its very cheap.

I thought that I would try it all on my own for the first year using Freeagent, and if it proved a problem for me I would take on one of these accountants. But I never needed to.

[WTFH]

No. You definitely do not need an accountant. It's so simple, it beggars belief that people would pay £1300 plus for something Freeagent does for, well free if you have a Natwest account. In these hard times, isn't that £1300 better in your bank account?.

Perhaps if your account are really simple and you have plenty of spare time on your hands and you know what you are doing, then you could go without one, but to say that people "definitely do not need an accountant" is one of those statements which definitely isn't true for all businesses. It may be true for some.

[jamesbrown]

I do my own accounts with FA, not to save money but because I trust myself more than most accountants. Personally, I’d had enough of chasing and fixing mistakes. If you have an excellent accountant that you trust completely and who rarely makes mistakes, I’d stick with them. Otherwise, I’d consider doing it yourself, but you will need to engage actively and keep on top of all your statutory duties and deadlines. It is “easy” if you are willing to learn, aren’t afraid of accounting and are on the ball. Otherwise, try hard to find a solid accountant - however, they are few and far between in the cheap/contracting space.

[woody1]

At least doing your own accounts, HMRC can't accuse of being an MSC.

[Fred Bloggs]

Agreed - I have certainly seen it being done.

However you still would need MVLOnline for strike-off.

Nope. Form DS01 is all you need. I have done it three times myself.