Choosing the right accountant

[Bear]

I am not with Nixon Williams but Alan has kindly given me some free advice via this board when I was unsure of my accounts advice.

I have recently recommended NW to a colleague who is changing from umbrella to ltd and he has been delighted with the service.

All at a very competitive price.

What more can you want.

[clwd]

Has anyone found that if you add another employee/director to your company you are charged 1.5 times the usuall monthly accountacy fee?

My accountant told me that I needed to pay more for doing more work for the new employee. This means that I need to pay 148.00 (99 + 49) monthly accountancy fee. Does this extra charge make sense for 2 people in the same company? If I add two employees, does it mean that they will charge me a further 49?

[r0bly0ns]

My accountant have quoted me £0.50 per month for the extra admin involved in each employee in the past (wage slips, p60's etc...)

That was just for employees though, not directors. What you have been quoted does sound excessive though.

[clwd]

My accountant have quoted me £0.50 per month for the extra admin involved in each employee in the past (wage slips, p60's etc...)

That was just for employees though, not directors. What you have been quoted does sound excessive though.

It is so cheap! Which accountancy firm are you using? I only requested to add a director in my company but don't understand why it is so costly. Does my accountant reall get involved in a lot of admin work for adding a new director? Any comments?

[philip@wellwoodhoyle]

Is the new director a shareholder also? Is the new director also a fee-earner?

If the new director is neither a shareholder nor fee-earner, then there would be little additional work. There would be two lots of payslips and year end returns, two personal tax returns (if to be done by accountant), a certain amount of discussion/consideration about remuneration packages and employment law/regulations. In this case, another £49 per month seem excessive.

However, if they are shareholders and fee-earners also, you are looking a lot more work. Probably twice as many customer invoices and payments, twice as much dividend paperwork, more discussion/consideration about remuneration packages, profit splits, etc, especially if both directors don't bring in exactly the same fees each. I can see that 50% of the normal fee for an additional shareholder/fee earner is fairly realistic.

Did you tell your accountant exactly what the new director will be doing. Perhaps they have understood the new director to be a shareholder/fee earner and if this is not the case, you need to get back to them to explain the real situation.

[r0bly0ns]

However, if they are shareholders and fee-earners also, you are looking a lot more work. Probably twice as many customer invoices and payments, twice as much dividend paperwork, more discussion/consideration about remuneration packages, profit splits, etc, especially if both directors don't bring in exactly the same fees each. I can see that 50% of the normal fee for an additional shareholder/fee earner is fairly realistic.

Your accountant does your invoicing and banking for you?
Sounds more like an MSC than an accountant to me.....

It is so cheap! Which accountancy firm are you using? I only requested to add a director in my company but don't understand why it is so costly. Does my accountant reall get involved in a lot of admin work for adding a new director? Any comments?

We are using UptonAccountants, we have 2 directors, both fee earners.
We do our own invoicing and our own banking.

Our accountants advise is what to do with our money, they also create the wage slips for us and do our tax returns.
But ultimately it is up to us to actually pay the money to Employees / Customs / HMRC where required, and to ensure we get paid by our clients. After all it is our company


For this we pay around a third of what you have been quoted (plus VAT)

[clwd]

We are using UptonAccountants, we have 2 directors, both fee earners.
We do our own invoicing and our own banking.

Our accountants advise is what to do with our money, they also create the wage slips for us and do our tax returns.
But ultimately it is up to us to actually pay the money to Employees / Customs / HMRC where required, and to ensure we get paid by our clients. After all it is our company

For this we pay around a third of what you have been quoted (plus VAT)

Thanks. Both of us are fee earners and prefer to do our invoicing and banking.

How about Nixon Williams as their fee is reasonable? Are they good? I would like to know whether they are pre-MSC provider or not?

[r0bly0ns]

I've had no dealings with Nixon's myself, but have heard good things about them on here.

I believe they charge roughly the same as Uptons

[Nixon Williams]

How about Nixon Williams as their fee is reasonable? Are they good? I would like to know whether they are pre-MSC provider or not?

We have never operated as a MSC or indeed offered an umbrella service, we are accountants, always have been.

Alan

[clwd]

We have never operated as a MSC or indeed offered an umbrella service, we are accountants, always have been.

Alan

Should my spouse (new director) join my existing ltd company for saving cost or setup her own new company in order not to get any hassle or attention from HMRC? Which one is the best tax efficiency if both of us are fee earner?

I am a bit confused that my current accountant advised me to let my spouse join my ltd company but another accountant suggested my spouse setting up a new ltd for not getting any hassle from HMRC if one of us does not work?

Not sure which way we should go. Any suggestions appreciated.