charge providing a reference

[winshent]

I have been with an accountancy service for several years now. I have just moved flat, and the landlords referencing agency had to liase with my accountant to confirm earnings etc.

my accountant wants to charge £100 for this. Is there any real work involved in this, or is it a case of providing company/personal returns that i have already paid for previously..

[Little'Old Me]

I have been with an accountancy service for several years now. I have just moved flat, and the landlords referencing agency had to liase with my accountant to confirm earnings etc.

my accountant wants to charge £100 for this. Is there any real work involved in this, or is it a case of providing company/personal returns that i have already paid for previously..

Yes this is involves extra work. Not every client needs references so why should your accountant have included it in the work they have already charged your for?

Just writing the letter can take time.This takes your accountant away from other "paid" work. Usually there are specific questions asked and your accountant will need to check your records prior to replying in a format acceptable to the landlords reference agency. It is very simular to providing a mortgage reference.

£100 is not bad - I have seen some accountants charge £250.00

[pzz76077]

I have been with an accountancy service for several years now. I have just moved flat, and the landlords referencing agency had to liase with my accountant to confirm earnings etc.

my accountant wants to charge £100 for this. Is there any real work involved in this, or is it a case of providing company/personal returns that i have already paid for previously..

They probably have to pay their contract secretary to type up the note/email, post it, receive correspondence, check your file etc so 100 quid does not sound that bad. Ask your account to invoice your company for the work so that you can offset it against tax (you place of work at the new address etc).

PZZ

[lexington_spurs]

They probably have to pay their contract secretary to type up the note/email, post it, receive correspondence, check your file etc so 100 quid does not sound that bad. Ask your account to invoice your company for the work so that you can offset it against tax (you place of work at the new address etc).

PZZ

And ask for a certified copy so you never need to pay someone again!

[pzz76077]

Ask yourself how long it would take you to take time away from your contract and come up with this info. 2, 3,4 hours?? 100 quid then.

PZZ

[Little'Old Me]

And ask for a certified copy so you never need to pay someone again!

The reference is only valid for 3 months, so a certified copy is a waste of time, so being "tight" has no benefit - and it could annoy your accountant. We do from time to time get rid of clients that we'd rather not have!

In the past I have been asked for a second reference for the same person from the same company as 3 months had passed since the last reference, as the contracts had not been signed. I didn't charge any extra because I just copied the same details from the last reference, so it only took less than 10min and they did provide a SAE.

[BrilloPad]

I was once asked to pay £120 for a reference. I told them to get stuffed.

[NotAllThere]

When I was last in the position of landlord requiring a reference, I didn't have an accountant. I just said - will three months of business account statements do? They said yes.

[Flopsy]

My Accountant doesn't charge for this service.

Exactly what is the "liaising" all about anyway?

Are they asking for a set of company account or a brief letter as a reference?

If it is the company accounts you should have a copy and can send to them. It's a common request from the self employed to their accountant. If your Accountant doesn't have a template reference and can't type in your name and press "print" something is wrong.

Sounds like someone is making it more complicated than it needs to be. Find out exactly that the agent wants and send it to them. Lettings Agents see tenants as people to milk for money. Sounds like they are either imposing on your accountant or similar.

Send a letter to your accountant asking what the £100 is for and point out your years of payment to them.

Good luck.

[winshent]

thanks guys for the posts..

they've done the 'work', however i didnt get the email saying they were going to charge £100 + vat for it.. which is the main thing i am annoyed about.

not bothered about paying for the service, was just wondering why it would cost so much.

will be wiser next time.

cheers

vince