Which accountant should I switch to?

[dang65]

Never been very impressed by my accountant. He was recommended by a friend and I just went along with the recommendation, but I never feel he does much and he certainly never volunteers suggestions for optimising my company's finances, for example. Also, my company's registered address is my accountant's office and letters from HMRC keep going missing. I have to phone up about my VAT return form every time!

Anyway, enough moaning. It so happens that this accountant has just moved firms. He seems to be assuming that he will keep me as a personal client and has sent me a form to register the new address with Companies House etc. Instead, I've decided to take this opportunity to change accountants.

I know there are a couple of accountancy companies which people on here recommend from time to time, but I can't seem to find them on a look through the forum today.

I'm after an accountant which will give me clear advice on stuff like expenses, will do as much of the paperwork side of things as is humanly possible, including the VAT return if possible, is good value for money and is generally reliable and efficient.

Any recommendations?

[dang65]

Also, I don't suppose any of the big accountants have some sort of online application so I can just enter a few figures each month re invoiced amount, VAT, expenses etc and then forget about it and leave them to do the tax return from that?

With my current accountant I seem to end up sending him piles of invoices, bank statements, expenses receipts, VAT return forms and so on when it comes to tax return time. I have to spend about a week rounding it all up, being a little disorganised myself. I need simplicity.

[PhilAtBFCA]

dang65

You might want to take a look at www.freeagentcentral.com its an online accounting system designed for freelancers.

Its good if your accountant understands and is supportive of FreeAgent too, if thats what you end up using.

It makes it much easier to run your own business.

Phil

[dang65]

Nice one. I'll take a look at that.

[dang65]

So, which is the big, popular accountancy company I should switch to then. Or are they all crap?

PMs ok if people don't want to post on this thread. I just want to take this opportunity to make a big change for the better.

[Epiphone]

Jesus wept this gets asked every other week. Use the fecking search function or at least have the decency to post "I can't be arsed doing any of my own research, can someone do it for me".

[MPwannadecentincome]

dang65

You might want to take a look at www.freeagentcentral.com its an online accounting system designed for freelancers.

Its good if your accountant understands and is supportive of FreeAgent too, if thats what you end up using.

It makes it much easier to run your own business.

Phil

Phil, does BFCA support the use of FreeAgent for freelancers on its books?

Anyone else - as I can't find any posts relating to this - does anyone have any feedback as to whether BFCA are any good or not?

[dang65]

Jesus wept this gets asked every other week. Use the flipping search function or at least have the decency to post "I can't be arsed doing any of my own research, can someone do it for me".

Yeah, I have used the internet before, like. I just think that some subjects will always be raised over and over again, simply because they are too dense to search.

I mean, if I enter "online accounts" into the advanced search, and filter results to the last 6 months and just in the Accounting/Legal forum, then I get 178 threads to look through. And half of them will start with a perfectly civil question, followed by three pages of web fascists going, "Use the search facility." D'uh. It's rare to find a clear and concise thread (including this one now).

Another reason I think it's reasonable to start new threads on these kind of topics is that times do change, people move on, and companies which contractors here might have recommended previously may have dropped their standards, or some amazing new accountant may have come along and been discovered by someone here who wants to recommend them. Unless someone sets up a sticky thread for these kind of topics then they will always be raised, and not unreasonably (I think).

[DiscoStu]

I use Nixon Williams and am very happy with the service I get. And you don't have to fill out a huge spreadsheet each month

[Little'Old Me]

I suggestion you do a Google Serch - type in "online accountancy" - Use pages from the UK option!

Theres a lot of them out there, and most have lists of accountants they recommend for you to choose from to provide support etc. Just pick the online package that suits you and take it from there! Contact a couple of firms you are interested in, and see how they "reply" and answer any questions you may have.