Crunch

[stevehearsum]

hmmmm - so you worked as a sole trader whilst a contractor? Through an agency?

No, i have always worked independently, and managed my own client relationships. Not adverse to agency, simply not gone that route.

[infosec]

For the record, I've used Crunch for a year now, they setup my new Ltd company:

Bad:
1. Had 3 'account managers' in 12 months. Latest seems the best. How long will they be around?
2. Not sure who's advice I get - the 'account managers' version or a proper accountants view (who I have never actually spoken to at Crunch)
3. I have no idea how secure their systems are....
4. Asked for a proof of income and they wanted £30 +VAT. Everything extra costs.
5. Whilst creating this reply I had the following message pop up: "Crunch will be going offline at approximately 21:00 for scheduled maintenance. " First time I've seen it ;-)
6. No way to secure drop files to them - all done via insecure email. (EDIT: There is, I was wrong).

Good:
1. They nag me to meet all of the legal requirements and I can do it all online. Never had to write and post a cheque etc. It helps organise me.
2. I get an up to date accurate snapshot of everything (when I do a bank reconciliation). No need to interact with anybody. With a few banks they can auto import your bank statements (this is about £6 a month extra though).
3. Its a more accurate system than I could produce myself - I like they are double checking things, automatically and before filled with HMRC.
4. Easy to create and send invoices and record payments. No more creating and saving in word and attaching and emailing....
5. Recording expenses is easy - but more importantly I can upload a copy of the expenses to the system. So in event I lose one or all of them I have an online back up.
6. Cheap enough.
7. You can do a full dump of all of your records to your hard drive any time you like.
8. If you want to leave it seems easy enough - just continue paying for 3 months I think?
9. Seems a happy positive company - good forums, listen to feedback etc

No plans to leave, but would feel happier with a 5 minute call from one of the qualified accountants every so often... nothing special to ask, just never talked to an accountant in my whole year of them providing my accountancy! ;-)

[northernladuk]

For the record, I've used Crunch for a year now, they setup my new Ltd company:

Bad:
1. Had 3 'account managers' in 12 months. Latest seems the best. How long will they be around?
2. Not sure who's advice I get - the 'account managers' version or a proper accountants view (who I have never actually spoken to at Crunch)
3. I have no idea how secure their systems are....
4. Asked for a proof of income and they wanted £30 +VAT. Everything extra costs.
5. Whilst creating this reply I had the following message pop up: "Crunch will be going offline at approximately 21:00 for scheduled maintenance. " First time I've seen it ;-)
6. No way to secure drop files to them - all done via insecure email.

Good:
1. They nag me to meet all of the legal requirements and I can do it all online. Never had to write and post a cheque etc. It helps organise me.
2. I get an up to date accurate snapshot of everything (when I do a bank reconciliation). No need to interact with anybody. With a few banks they can auto import your bank statements (this is about £6 a month extra though).
3. Its a more accurate system than I could produce myself - I like they are double checking things, automatically and before filled with HMRC.
4. Easy to create and send invoices and record payments. No more creating and saving in word and attaching and emailing....
5. Recording expenses is easy - but more importantly I can upload a copy of the expenses to the system. So in event I lose one or all of them I have an online back up.
6. Cheap enough.
7. You can do a full dump of all of your records to your hard drive any time you like.
8. If you want to leave it seems easy enough - just continue paying for 3 months I think?
9. Seems a happy positive company - good forums, listen to feedback etc

No plans to leave, but would feel happier with a 5 minute call from one of the qualified accountants every so often... nothing special to ask, just never talked to an accountant in my whole year of them providing my accountancy! ;-)

Does it make VAT easy?

[JonNorris@Crunch]

For the record, I've used Crunch for a year now, they setup my new Ltd company:

Bad:
1. Had 3 'account managers' in 12 months. Latest seems the best. How long will they be around?
2. Not sure who's advice I get - the 'account managers' version or a proper accountants view (who I have never actually spoken to at Crunch)
3. I have no idea how secure their systems are....
4. Asked for a proof of income and they wanted £30 +VAT. Everything extra costs.
5. Whilst creating this reply I had the following message pop up: "Crunch will be going offline at approximately 21:00 for scheduled maintenance. " First time I've seen it ;-)
6. No way to secure drop files to them - all done via insecure email.

Cheers for the honest feedback - good to hear you're not planning to leave

Just to answer a few of your points:

1. You'll always get a new Account Manager after your first three months. We have a "new client" team who keep an extra-close eye on new people, then transfer them to a regular team once they're satisfied they're up to speed with how we do things. And obviously it's sometimes necessary to transfer people due to promotions / maternity leave etc.

2. The advice is one and the same - if you ask a question the Account Manager doesn't know the answer to it'll get passed on to an accountant, but sent back to you via your Account Manager.

3. Enterprise Java, beefy SSL encryption. Basically built on the same tech as your online banking.

5. We do weekly maintenance on Wednesday evenings, but we've had a few extra deployments this week to get ready for some specific end of year RTI stuff. Bit of a pain for us and you, but unavoidable I'm afraid!

6. There actually is - go to Your Crunch -> Document Transfer

[infosec]

Thanks Jon,

1. New Account manager after 3 months - maybe you should explain this rather than just sending an email saying "This is your new account manager from today...". Comes across badly as a customer....

3. Your systems - I work in these types of systems on the security side of things.... hence my concerns (with any online platform I use!).

6. Doh! Sorry ;-)

[infosec]

Does it make VAT easy?

Yes. As much as it can...

[deanosity]

Does it make VAT easy?

Yes. The system informs me a vat submission is due, I check it and hit submit.

It's as easy as that.

[DirtyDog]

Yes. As much as it can...

Since you aren't VAT registered, it can't do much for you, can it?

[JonNorris@Crunch]

Thanks Jon,

1. New Account manager after 3 months - maybe you should explain this rather than just sending an email saying "This is your new account manager from today...". Comes across badly as a customer....

Good point - will get this looked at.

[northernladuk]

Good point - will get this looked at.

Good to see you on the boards and thanks for the useful posts Jon.