"What did your accountant say?"

[PRINCE2 of Darkness]

...

[worzelGummidge]

I could not have said it better myself.
Some people on this forum need to grow up.

I've had four accountants.
No.1
Was a general small business accountant who was late with everything. I didn't know the first thing about Limitcompanies and I was chasing her for things. She used to drive to Cardiff with accounts and payments for her clients rather than posting them because she was so late.

No. 2
Semi-retired, high ranking accountant who was very nice but did not know anything about contractors.

No. 3
General accountant who was Ok but just disapeared.

No. 4
Accountant company for contractors. Expensive but everything works for me.

[MarillionFan]

What is the point of replying to a question by saying: "What did your accountant say?" when someone posts a question in Accounting / Legal?

Why not just not reply at all?

My first accountant got me in trouble with the VAT man. So I dumped him.

My second accountant told me, incorrectly, to roll over and pay up under IR35. This I did for seven years until I found CUK and discovered he was useless as a contractor's accountant. So I dumped him.

My third accountant (who is on here) had to refund me a year's fees for getting me in trouble by not doing anything. So I dumped him.

My fourth accountant was an expensive, bone-idle toe-rag who never gave me any advice worth having. So I dumped him.

When I went seeking my fifth accountant, I approached two who regularly post on here (usually by having a go at someone who complained about them on here). I asked both some basic questions about IR35 and expenses to decide who to go with; neither gave any answer other than "Ask your account manager once you have signed up".

No accountant has ever told me - despite me asking - what I could be claiming for. They all just quote HMRC and say "Whatever is needed to do your job". None has ever given me a list of examples, or a checklist. Hence I never knew I could have been claiming for sight tests, for example.

I am very unimpressed by accountants. For £1500 + £250 + £ad hoc + VAT a year (accountant number 4) I expect a far better service than I have received. A pro-active service, actually, but that is clearly beyond the comprehension of all of them.

I know I am not alone in this, and I know people frequently doubt what their accountant says - quite rightly too as that is part of a Director's role.

So why be so petty and keep responding "Ask your accountant"? If you don't want to answer people's questions, don't bother posting in "Accounting / Legal" at all.

It's no wonder newbies don't stay. There's nothing here for them.

Well, here is a self fullfilling post. You've had 5 accountants. All professionals, you disagreed with all of them. Then you post on a board, where the advice given is to ask a professional.

I'll tell you what Prince, do it your ******* self, you're obviously a complete professional!

No wonder posters get flamed for f-cking stupid posts.

[malvolio]

The problem is not "asking accountants", it's people asking damn fool questions to which the answers are known and readily available and, more to the point, part of the legal responsbility of a Comapny Director. "Ask your accountant" is shorthand for "Why the hell are you trying to run a business when you don't know the first thing about what you are doing and clearly haven't made any attempt to learn?".

As for advice, accountants can only give advice based on what you tell them and their own technical knowledge. You have to make the decisions. As with any professional advisor, you have to have enough understanding to ask the right question. Most newbies don't and, given the amount of accessible information out there, that is both worrying and pathetic.

HTH

[TheFaQQer]

The answer "what does your accountant say?" suggests that rather than getting advice that may be correct, incorrect, made up, bullsh1t, whatever from a bunch of complete strangers who know nothing about your individual circumstances, you might be better off asking a professional.

There are very few straightforward accounting questions asked here which can be answered by CUKkers without knowing the exact situation (and many that can't even if they do know the exact situation). Telling the poster that they should seek professional advice is better than waiting for a "does nobody know the answer to this" post from the OP, in my opinion.

If the answer is "my accountant is rubbish" then why not switch to a different one who isn't?

[oracleslave]

Well, here is a self fullfilling post. You've had 5 accountants. All professionals, you disagreed with all of them. Then you post on a board, where the advice given is to ask a professional.

I'll tell you what Prince, do it your ******* self, you're obviously a complete professional!

No wonder posters get flamed for f-cking stupid posts.

I never thought I'd laugh out loud reading the Accounting/Legal section so thanks MF.

To the OP, you're either the unluckiest customer the accounting profession has ever seen, or more likely, as the common denominator a clueless twat.

HTH

[TheFaQQer]

I never thought I'd laugh out loud reading the Accounting/Legal section so thanks MF.

To the OP, you're either the unluckiest customer the accounting profession has ever seen, or more likely, as the common denominator a clueless twat.

HTH

Two in the same thread in accounting - whatever next?

[SueEllen]

I could not have said it better myself.
Some people on this forum need to grow up.

No you do.

Your accountant is just that not the financial director of your company.

[escapeUK]

What is the point of replying to a question by saying: "What did your accountant say?" when someone posts a question in Accounting / Legal?

Why not just not reply at all?

My first accountant got me in trouble with the VAT man. So I dumped him.

My second accountant told me, incorrectly, to roll over and pay up under IR35. This I did for seven years until I found CUK and discovered he was useless as a contractor's accountant. So I dumped him.

My third accountant (who is on here) had to refund me a year's fees for getting me in trouble by not doing anything. So I dumped him.

My fourth accountant was an expensive, bone-idle toe-rag who never gave me any advice worth having. So I dumped him.

When I went seeking my fifth accountant, I approached two who regularly post on here (usually by having a go at someone who complained about them on here). I asked both some basic questions about IR35 and expenses to decide who to go with; neither gave any answer other than "Ask your account manager once you have signed up".

No accountant has ever told me - despite me asking - what I could be claiming for. They all just quote HMRC and say "Whatever is needed to do your job". None has ever given me a list of examples, or a checklist. Hence I never knew I could have been claiming for sight tests, for example.

I am very unimpressed by accountants. For £1500 + £250 + £ad hoc + VAT a year (accountant number 4) I expect a far better service than I have received. A pro-active service, actually, but that is clearly beyond the comprehension of all of them.

I know I am not alone in this, and I know people frequently doubt what their accountant says - quite rightly too as that is part of a Director's role.

So why be so petty and keep responding "Ask your accountant"? If you don't want to answer people's questions, don't bother posting in "Accounting / Legal" at all.

It's no wonder newbies don't stay. There's nothing here for them.

This post is very true, dont know why you decided to delete it.

I dont know if its from dealing with stupid people asking stupid questions at work (we've all been there) but some answers are distinctively unhelpful and often no reply at all would have been preferable.

[TheFaQQer]

...

Ooh - the whole post has gone. For those interested, here's what the question was:

What is the point of replying to a question by saying: "What did your accountant say?" when someone posts a question in Accounting / Legal?

Why not just not reply at all?

My first accountant got me in trouble with the VAT man. So I dumped him.

My second accountant told me, incorrectly, to roll over and pay up under IR35. This I did for seven years until I found CUK and discovered he was useless as a contractor's accountant. So I dumped him.

My third accountant (who is on here) had to refund me a year's fees for getting me in trouble by not doing anything. So I dumped him.

My fourth accountant was an expensive, bone-idle toe-rag who never gave me any advice worth having. So I dumped him.

When I went seeking my fifth accountant, I approached two who regularly post on here (usually by having a go at someone who complained about them on here). I asked both some basic questions about IR35 and expenses to decide who to go with; neither gave any answer other than "Ask your account manager once you have signed up".

No accountant has ever told me - despite me asking - what I could be claiming for. They all just quote HMRC and say "Whatever is needed to do your job". None has ever given me a list of examples, or a checklist. Hence I never knew I could have been claiming for sight tests, for example.

I am very unimpressed by accountants. For £1500 + £250 + £ad hoc + VAT a year (accountant number 4) I expect a far better service than I have received. A pro-active service, actually, but that is clearly beyond the comprehension of all of them.

I know I am not alone in this, and I know people frequently doubt what their accountant says - quite rightly too as that is part of a Director's role.

So why be so petty and keep responding "Ask your accountant"? If you don't want to answer people's questions, don't bother posting in "Accounting / Legal" at all.

It's no wonder newbies don't stay. There's nothing here for them.

Merely added so that the second post of

I could not have said it better myself.

makes (marginally) more sense.

HTH.