Wiki-style thread: comparison of different accountants?

[d000hg]

I'm taking a quick look around since Clearsky are hiking their prices. There are 3 key things I would consider important:

• Price
• Service and Expertise
• Ease of use

The first is easy to gauge, the 2nd is hard to ever really know, the 3rd is a bit hard to tell from web-sites so I thought people who are using different firms might throw something in along the lines of what you have to do each month, Vs how much they do to make it easy for you. I'll start with how it works under Quay's old £66 system (I think ClearSky has changed this for new customers)...

[d000hg]

Quay/ClearSky £66 Package (now discontinued)
Each month I fill in an XLS template for bank receipts, invoices, mileage, etc. I have to do this for each bank account which is a pain as I have 3 accounts. They also insist on copies of invoices, receipts and bank statements.
All in all it's not too onerous but a little time-consuming as I have to go through bank statements line-by-line checking I have the receipt, making sure things match up, etc.
I'm essentially putting all the accounts in a spreadsheet for them to then generate tax returns, VAT figures, and so on.

Anyone else like to chip in? By all means add comments on subjective issues like customer service, but this is mainly to get a clear picture how the services work from each accountant.

[Sally BFCA]

Quay/ClearSky £66 Package (now discontinued)
Each month I fill in an XLS template for bank receipts, invoices, mileage, etc. I have to do this for each bank account which is a pain as I have 3 accounts. They also insist on copies of invoices, receipts and bank statements.
All in all it's not too onerous but a little time-consuming as I have to go through bank statements line-by-line checking I have the receipt, making sure things match up, etc.
I'm essentially putting all the accounts in a spreadsheet for them to then generate tax returns, VAT figures, and so on.

Essentially, by the time you have done all that, you could have entered it all into a FreeAgent account and found a cheaper accounting solution as you would have accounts to hand each month, automatically from your entries.

[lje]

Essentially, by the time you have done all that, you could have entered it all into a FreeAgent account and found a cheaper accounting solution as you would have accounts to hand each month, automatically from your entries.

That's what I do. I enter my expenses etc into FreeAgent and use its summary tools to inform me of where I am. I do my own accounts too but it is possible to use accountants (FreeAgent has a list of them) who will charge less as they have less work to do - FreeAgent creates a trial balance for them.

[Waldorf]

I use Nixon Williams, this is how they work:

1. Each month I send copies of my invoices, bank statement & an expense claim form.
2. As when I sent any paperwork from the inland revenue etc.
3. NW process this and send me a payslip and a profit calculation, this tells me what I can take as dividends.
4. I email them to tell them how much I want as a dividend, they then send me the dividend vouchers & minutes.
5. I withdraw the salary and dividends from the company account.
6. Each quarter they advise of PAYE payments and VAT payments, they now do my VAT return online.
7. Each year they prepare the annual accounts etc and my personal tax return.
8. No extra charges for references or random questions.
9. Easy as it sounds, fully recommend them!

[d000hg]

I use Nixon Williams, this is how they work:

1. Each month I send copies of my invoices, bank statement & an expense claim form.

Why are you claiming expenses from them? How'd it work if you were paying a substitute?

It sounds quite good but do you have to post all that stuff? And how can they do your VAT online, don't you need an account ID for this?

[Clare@InTouch]

Why are you claiming expenses from them? How'd it work if you were paying a substitute?

It sounds quite good but do you have to post all that stuff? And how can they do your VAT online, don't you need an account ID for this?

As an agent you can file VAT returns on behalf of clients - the client then just has to make the payment.

The expense claim mentioned probably refers to a note explaining the expenses being reclaimed from his own company, nothing to do with NW themselves.