SJD fee rise. Is £1512 p/annum a reasonable fee?

[Green Mango]

Sorry, but for a straightforward one person Ltd Co, I find that hard to beleive. The taxation just isn't that complex for that circumstance. Certainl0y, I can't say my accountant has ever saved me a penny, probably becuase my circumstances are so straightforward (like most peoples).

I'd mostly agree with what you say there.

However, in the past I was working at one site and a contractor there, I believe was with SJD.

SJD struck a deal for a group of it's contractors on expenses (I believe they may have gone over the 2 year limit) with the Inland Revenue,
they paid a fix fee of 800 pounds to the IR with no investigation of their true tax liability. This was apparently a cheaper way for
the revenue of getting tax revenue in without any expense.

Thus in some situations the big contractor tax accountants can pay off...

[mudskipper]

... However cost is IMHO not a significant determinator when choosing unless the quality is the same, in which case you as a Director are legally bound to go for the cheaper one. The problem with accountants, of course, is that while you can directly compare the services they offer, you have to use them to find out what the quality is like

I think this reinforces the original question. Is the quality you get from SJD better than that of their cheaper counterparts? If it's similar, how can the increased cost be justified, and how easy is it to switch?

[Old Greg]

Because any accountant worth their charter will almost certainly save you more money a year than they charge.

As I've said, I'm happy with SJD's service, and they do indeed save me more money each year than they cost. But if another accountant (and we'll call them Nixon Williams for the sake of argument, who seem to also have an excellent reputation) can offer me the same service for significantly less, then price is relevant, but may not be a deciding factor for some.

[zedAccounts]

Accounts for a one-man company are very straightforward. It's ludicrous to pay £1500 for someone else to do them. It will require some of your time upfront to learn but you reap the rewards in the long term.

ZED.

[MarillionFan]

Accounts for a one-man company are very straightforward. It's ludicrous to pay £1500 for someone else to do them. It will require some of your time upfront to learn but you reap the rewards in the long term.

ZED.

WZS (or Zed aint dead baby)

Learn the basics yourselves. When you use an accountancy firm like SJD, you're basically paying for book-keeping, PAYE, Payroll, VAT and then your finalised accounts.

That's where the costs are. For an accountant just to do your end accounts you pay £400/£500 for a 1-2 days work. Thats the professional bit. All the rest an admin monkey can do. (Thats why I do that bit)

[malvolio]

Actually I was an accountant in a previous life. That's why I delegate all that boring nonsense to people who like doing it.

[Fred Bloggs]

As I've said, I'm happy with SJD's service, and they do indeed save me more money each year than they cost. But if another accountant (and we'll call them Nixon Williams for the sake of argument, who seem to also have an excellent reputation) can offer me the same service for significantly less, then price is relevant, but may not be a deciding factor for some.

I'm genuinely interested, could you explain to me how your accountant saves you more than £1500 a year compared with what you'd be doing with a different accountant please?

[Old Greg]

I'm genuinely interested, could you explain to me how your accountant saves you more than £1500 a year compared with what you'd be doing with a different accountant please?

Compared to another accountant is difficult as I've not used one (and why I'm thinking of moving), but...

Advice re income splitting
Pro-active advice re my FRS 'band' (move from IT to management consultancy)
Sorting out appeal for late payment of self-assessment (long story re inability to get UTR no. off HMRC)
Advice on expenses

And importantly advice I have faith in and can act on with confidence.

[kaiser78]

Compared to another accountant is difficult as I've not used one (and why I'm thinking of moving), but...

Advice re income splitting
Pro-active advice re my FRS 'band' (move from IT to management consultancy)
Sorting out appeal for late payment of self-assessment (long story re inability to get UTR no. off HMRC)
Advice on expenses

And importantly advice I have faith in and can act on with confidence.

These areas should be bread and butter to any accountant, even at a much lower annual cost than the SJD costs (the whole point of this thread) ?

[Old Greg]

These areas should be bread and butter to any accountant, even at a much lower annual cost than the SJD costs (the whole point of this thread) ?

Possibly, but a lot of the conversation has been about bookkeeping, as opposed to tax advice. I found SJD were exactly what I needed when setting up - they are very responsive etc., but now that I know better what I'm doing I am now looking at value for money.