Is it possible to have two different accountants for two seperate Limited companies

[eliquant]

Is it possible to have two different accountants for two seperate Limited companies of which you are the Company Director ?

So say you are registered with an accountant (and he calculates both your company and personal tax liability) but you then decide to close that company down but before doing so you ask a completely different accountant to start up a new limited company for conracting so you are for a time running two companies in parallel ... is this ok ? legal etc or not ? or can I only be with one accountant at any time for limited companies ?

[Clare@InTouch]

Absolutely fine. We have a couple of clients who have old companies being closed by their prior accountant and who have then started a new company with us. If both accountants are regulated by a professional body such as the ICAEW then they will correspond with each other (with client permission) to ensure the tax situation is correct overall.

[philip@wellwoodhoyle]

No ethical problems - just make sure that both accountants know about the other and they both know what you're doing as regards the two companies. You can't keep it secret from each other as having two companies on the go does have consequences, such as having to disclose the number of associate companies on the corporation tax return (potentially affect small companies tax rate), disclosure of "other directorships" at Companies House, etc., not to mention disclosure in the accounts of each if there are any loans or trading between them. Also, think about VAT - if both companies have any common customers, suppliers, infrastructure, inter-company trading, you may find VAT registration implications, so if either accountant deals with your VAT, they need to know.