Accountant recommendation threads inc local requests

[ITcon]

I can recommend propitious consulting always been very helpful and cheaper than my last accountants, know of a few contractors who use them and are happy.

[DolanContractorGroup]

I went with NW about 1.5 years ago. Everything was very good - my accountant helped me with lots of stuff and even managed to 'carefully' employ and split shares with my partner. Apart from a couple of bugs with their Vantage site, all was more or less OK.
The guy assigned to take care of me left about 8 months ago and from there it just went downhill. Now I have to wait for a response for at least 2-4 days, when previously it took him 2-3 hours to respond. Their responses usually ask for clarification which then postpones the answer for another couple days. The more I use their Vantage site the more rubbish it seems to me. Past dividends (before the adjustment of shares) shows incorrectly. Current accounting period gets disabled and for 2-3 days I see the accounting period that ended last year as 'CURRENT'. No way to do backups. No app. Entries got missing from the bank transaction list.

Try an accountant with FreeAgent, will be a revelation!

[rocketjet]

I went with NW about 1.5 years ago. Everything was very good - my accountant helped me with lots of stuff and even managed to 'carefully' employ and split shares with my partner. Apart from a couple of bugs with their Vantage site, all was more or less OK.
The guy assigned to take care of me left about 8 months ago and from there it just went downhill. Now I have to wait for a response for at least 2-4 days, when previously it took him 2-3 hours to respond. Their responses usually ask for clarification which then postpones the answer for another couple days. The more I use their Vantage site the more rubbish it seems to me. Past dividends (before the adjustment of shares) shows incorrectly. Current accounting period gets disabled and for 2-3 days I see the accounting period that ended last year as 'CURRENT'. No way to do backups. No app. Entries got missing from the bank transaction list.

#metoo

As soon as my accountant left for the second time the service went downhill. I escalated my concerns which fell upon death ears so I left and it’s the best decision I ever made.

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

Fair enough. Although I gave up on the mega-corporate one when their service drifted from excellent down to not only miserable but also ignoring the realities on MyCo's position. All I'm saying is there has to be a middle ground between faceless sausage factory and too small to keep up with our specific marketplace (which was where my first accountant fell down many years ago...).

I’d say most of the active accountants on here hit they mark, no? Dynamo, Maslins, Jessica, dare I say it, myself, all have that balance.

[malvolio]

@NLUK are you suggesting a new contractor when considering accountants is likely to get a list together, download the latest statutory accounts from Companies House for each of them, review their balance sheets, and make a comparison based on this?! I imagine most will either go with the accountant their agency recommends (probably a bad idea) or go with the one a friend/colleague recommends (probably a good idea).

@Mal yeah I accept a one man band will be perceived as higher risk than a big corporate accountancy firm, especially if the one man band only started up last week and the corporate has been going for decades. Whether the big corporate provides a better service...I wonder if perhaps the opposite is true. However you can perhaps feel fairly confident the minimum requirements will get done with the corporate.

It's too late for Maslins this year, but maybe I'll delay divis where poss till just after year end next year so everyone thinks the biz has gone from high risk to really stable!

Fair enough. Although I gave up on the mega-corporate one when their service drifted from excellent down to not only miserable but also ignoring the realities on MyCo's position. All I'm saying is there has to be a middle ground between faceless sausage factory and too small to keep up with our specific marketplace (which was where my first accountant fell down many years ago...).

[Maslins]

@NLUK are you suggesting a new contractor when considering accountants is likely to get a list together, download the latest statutory accounts from Companies House for each of them, review their balance sheets, and make a comparison based on this?! I imagine most will either go with the accountant their agency recommends (probably a bad idea) or go with the one a friend/colleague recommends (probably a good idea).

@Mal yeah I accept a one man band will be perceived as higher risk than a big corporate accountancy firm, especially if the one man band only started up last week and the corporate has been going for decades. Whether the big corporate provides a better service...I wonder if perhaps the opposite is true. However you can perhaps feel fairly confident the minimum requirements will get done with the corporate.

It's too late for Maslins this year, but maybe I'll delay divis where poss till just after year end next year so everyone thinks the biz has gone from high risk to really stable!

[ndl]

Disappointed with NW

I went with NW about 1.5 years ago. Everything was very good - my accountant helped me with lots of stuff and even managed to 'carefully' employ and split shares with my partner. Apart from a couple of bugs with their Vantage site, all was more or less OK.
The guy assigned to take care of me left about 8 months ago and from there it just went downhill. Now I have to wait for a response for at least 2-4 days, when previously it took him 2-3 hours to respond. Their responses usually ask for clarification which then postpones the answer for another couple days. The more I use their Vantage site the more rubbish it seems to me. Past dividends (before the adjustment of shares) shows incorrectly. Current accounting period gets disabled and for 2-3 days I see the accounting period that ended last year as 'CURRENT'. No way to do backups. No app. Entries got missing from the bank transaction list.

[malvolio]

Agreed that net worth is only a minor indicator of possible problems However the two numbers that give that net worth aren't all that impressive either.

I was basically pondering where the balance point between mega-corporate business income and one-man band income actually lies in order to give us clients some level of confidence in the company that is advising us, especially given that non-accountants at perfectly at liberty to act as accountants...

[northernladuk]

But a fairly new guy isn't going to understand any of what Maslins and Jessica say so they will still take it in face value. You have to see it from a newbies perspespective. They are looking for so someone to manage their money so such low amount is going raise alarm bells, albeit wrong in some cases.

[Jessica@WhiteFieldTax]

[QUOTE=Maslins;2540951]

Second time I've seen someone comment along these lines (different firm each time). Is the concern that by having modest net assets the company may be in trouble and not around much longer? The Maslins year end is a few days away, and our closing net assets will likely be a bit below that, didn't realise it might put people off.

Personally I feel it's a bit silly, as assuming the company is profitable, it's fairly easily manipulated by timing of dividends.
Eg company A and company B both have £100k retained profits in run up to end of March (and let's assume that's their year end).
Company A declares an £80k dividend 31 March, year end accounts show net assets £20k.
Company B delays a day, declaring an £80k dividend 1 April, year end accounts show net assets £100k.
Is company B any healthier than company A?

Or could be because intangibles are purchased or internally generated?

IMV it shows good extraction planning... I'm trying to get my retained profit down year on year - its £135k or so at present, so hopefully under £100k this year.