company name change

[catboy]

hi all,

i recently went to change my company name and my accountant said he'd do it. the way he said it made it sound like it was going to be included in the fee i pay him per month. he has just billed me for £105 +Vat so wants £126.

we didn't agree a price for this and i don't really feel like paying him that for something i could've filed myself for a tenner.

i worked with him years ago and thought he was ok (didn't know any different at the time).

it's fairly urgent that i need to get back to him as i'll need to find a new accountant if we fall out! any ideas on how much it should cost and how i approach him on this are welcome!

[Craig@Clarity]

It's a very simple procedure which will cost you either £8 or £10 depending on whether you do it online or via post. Here's a useful link Companies House prices

[Greg@CapitalCity]

Web filing the way to go

Yes, Craig@InTouch is right. The procedure is very straightforward with Companies House. You need to;

(1) Use the Companies House WebFiling service - from their homepage, select "Go to WebFiling", and once you get to the sign in page, click the link to register as a new user (unless you are already set-up of course!)
(2) Once you are set-up you will need the Companies House online filing PIN for your company. If you formed your company online, the PIN is probably in one of the emails you received. If your accountant formed your company and you have not been told your PIN, then ask him/her for it.
(3) Once you have the PIN for your company, log back into the the Companies House WebFiling service, and select either;
- Change of name standard service (£8 charge) - NM01
- Change of name same day service (£30 charge) - NM01

It may also be possible to file a paper form with Companies House, so long as your company is not part of the PROOF scheme (Information & Guidance - PROOF (PROtected Online Filing) Scheme) - but its slower. If you can, go for the online filing option.

[Sockpuppet]

For the sake of £126 is it really worth the hassle of finding a new accountant.

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

For the sake of £126 is it really worth the hassle of finding a new accountant.

If the accountant is charging £126 for a ten minute job then this is indicative of their fee structure, I reckon I'd be off as well. Its also poor form to carry out a job without agreeing the fee up front but that could be the fault of the OP not the accountant.

[catboy]

thanks guys, that's exactly what i thought, nice to have the confirmation though.

he'll be getting a fairy stern email tonight outlining the fact that i will pay him some (half?) of this invoice and in future everything is to be negotiated beforehand. if he's not happy then bye-bye...

[catboy]

so i spoke to the accountant who said he uses a 3rd party to do things like name changes who charge him 45 quid a time... not sure i believe it though. anyhow he's writing the cost of the whole thing off and i'm going to continue to use him for the moment. i will have to keep an eye on him. hopefully i'm not being too naive... but i am so busy i can't afford to spend more time on searching for another.