How painful is it to switch to a different accountant?

[kaiser78]

I changed accountant very easily earlier this year - spoke to a few first and then decided who to go with. They then just sent a letter to the old accountant who is obliged to helpfully respond and the new one manages the transfer process.

Do the change though during low activity of your company financial year, not for example mid way through preparing end of year accounts etc !

Oh and I always go for a local based accountant with IT contractors on their books than the national ones you read about on here.

[manclarky]

I changed accountant very easily earlier this year - spoke to a few first and then decided who to go with. They then just sent a letter to the old accountant who is obliged to helpfully respond and the new one manages the transfer process.

Do the change though during low activity of your company financial year, not for example mid way through preparing end of year accounts etc !

I too changed very recently - from one that advertises quite heavily on this site to another that also advertises on this site. The transfer appears (so far) to have been seamless and my LtdCo is £120 a year better off.

[JamJarST]

Well, somehow they incorrectly calculated the flat rate VAT amount which I have to pay to HMRC.

Say I had two payments in the last quarter:
July 2011 - 0
August 2011 - 10k
September 2011 - 11k
Total: 21k
So VAT (14.5) should be 3045 GBP. Right?They come up with total of 21.5k and VAT 3117.5 GBP.

The numbers are not exactly like that but very close. No idea where 21.5K comes from, because in spreadsheet which they have provided I clearly entered amount of income 21k.

Wrong, it is 14.5% of your gross not 14.5% of your net, which is £25200 (£21 000 + £4 200 VAT) so should be £3654 (£25200 * 14.5%)

Seems SJD might be right and you might be wrong. As to the additional money, did you earn interest?

[gemasp]

Wrong, it is 14.5% of your gross not 14.5% of your net, which is £25200 (£21 000 + £4 200 VAT) so should be £3654 (£25200 * 14.5%)

Seems SJD might be right and you might be wrong. As to the additional money, did you earn interest?

I didn't say that 21k is net amount. It does includes 20% of VAT already.

[JamJarST]

I didn't say that 21k is net amount. It does includes 20% of VAT already.

Ok right sorry, I see your point. So the problem is the additional £500 then, did you have any interest income?

[gemasp]

Ok right sorry, I see your point. So the problem is the additional £500 then, did you have any interest income?

not really. Their explanation was:

The reason for the difference is that the spreadsheet is formulated to calculate VAT at 17.5% not 20% which means your net figures are incorrect.

I have amended the spreadsheet and amended the vat figures as both your estimation and our figures were incorrect once the changes had been made

Please ensure you use this spreadsheet going forward.

Which doesn't explain how they calculated VAT numbers correctly for two previous quarters.

[northernladuk]

Oh and I always go for a local based accountant with IT contractors on their books than the national ones you read about on here.

SJD is one of the 'national' ones you read about on here but they have local offices so my accountant is local to me. Not that I have ever needed to meet him in 2+ years. Email and phones have done away with all that.

[MintyBloke]

Bear in mind your next accountant may not be any better. I have had similar problems with nixonwilliams and now have to check everything they do which kind of defeats the point. The grass is not always greener...

[SueEllen]

Bear in mind your next accountant may not be any better. I have had similar problems with nixonwilliams and now have to check everything they do which kind of defeats the point. The grass is not always greener...

You are suppose to check what your accountant does.

I've met people who run other businesses who have been ripped off simply because they never checked what their accountant did until a friend of theirs mentioned it.

[Martin at NixonWilliams]

Bear in mind your next accountant may not be any better. I have had similar problems with nixonwilliams and now have to check everything they do which kind of defeats the point. The grass is not always greener...

Hi MintyBloke

I'm sorry to hear you have experienced a few problems with us. Is there anything you would like me to look into for you to see how things have happened?

If there is please do get in touch, either via PM or email (martin at nixonwilliams.com).

Thanks
Martin