Nixon Williams increase rates

[psychocandy]

Got my letter from NW. To be fair to them though they are very good and £75+VAT was a bit of a bargain. I used to pay my last accountant more than that and he did bugger all for the money.

Not sure of the £20+VAT per month price hike - its a fair bit in one chunk and I wonder if they'd have been better off with smaller price hikes. Trouble is I fear people are going to look at this and try and get cheaper.

Personally, the service is so good from NW that I'll stay with them anyway.

[SimonMac]

What do you guys use your accountants for? So far I have done everything myself and I prefer to have the control that it allows, I may get them to look at end of year books (I am wanting to re mortgage next year so this will need a letter from the accountant). I know people say a good accountant should save you more than they cost but for us most tasks are pretty straight forward, with a little steering along the way with questions on here.

[northernladuk]

What do you guys use your accountants for? So far I have done everything myself and I prefer to have the control that it allows, I may get them to look at end of year books (I am wanting to re mortgage next year so this will need a letter from the accountant). I know people say a good accountant should save you more than they cost but for us most tasks are pretty straight forward, with a little steering along the way with questions on here.

For peace of mind and cover my ass even though the ultimate reponsibility sits with me. Also bounce questions off as new opportunities come about i.e. buying company car and maybe save more than I pay them with prompt and correct response. There is an element of laziness about not doing what I possible could but I sleep soundly at night. Makes my life that bit easier for the right price..

There is also the fact I can drop in the term 'my accountant' when I speak to my friends, family and random strangers and also my current lady sounds lovely on the phone so look forward to finding out she does wear a pin stripe skirt suit, hair up, red lippie and sits on the edge of the desk when discussing my finances.

[prozak]

What do you guys use your accountants for? So far I have done everything myself and I prefer to have the control that it allows, I may get them to look at end of year books (I am wanting to re mortgage next year so this will need a letter from the accountant). I know people say a good accountant should save you more than they cost but for us most tasks are pretty straight forward, with a little steering along the way with questions on here.

+1

Except for my recent frustration at having to change software. Other than all the great help you can get here, I've also been known to supplment my knowledge with books from TaxCafe.

Having said that my degree had core accounting subjects in it and a lot of the other subjects required accounting knowledge so your mileage may differ.

ps. Had I known how much of a cash cow being a contractors accountant could be I would have stuck with accounting!.. maybe there is my plan B!

[d000hg]

Yeah £20+VAT a month extra (27%) is more than just inflationary pressure! (the reason stated for the increase) However, mine is deferred for a while...

I wouldn't mind if they did something extra for it... what extra above 'the bare minimum', as you say, would you want them to be doing?

When did NW last change their prices? If it has been say 3 years, then 25% is not exactly crazy.

£75 seemed a very common price a couple of years ago - NW, Quay, etc... one by one they all raised them and time a bunch of people jumped ship only to find their own provider caught up... apart from ClearSky that is who went from £75 to £120 or something!

[northernladuk]

I would guess everytime we have an accountant recommendation thread the NW users have pointed out they haven't had a rate rise and SJD and other have. Maybe have been better to keep schtum

[stuart_75]

Just started using Primus, 60+vat/month. Been very helpful so far.

[KittyCat]

Doing your own accounts?

What do you guys use your accountants for? So far I have done everything myself and I prefer to have the control that it allows, I may get them to look at end of year books (I am wanting to re mortgage next year so this will need a letter from the accountant). I know people say a good accountant should save you more than they cost but for us most tasks are pretty straight forward, with a little steering along the way with questions on here.

I do my own too - & just keep up-to-date with HMRC policies - I'm wondering if I'm missing something tho?

if accountants pay for themselves I wonder what they know that I dont?

when I first started doing mine I called HMRC for every query - in a nutshell they said as long as your accounts are a true reflection - so thats what I do - I know another contractor who's accountant is claiming for home office etc who lives in London with a huge mortgage - but doesn't work from home? & is claiming 25% of the total household bills even though it is not actually used for work - this is done thru an accountant? even claiming for clothes for work? as an IT Contractor?

personally I think thats well dodgy I know they pretty much dont investigate but hey if your doing that with really no justification - you might be the one they do investigate?

[Waldorf]

In my view it is all about time, I think I am typical in that I earn quite a good income but I never seem to have time to do everything I want or need to do.

Whilst I am sure I have the intelligence to do my own accounts if I wanted to do the research etc, I neither want to nor, more importantly, do I have the time to do it.

I pay someone to prepare and take care of my accounts and tax and I am very happy that they do so in an efficient manner.

On top of this, they do sometimes make suggestions to help me pay less tax.

Anyone who is attempting to do their own accounts seriously needs to look at their priorities, because if their life is anything like mine, you should get someone to do this for you and get some control of your life back.

[Wanderer]

When did NW last change their prices? If it has been say 3 years, then 25% is not exactly crazy.

I wish my rates had gone up by 25% in the last 3 years...