Switching Accountants

[19HoursADay]

I'm looking to switch accountants, mainly because the scope of my work has grown and I would like to switch from having to use my accountants methods for keeping books, to using something like OpenBooks/FreeAgent to help me manage other aspects including subcontractor payments and more effective invoice handling. Hopefully this will save me having both systems and having to enter everything in both places, and keep from any errors cropping up.

Are there any pitfalls to switching accountants? Should I wait till end of FY? Any help would be most welcome.

19HAD

[Clare@InTouch]

It should be easy - you let the old accountant know, the new accountant then writes for handover and is provided with copies of any prior data such as tax returns, accounts etc. Most of the time it goes smoothly and the client doesn't notice any difficulty at all. The one thing I'd add is that professional accountants (ICAEW, ACCA etc) have an obligation to act professionally on handover whereas unregulated ones do not.

The time you chose to leave can have a bearing, it depends whether the new accountant is going to charge for past months (some do in order to make up the full fee) and how much you've paid your current accountant. If your year end is March and you've paid monthly to date, makes sense to stay until April, then move. You shouldn't have to wait until the accounts themselves are prepared though, just the fees paid past the year end.

Can your current accountant not continue to work with you if you use Freeagent?

[19HoursADay]

No, they have their own system that does about 40% of what FreeAgent does; and ask me to put everything into that. I haven't asked the question directly however. I may do. Thanks.

[Jeremiah@RHJAccountants]

I Agree with what Claire said it is easy to switch accountants so it is just a case a of finding one that offers the service you need.

Be wary of accountants that try and charge you catch up fees for your current year accounts on top of a monthly fee.

[Joeman]

No, they have their own system that does about 40% of what FreeAgent does; and ask me to put everything into that. I haven't asked the question directly however. I may do. Thanks.

I went with K&B, very much influenced by the software they use. (Freeagent/IRIS OpenBooks).. makes life much simpler than spreadsheets!!