sjd accountancy

[ratewhore]

I'm with Vectraman on this. The contractors accountants are fine as far as it goes but it's a bog-standard service. I'm moving to a local accountant for the personal touch you don't get with companies of this nature.

That's not saying it's a bad service of course...

[Spartacus]

Quite. No accountant's going to be a hard working hero actively managing your accounts and suggesting all sorts of tax mitigation strategies for £50 - £75 / month

[simondolan]

Hi Guys,

Interesting comments there.

From what I can gather then we are doing everything that you need and the service is good, but you feel that a personal touch is missing sometimes?

I'd be really pleased to hear what you think we could do to address this, either mail me privately or posts here would be fine.

In terms of tax mitigation strategies, have a look at the following link which describes the sort of tax mitigation plans we offer to clients.
There isn't any other firm, high street or otherwise (that I am aware of), that provides this level of planning, for whatever the fee.

[meridian]

Hi Guys,

Interesting comments there.

From what I can gather then we are doing everything that you need and the service is good, but you feel that a personal touch is missing sometimes?

I'd be really pleased to hear what you think we could do to address this, either mail me privately or posts here would be fine.

In terms of tax mitigation strategies, have a look at the following link which describes the sort of tax mitigation plans we offer to clients.

There isn't any other firm, high street or otherwise (that I am aware of), that provides this level of planning, for whatever the fee.

Hi Simon,

Personally, "personal touch" to me would mean getting the impression (rightly or wrongly!) that my point-of-contact was doing everything he/she could to smooth the bumps, as it were, and make sure the basic level of service my company receives is as important to him/her as it is to me.

As an example, Matthew recently sent out a blanket e-mail suggesting that company payroll could be done via standing order with the Revenue. We didn't reply to this, assuming that our current instructions would stand, but inexplicably we didn't receive any further payroll for 2006/07. When questioned on this, our contact apologised but advised that "I do not run the actual payroll". That's fine, I can understand that and can chase up the payroll myself, but then what's the point of having a point-of-contact if they're not there to keep an eye on things and ensure that all non-replyers continued with their existing arrangements?

To a small company like ours on a basic level of service, having the little things done well means the difference between making a solid recommendation or simply saying "all accountants are the same".

Hope this helps....

[Spartacus]

MD: We need to listen to our clients and give them what they want.

Client: What I want is better products for free.

MD: Oh.



[with thanks to an ancient Dilbert strip]

[simondolan]

As an example, Matthew recently sent out a blanket e-mail suggesting that company payroll could be done via standing order with the Revenue. We didn't reply to this, assuming that our current instructions would stand, but inexplicably we didn't receive any further payroll for 2006/07. When questioned on this, our contact apologised but advised that "I do not run the actual payroll". That's fine, I can understand that and can chase up the payroll myself, but then what's the point of having a point-of-contact if they're not there to keep an eye on things and ensure that all non-replyers continued with their existing arrangements?

Thanks for coming back on this Meridian. To take this particular point, Matthew was putting forward an initiative which we thought would make the lives of our clients easier. Having just looked at the email it wasn't worded too well and does give the impression that things would remain the same if you didn't respond.

Knuckles wrapped on this one, and thanks again for the feedback.

[boredsenseless]

Thanks for coming back on this Meridian. To take this particular point, Matthew was putting forward an initiative which we thought would make the lives of our clients easier. Having just looked at the email it wasn't worded too well and does give the impression that things would remain the same if you didn't respond.

Knuckles wrapped on this one, and thanks again for the feedback.

I think the point is that no matter how good anyone is, for 75/125 a month you aren't going to get a personal service, you can come close but real tax planning and mitigation takes a lot of time and effort.

I agree the bespoke solution is good, and for a basic known fee its excellent in fact, but it is still mass-market. For anyone with more detailed affairs they will still need much more advice before proceeding.

None of this is meant to be a slight against sjd / 1st accounting etc, you seem to provide an excellent service that fits the majority very well. What I am trying to say is that too many contractors winge that they aren't getting personal service and cutting edge tax offsetting advice whilst at the same time expecting to pay 20 quid a month for the service 'cos it's just adding numbers isn't it!'

Hope you continue providing a good service to the majority, keep it up!

[Bradley]

Fees

I think the point is that no matter how good anyone is, for 75/125 a month you aren't going to get a personal service, you can come close but real tax planning and mitigation takes a lot of time and effort.

I agree the bespoke solution is good, and for a basic known fee its excellent in fact, but it is still mass-market. For anyone with more detailed affairs they will still need much more advice before proceeding.

I wouldn't let the size of the basic fee mislead you. I would think that most contractor specialist accountants make the majority of their profit via add on services eg commission from financial services work, IR35 opinions.

With a typical pension the commission taken is at least 1% up-front with a trail commission of 0.5% pa for as long as the pension fund is invested.

If you have a checklist of criteria, its not too hard to determine if someone is IR35 or not and therefore not too costly.

[simondolan]

I wouldn't let the size of the basic fee mislead you. I would think that most contractor specialist accountants make the majority of their profit via add on services eg commission from financial services work, IR35 opinions.

I can't speak for other firms, but we make less than 5% of our profits from add ons.

[Darren@UptonAccountants]

I wouldn't let the size of the basic fee mislead you. I would think that most contractor specialist accountants make the majority of their profit via add on services eg commission from financial services work, IR35 opinions.

With a typical pension the commission taken is at least 1% up-front with a trail commission of 0.5% pa for as long as the pension fund is invested.

If you have a checklist of criteria, its not too hard to determine if someone is IR35 or not and therefore not too costly.

Afraid not Bradley, we don't take commissions from IFA's or other sources, they're referred on merit alone.