Crunch accountant or personal one ?

[RustyWire]

My tuppenceworth. Been with crunch for 18 months, as others have said good, Intuitive software, anything standard is dealt with promptly and efficiently, however anything out of the box is a struggle and no tax efficiency advice at all, even last tax year before the divi tax came in.

My biggest and worrying gripe though is that the software made a 'mistake' at year end showing my loan account several thousand overstated, which would have cost me a fair wedge in tax had I not highlighted it -

even then it took two phone calls and an hour of my time to get past the Account Manager who simply couldn't understand what I was saying and basically kept insisting the software had to be right. Only through sheer persistence did I get through to a real accountant who understood and got it sorted. - it was indeed a system generated transaction that had gone wrong.

I'm on the lowest package, good value at £64.50+vat.

In summary, not good enough for me enough to recommend due to issues above, but not bad enough for me to go elsewhere.

'the software made a 'mistake' at year end showing my loan account several thousand overstated,'

Exactly the same problem that I have been trying to resolve over last couple of months - I'm owed several thou in unreimbursed expenses but my directors load shows as overdrawn ever though I've not taken out any loans or undeclared dividends.

Crunch should be able to cross ref my expenses claims to my reconciled bank accounts to see what reimbursements are still outstanding. As they don't seem to understand that concept, then it looks like I'm going to have to transfer to another accountant that may charge more but doesn't waste my time.

[Fred Bloggs]

'the software made a 'mistake' at year end showing my loan account several thousand overstated,'

Exactly the same problem that I have been trying to resolve over last couple of months - I'm owed several thou in unreimbursed expenses but my directors load shows as overdrawn ever though I've not taken out any loans or undeclared dividends.

Crunch should be able to cross ref my expenses claims to my reconciled bank accounts to see what reimbursements are still outstanding. As they don't seem to understand that concept, then it looks like I'm going to have to transfer to another accountant that may charge more but doesn't waste my time.

If only they used FreeAgent, eh?

[eek]

If only they used FreeAgent, eh?

Crunch tried being software only for a while (about 4 years ago). The sausage factory approach was far more profitable (possibly because they priced their software too cheaply in the first place)..

[Fred Bloggs]

Crunch tried being software only for a while (about 4 years ago). The sausage factory approach was far more profitable (possibly because they priced their software too cheaply in the first place)..

As I see it, Crunch and others with their own portal solution are simply reinventing the wheel, when a very good contractor focused solution is already available. I would have thought that an accountancy practise rolling out FA would be close to the ultimate one size fits all sausage factory. 99% of contractors aren't so different that a standard FA implementation can't cope with it?

[eek]

As I see it, Crunch and others with their own portal solution are simply reinventing the wheel, when a very good contractor focused solution is already available. I would have thought that an accountancy practise rolling out FA would be close to the ultimate one size fits all sausage factory. 99% of contractors aren't so different that a standard FA implementation can't cope with it?

It's probably unfair to say crunch were reinventing the wheel. When they started off free agent wasn't that great

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

It's probably unfair to say crunch were reinventing the wheel. When they started off free agent wasn't that great

Not crunch perhaps, but certainly a lot of others. There's a bit of ego involved in having your own app I think, especially when it's going to be difficult to match freeagent or the like.

[dingdong]

I've used Crunch for yours without any issues as have thousands of other happy customers hence why they continue to be a market leader. You can immediately see the impact on your directors account anytime you make record expenses, dividends or make any payments.

I'm quite sure there are individuals who end up in a mess regardless of what package or firm they use.

Anytime I email crunch with an accounting question it is passed onto an accountant to deal with and year end accounts are always reviewed by two accountants before being submitted.

[pr1]

Crunch and others with their own portal solution are simply reinventing the wheel

it's very hard to fold once you're pot committed! [/pokerreference]

[Fred Bloggs]

it's very hard to fold once you're pot committed! [/pokerreference]

Quite. Doesn't mean they made a good business decision though. As I see it, FA is close to gaining real critical mass in the industry now. The ability to be able to move all your accounts across to a new FA accountant whenever you want to effectively locks the likes of Crunch out of a huge and growing portion of the market. IMO, of course.

[saptastic]

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