Have I been had?

[BolshieBastard]

According to the OP himself, there's more than an hour's work there (what with the follow up stuff). £450 sounds like 3 hours to me. You *should* have a letter of engagement that you signed when you began using this accountant. Check this and I suspect that you'll see that you haven't been 'ripped off'.

Personally, I'd rather pay good money for good advice than peanuts for bad advice. So think about how much the accountant may have saved you before jumping ship.

Agree with this especially about paying for quality advice.

If it is 3 hours work then the fee isnt too bad. OP needs to find out how much 'work' was done to be able to form a better picture.

[aoxomoxoa]

Thanks all, I just wanted to gauge opinion and don't have any intention of jumping ship, especially as it's my own fault I didn't ask for a quote up front. I've written and explained to the accountant that the charge was somewhat more than I was expecting and have asked for a breakdown, and will take it from there.

And I agree that good advice is worth paying for, and I have no reason to doubt the quality of the advice offered.