Changing accountant to online software

[ali beda]

Hi,

Hoping someone can help. I have been using an accountant who has just increased his fees. I cannot justify paying him what I have been doing in the past. I'm looking to use something whereby I can do the accounts myself and have been recommended Xero. Can anyone recommend something similar or what I should be looking at paying as I want to either change accountants to something much cheaper or do them myself.

Thanks

Ali

[Clare@InTouch]

If you're comfortable that you don't need the advice that goes with an accountant then either Xero or Freeagent are good options. Freeagent is getting increasingly good in regards to online filing of VAT, Payroll and now tax returns (it's still not perfect, but getting better with new releases).

If you want a bit of help and advice along with a techi system, try Crunch. I think they have various levels of service depending on what suits you.

If you want a bit more help and advice, or the reassurance of having an accountant on hand, try just calling a few specialist firms within the price ranger you're looking to pay. A decent accountant should be able to save you tax, and therefore justify their fee. They are also handy to have around if HMRC start asking questions.

[garethevans1986]

We were in the same situation as yourself at the start of this year and moved to Xero, our accountant was useless and we were chasing him for everything, even pay slips etc, so we found a local accountant (recommendation) who dealt with Xero and we've managed to cut our accountancy bill in half. Even he said, most of the work is done for him by Xero and to produce P/L, end of year reports he just presses a button, but can give us what we really want and need and that is our accountant giving us the advice we need rather than typing in receipts/invoices!

Xero is awesome and has a .NET API so I'm building a dashboard as such which gives me a list of outstanding and overdue invoices and can drill down to per customer too.

We're pretty happy with Xero

GE

[genjokoan]

Xero Accountant Recommendation?

Hi Gareth,
would you care to share the name of the recommended accountant?

I'm using Xero myself for two years now. However, I'm at the point where I'd like an accountant's help filing end of year stuff and some advice on various things.

Best wishes,
Max

[zedAccounts]

Hi,

Hoping someone can help. I have been using an accountant who has just increased his fees. I cannot justify paying him what I have been doing in the past. I'm looking to use something whereby I can do the accounts myself and have been recommended Xero. Can anyone recommend something similar or what I should be looking at paying as I want to either change accountants to something much cheaper or do them myself.

Thanks

Ali

You may wish to google zedAccounts to try a free accounting package.

ZED.

[Lumiere]

What is the best time to switch from a real accountant to online software, right after the company year end ?

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

What is the best time to switch from a real accountant to online software, right after the company year end ?

At the point when you understand completely your responsibilities as a Director of a company

[d000hg]

Do any of the usual suspects specialising in contractor accountancy offer reduced rates to customers doing the bulk of the work themselves with tools like Xero/FreeAgent? Either publicly or when you tell them you want to do your own accounts?

[Craig at Nixon Williams]

At the year end makes sense from a financial perspective insofar as you will not be paying two sets of fees for the same period.

[JonNorris@Crunch]

If you want a bit of help and advice along with a techi system, try Crunch. I think they have various levels of service depending on what suits you.

If you want a bit more help and advice, or the reassurance of having an accountant on hand, try just calling a few specialist firms within the price ranger you're looking to pay.

Hey, just wanted to correct this - it's a common misconception about Crunch. We're a full accounting service as well as software, so you get as much help and advice as you want, you can speak to an accountant if you need to etc. etc. - it's a very similar service to most contractor accountancy firm, but we build our own software too!