Nixon Williams

[Dark Black]

Don't think it's on their website, but when they queried a couple of months without invoices and I told them I was benched they told me to reduce my standing order

Oooh... I didn't know this either... phone call in order I think, especially as I was off for several months last year whilst we where sorting/selling/moving house...

[gingerjedi]

Oooh... I didn't know this either... phone call in order I think, especially as I was off for several months last year whilst we where sorting/selling/moving house...

I was off for months last year too and I didn't know then either, I can’t see them paying it back retrospectively.

I hope Alan is pleased with the potential new custom this little bit of info has brought rather than cursing me for letting the cat out of the bag.

[TheRefactornator]

I was off for months last year too and I didn't know then either, I can’t see them paying it back retrospectively.

I hope Alan is pleased with the potential new custom this little bit of info has brought rather than cursing me for letting the cat out of the bag.

It's much appreciated GJ
I got the right response today when I asked; an immediate reduction to £34.50 pcm, but no response yet on my request for retrospective compensation. I asked them if it's possible for me to stay on the reduced rate for a fixed number of months once busy again, to compensate me for paying full whack since last Oct when myCo became dormant..well you can only try.

[Epiphone]

If this is official policy I'm struggling to see why clients have to ask for it. Their website says 'pro-active'. Shouldn't they notice a lack of invoices and 'pro-actively' inform clients of the reduced rate...

[moorfield]

Their website says 'pro-active'. Shouldn't they notice a lack of invoices and 'pro-actively' inform clients of the reduced rate...

Don't believe the "we do it all for you" hype. Regardless of who your accountant is you should be the proactive one, not your accountant. This
is doubly important when it comes to checking your year end accounts, rather than just blindly signing them off.

[Nixon Williams]

If this is official policy I'm struggling to see why clients have to ask for it. Their website says 'pro-active'. Shouldn't they notice a lack of invoices and 'pro-actively' inform clients of the reduced rate...

Despite our requests for clients to submit their details on a monthly basis, not all do so. We do not know if you have ceased trading usless you tell us.

Don't believe the "we do it all for you" hype. Regardless of who your accountant is you should be the proactive one, not your accountant. This
is doubly important when it comes to checking your year end accounts, rather than just blindly signing them off.

We do as much as we can to explain annual accounts to our clients, we send a simple guide what to look for and phone all clients to discuss the draft accounts. Some take a keen interest and some do not, we cannot force a client to do something they have no desire to do.

I totally agree that accounts should be checked, sadly from our experience of taking over from other accountants, not only do some clients not check their accounts, neither does the "accountant".

Alan: is this official NW policy for benched clients?

Provided a client advises us in advance then we do operate a policy of half fees, simply to reflect the reduced workload when there are no invoices etc. This reduced fee only applies if the company is totally dormant, ie no invoices, expenses, salaries etc. The personal tax return would only be included if a client has paid at least 6 months full fees in the relevant tax year and submits the tax return to us by 31st July (after the tax year)

I hope this explains.

Alan

[MrNoMotivation]

I'm currently with SJD but because of this thread I'm thinking of changing to Nixon.
Currently paying £97.75 pm.
Could save nearly £30 pm / £350pa.
Over 10yrs that's a serious amount of money.
Can't think of a reason not to change.
Can anyone else?
Will call Nixon tomorrow to have a chat me thinks.

[Epiphone]

Despite our requests for clients to submit their details on a monthly basis, not all do so. We do not know if you have ceased trading usless you tell us.

Fair enough on the ones that don't send things in monthly but do you just process each months invoices etc independently or have a quick look at previous months to see a pattern? I.e. if no invoices were raised in May would your staff say "I'll just check April and March and let the client know about our fee policy" or would they just do May and then June etc on their own?

We do as much as we can to explain annual accounts to our clients, we send a simple guide what to look for and phone all clients to discuss the draft accounts.

Really? Never had a call last year to discuss the draft accounts. Got a letter to say check and sign off if happy but no call from you guys.

Some take a keen interest and some do not, we cannot force a client to do something they have no desire to do.

Agreed, it is a two way street after all.

Provided a client advises us in advance then we do operate a policy of half fees, simply to reflect the reduced workload when there are no invoices etc. This reduced fee only applies if the company is totally dormant, ie no invoices, expenses, salaries etc. The personal tax return would only be included if a client has paid at least 6 months full fees in the relevant tax year and submits the tax return to us by 31st July (after the tax year)

I hope this explains.

Alan

Perhaps it's worth making this policy more transparent so clients know about it from you and not an Internet forum.

It all probably sounds like I've got the knives out for Nixon Williams which isn't true but it is frustrating to hear you say one thing should happen but your staff aren't carrying that through. You're one of the better firms out there and obviously care otherwise you wouldn't be here answering our moans but maybe a stomp around in your hob nailed boots kicking some asses wouldn't go amiss.

[Nixon Williams]

Really? Never had a call last year to discuss the draft accounts. Got a letter to say check and sign off if happy but no call from you guys.

We sent the draft accounts to you on 22nd May 2008 and we made an attempt to call you on 3rd June 2008, we also emailed you the same day. You approved the accounts on 6th June 2008 - so by approving them it was assumed that you were happy with them and no follow up was required.

As you know, you can always contact us if there is anything to discuss, all included in the fee.

I note your other comments, as we do not yet employ robots, mistakes are sometimes made but when they do, we do all we can to rectify the situation.

Alan

[Moscow Mule]

I'm currently with SJD but because of this thread I'm thinking of changing to Nixon.
Currently paying £97.75 pm.
Could save nearly £30 pm / £350pa.
Over 10yrs that's a serious amount of money.
Can't think of a reason not to change.
Can anyone else?
Will call Nixon tomorrow to have a chat me thinks.

much less than a month's profit and not worth the hassle IMO. YMMV.