Nixon Williams

[moony1234]

I have to say i'm not very happy with NW...

I joined around the end of Feb/start of March and NW where very keen to get my business, plenty of phone calls, general chat and advice etc.

I thought NW seemed like an excellent company to be going with, and with my other half being a qualified accountant I wouldnt get much hassle as my side of things would be near perfect.. I had done plenty of research and read lots positive reviews.



So far I have dealt with at least 4 different "accountants", in 4 months I personally think that is ridiculous.

I have not had ANY phone calls since joining to discuss my tax, liabilities, etc etc. despite being promised on the sales chatter that I would get a call from my dedicated accountant to discuss maximising my income.


I have had numerous amounts of problems ranging from missing VAT returns to the "accountant" not understanding my simple request to log a cash transaction against my directors loan. The accountant mistakenly advised me that this would increase my tax liability [more like increased paperwork for NW...] and convinced me to agree to taking it as dividend...

3 months later [and 5 emails] and that payment STILL has not been marked up as dividend nor have I received the dividend paperwork for it... ridiculous...


The last mess/mistake is on my next due VAT return which they have put approx. £200 more VAT to be paid than should actually be paid. IMHO I should not, nor should my other half accountant, have to check every single thing NW do for me.


I'd also like to add that I am paying for the premium client service..... I have not seen any benefit in paying for this at all.


If NW do not improve a LOT over the next few months I will be leaving and requesting a refund due to the poor service provided.

I am NOT a senior accountant at NW, therefore the last thing I should be doing is emailing them pointing out mistakes which cost me money, not to mention the time involved.


The worrying thing is that a lot of people with NW may not even check their work, and may be overpaying on all sorts!!


I just hope they take my experiences onboard and improve greatly.

[Nixon Williams]

I have to say i'm not very happy with NW...

Please contact me so I can investigate, I am surprised at some of the matters you mention, but unless I know who you are, I cannot look into this for you.

Alan

[RichardCranium]

Based on what I have read on CUK, and being disappointed with my current couldn't-do-less accountant, I phoned Nixon Williams to say I wanted to transfer to them.

The two people I spoke to managed to put me off.

I was asking for "the works, damn the cost" and clarification of what would be expected of me. I couldn't get a straight answer out of either of them. The first came across as an air-headed receptionist and she eventually gave up making things up and put me on to someone else "who knows these things". The someone else gave me the impression I was wasting their time by asking what the service would cost (I did not get a straight answer) and asking how the accountant/client relationship works with Nixon Williams was clearly not an acceptable question.

That was about 3 months ago so I have done nothing about it.

[Nixon Williams]

Based on what I have read on CUK, and being disappointed with my current couldn't-do-less accountant, I phoned Nixon Williams to say I wanted to transfer to them.

The two people I spoke to managed to put me off.

I was asking for "the works, damn the cost" and clarification of what would be expected of me. I couldn't get a straight answer out of either of them. The first came across as an air-headed receptionist and she eventually gave up making things up and put me on to someone else "who knows these things". The someone else gave me the impression I was wasting their time by asking what the service would cost (I did not get a straight answer) and asking how the accountant/client relationship works with Nixon Williams was clearly not an acceptable question.

That was about 3 months ago so I have done nothing about it.

Sorry to hear about your experience of calling our office.

We are very transparaent regarding our costs - our Premier service is £75 + VAT per month and the Premier Plus is £95+VAT per month - both cover all the tax and accounting needs, the Premier Plus service provides an extra level of service etc.

I am not sure what you wanted to know about the client/accountant relationship, however all our clients are allocated a Account Controller/Manager and we are in the process of issuing direct phone numbers/email addressed to our existing clients.

If you wish to know anymore, then please feel free to PM me or contact me at the office.

Alan

[Lewis]

I've been with NW for over two years and overall I'm impressed. They have recently introduced a 'team' system, so when I call my team I tend to get the same person, but I don't have a dedicated accountant and my guess is that they are not all qualified accountants (some seem more admin/book-keeping types). They are always polite and friendly and always do what they say they are going to do, without exception.

They have never made a mistake worth mentioning . My year end was April and my year end accounts and returns were done and sent off some weeks ago. I have had five accountants in the past 12 years and none have turned around the year end so efficiently.

They are slightly cheaper than most, but I am confident I am getting the same level of service or higher than most. They are not perfect, I could list a handful of minor issues that I've had with them and I agree that I haven't had proactive phone calls saying "you could do this or that" . I file all my returns online myself and don't have them as my registered agent (as I have had some accountanting disasters before) this means extra manual work for them, but they have never complained. I know some people got annoyed with them for not checking how to answer the infamous P35 Qu 6 last year, but it seems most accountants did the same; I escaped the problem because I file all my returns online myself.

My biggest gripe is that you don't get a copy of your detailed accounts. As a result I keep track of everything on a spreadsheet and match up my figures with theirs as I only feel comfortable having all the detailed information to hand. Although, they do send a monthly summary which means you do get a high level overview of where you are each month.

In summary, they are not perfect, but everything considered, with them, my own spreadsheet and these forums, I feel more confident now than ever before with the accuracy of my accounts and I pay a lot less than the people sitting around me! I for one am pleased with my decision to go with them.

I hope this helps give a balanced opinion of NW for others.

[Amiga500]

I have to say i'm not very happy with NW...

I joined around the end of Feb/start of March and NW where very keen to get my business, plenty of phone calls, general chat and advice etc.

I thought NW seemed like an excellent company to be going with, and with my other half being a qualified accountant I wouldnt get much hassle as my side of things would be near perfect.. I had done plenty of research and read lots positive reviews.



So far I have dealt with at least 4 different "accountants", in 4 months I personally think that is ridiculous.

Agreed. I have just left Nixon Williams as I was fed up with being ****ed about. Long story short they cost me over £1000 and couldn't care less.

After failing to inform me of certain deadlines various people were then 'on holiday' and I was expected to wait whilst being fined by HMRC. Alan didn't even have the courtesy to reply to my emails and subordinated my requests to other people, his attitude has changed as the company has grown.

Over two years I must have dealt with a dozen different people, Alan is quick to defend the company (cue the response from Nixon Williams - the truth hurts right?) but couldn't give a tulip about helping actual existing long time customers.

Do not touch them with a barge pole.

People may argue they have had good experiences but it is just a matter of time. My current accountant has already had several people move over to them from Nixon Williams, stating that they are just a farmed out sweat shop accountants.

Nixon Williams - where you really are just a number.

[Lewis]

Agreed. I have just left Nixon Williams as I was fed up with being ****ed about. Long story short they cost me over £1000 and couldn't care less.

Out of interest how did they cost you £1000, that is a lot of money? I ask in case I too am ignorantly missing something. I get emails all the time telling me about various deadlines, what was the one you missed? Not taking sides, have never dealt with Alan myself, just curious, no worries if you don't want to share the details.

[Amiga500]

Out of interest how did they cost you £1000, that is a lot of money? I ask in case I too am ignorantly missing something. I get emails all the time telling me about various deadlines, what was the one you missed? Not taking sides, have never dealt with Alan myself, just curious, no worries if you don't want to share the details.

NW sock puppet.

[Lewis]

NW sock puppet.

Read my posts, all 910 of them, I think you'll find this is the first time I have ever mentioned Nixon Williams. I am nobody's sock puppet thanks. I simply put forward my own experiences of them. I'm pretty sure I haven't lost out £1000 so don't bother to answer that and I make sure I know all my own deadlines anyway (afterall there aren't actually very many) so once again it doesn't really matter which you missed. Was only curious. But not that curious.

[Amiga500]

Read my posts, all 910 of them, I think you'll find this is the first time I have ever mentioned Nixon Williams. I am nobody's sock puppet thanks. I simply put forward my own experiences of them. I'm pretty sure I haven't lost out £1000 so don't bother to answer that and I make sure I know all my own deadlines anyway (afterall there aren't actually very many) so once again it doesn't really matter which you missed. Was only curious. But not that curious.

Definitely a NW sock puppet.