Accountancy fees direct debit

[kingcook]

I prefer S/O largely due to the fact that I have control on the amount of money that leaves my bank account.

D/D has the guarantee that if anything goes wrong/too much collected/etc you can invoke the guarantee and everything is sweet -- the cynical side of me says that means spending hours on the phone/visiting your bank to prove that I really am in the right.

S/O for me.

[Maslins]

I can see both sides. I suspect I pissed some people off in the same way when I pushed for Standing Orders practice wide a decade or so ago.

It is a b2b relationship, but the two problems you can have as an accountant is (a) some of our clients - not CUK members I suspect - don't treat it as such, its more a b2c relationship with the amount of hand holding and imbalance of knowledge, and if thats the case you need to protect your revenue inflow from people who no matter how much you nag them are not able to keep sensible paperwork and manage their money. (b) the margins are thin, and cutting collection costs and bad debt risk helps.

But its a bit off they won't take a standing order, and I would tend to stand my ground there.

I'd agree with most of the above...though there is quite a difference for the accountant between standing order and direct debit. A few disadvantages of standing order:
- if amounts change, possibly due to VAT rates, extra charges or discounts, the client won't always reflect this. You can then end up with lots of small under/overpayments.
- admin-wise, they mean lots of individually small receipts into the bank. For our DDs we get one big receipt of all DDs collected that month. Makes it easier to reconcile our end.
- the above also helps with planning our expenditure, as we know exactly when we'll get a big wodge of cash.
- with standing orders the client sets the reference. Quite often we see clients set it as the current invoice number at the time they set it up...not so helpful for future months.
- bizarrely, we've had a few clients who paid by standing order leave, but not cancel the standing order. Yeah it might sound happy days, but we can't legitimately keep that money. One client 6 months on we were still nagging them to cancel the standing order and us refund the payments.

We don't have any additional charges for different payment methods, but I can see the temptation. I think if they'd worded it differently (eg "admin fee" rather than "fine"), whilst you still wouldn't have been over the moon, it might've annoyed you less.

[Jessica@WhiteFieldTax]

I can see both sides. I suspect I pissed some people off in the same way when I pushed for Standing Orders practice wide a decade or so ago.

It is a b2b relationship, but the two problems you can have as an accountant is (a) some of our clients - not CUK members I suspect - don't treat it as such, its more a b2c relationship with the amount of hand holding and imbalance of knowledge, and if thats the case you need to protect your revenue inflow from people who no matter how much you nag them are not able to keep sensible paperwork and manage their money. (b) the margins are thin, and cutting collection costs and bad debt risk helps.

But its a bit off they won't take a standing order, and I would tend to stand my ground there.

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

Accountancy fees direct debit

BTW it only takes logging into your business bank account to set up the direct debit.

That's a standing order. A direct debit needs to be set up by the payee. But it's still no effort.

[TheFaQQer]

It's not a fine, it's a levy for choosing to pay by a method which isn't their preferred one. Or think of it as a £5 a month increase, which they will waive if you pay by direct debit - same as many utility providers do.

[SueEllen]

It didn't help that their ultimatum was headed

URGENT: IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED

in red, 20 point text. Immediate action was required mainly because they sent the ultimatum so late, leaving only 7 days for arrangements to be made.

Then change accountants AND set up a monthly standing order.

Set the standing order up to arrive 2 business days BEFORE it is due. That way on months with bank holidays the accountant doesn't worry about you being a day or two late.

BTW it only takes logging into your business bank account to set up the direct debit.

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

Why isn't dd appropriate for a b2b relationship? We pay most of our costs by dd - insurance, rent, phone, software. Even my VAT and CT is paid by dd.

Seems odd that they are insisting but I guess it simplifies things if they have everything the same.

[unixman]

It didn't help that their ultimatum was headed

URGENT: IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED

in red, 20 point text. Immediate action was required mainly because they sent the ultimatum so late, leaving only 7 days for arrangements to be made.

[unixman]

I've paid my accountant by Direct Debit for over 20 years.

This is a place holder for my sweaty rant about hearts of oak, merrie England, the Magna Carta... etc. etc.

[unixman]

Would you prefer to pay their annual fee up front?

Allowing you to pay it monthly is a curtousy they are giving you. Paying by direct debit is to make sure they don't have to chase stragglers every month.

Is it that big a deal?

My post was only three quarters serious, but I must say monthly payments are common throughout industry and part of business, not a "courtesy". It would be absurd to speak of paying in advance for a year of accountancy service, or any service.

And they are not "allowing me to pay", they are taking the money. That is what a direct debit is. I offered to set up an automated payment, but they declined.

[cojak]

I pay by standing order. Don't they do that?

(Oh, and being a few days late 'once or twice' means that you HAVE been a late payer in the past.)

[jmo21]

Would you prefer to pay their annual fee up front?

Allowing you to pay it monthly is a curtousy they are giving you. Paying by direct debit is to make sure they don't have to chase stragglers every month.

Is it that big a deal?

[TheCoconutDog]

'

Is this normal ? What say you?

I've paid my accountant by Direct Debit for over 20 years.

[Kenny@MyAccountantFriend]

No it is not normal but I know which company is doing this now.

[unixman]

'Afternoon. I recently received an ultimatum from my account saying I must set up a direct debit to pay their monthly fee or be punished with a £5 fine every month. Been with them 3 years any never made a late payment (perhaps a few days once or twice).

As I see it, DD is not appropriate for a business to business relationship. I would not dream of asking a client to pay me by DD. For the record I would also not threaten them with "fines" or issue them with ultimatums generally. Who knows what other "fines" my accounts might come up with, and help themselves to, if I put a DD in place.

Is this normal ? What say you?