Reply to: Assigned my 3rd accountant in 15 months

[BlandResponsibleName]

Seeing as it's common practice in IT to email support@something and not really care about the identity of the person on the other end of a web chat, as long as they solve your issues, why should we complain about how accountants manage their service?

Having said that, the more often my accountant is changed the more I think that the service, or at least my accounts, can't really be very complicated and I might as well choose the one with the lowest cost.

I suppose they could go the Tesco "Some nice sounding farm name that doesn't exist" route, inventing people, with fixed names and characters, that apparently stay with you forever but are just managed by backroom staff. I've never called my accountant, let alone met any of them.

[simondolan]

I have not been concerned about competencies, even the new chap who is looking after my accounts seems to be on the ball. Filing my personal tax return and informing me of a nice bit of tax refund, which is a little more than i expected. (No matter who the accountant is or how experienced i always double check everything as end of the day I am responsible for my own tax affairs)

Good for you. You sound like the ideal client!

[aa2006]

Am sure they have all been promoted to team leaders to cope with the growth. Just hope the current one doesn't struggle with the basics.....

I have not been concerned about competencies, even the new chap who is looking after my accounts seems to be on the ball. Filing my personal tax return and informing me of a nice bit of tax refund, which is a little more than i expected. (No matter who the accountant is or how experienced i always double check everything as end of the day I am responsible for my own tax affairs)

[aa2006]

As was suggested by a "well-known" poster, i sent over my concerns to the MD and asked that my name be added to the bottom of their list to move people.

Also that this poster has volunteered to take my place in any subsequent changes to accountants

[simondolan]

Was just checking my records for something else and noticed the name of another accountant i had forgotten about, so it's not 3 accountants it's actually 4 in 15 months. My first accountant was with me for about a month, forgot about him completely.

I should just brush it off but the fact i mentioned the constant changing of accountants was one of the main reason for leaving SJD and this time round it's worse.

Am sure they have all been promoted to team leaders to cope with the growth. Just hope the current one doesn't struggle with the basics.....

[aa2006]

Was just checking my records for something else and noticed the name of another accountant i had forgotten about, so it's not 3 accountants it's actually 4 in 15 months. My first accountant was with me for about a month, forgot about him completely.

I should just brush it off but the fact i mentioned the constant changing of accountants was one of the main reason for leaving SJD and this time round it's worse.

[simondolan]

Looks like you've got a thing or two to learn about accountancy Simon

:-) Learning all the time....

[simondolan]

In this instance that is not the case, I was told because of their expansion and being assigned more responsibility i would be assigned a new accountant to "maintain the same level of service".

Which I believe since my last accountant is in my linkedin profile and his role changed from accountant to team leader or something

So what you mean is the good ones move on and you get transferred to a trainee?

[pr1]

Looks like you've got a thing or two to learn about accountancy Simon

[aa2006]

Its usually a sign of people leaving, for whatever reason.

In this instance that is not the case, I was told because of their expansion and being assigned more responsibility i would be assigned a new accountant to "maintain the same level of service".

Which I believe since my last accountant is in my linkedin profile and his role changed from accountant to team leader or something

[simondolan]

I wouldn't worry, its usually a sign of them being good and moving on to other roles. What you really don't want is to get stuck with the same one for years because they are struggling with the basics!!!

Its usually a sign of people leaving, for whatever reason.

Continuity of accountant may or may not be a good thing (I think it is), but to suggest having the same one for years is because they are struggling with the basics is a bizarre argument

[JoJoGabor]

I wouldn't worry, its usually a sign of them being good and moving on to other roles. What you really don't want is to get stuck with the same one for years because they are struggling with the basics!!!

[Maslins]

The majority of queries a decent accountant could answer without needing to know much (if any) of the back story.

There will be some situations where continuity does benefit though. Eg you ask a question, and the accountant doesn't just answer it in isolation, but perhaps thinks to themselves hold on, the client told me X three months ago, which becomes relevant here.

Also anecdotally, it does seem many clients really want continuity/a personal contact, even if it's not actually that important to them getting decent service. I guess no different to how you might like going to a certain shop because you get on with the person behind the till. Horses for courses.

[aa2006]

Looking at some of the threads about people having problems with late paperwork etc that sounds like a bit of a win not a problem.

very true, I was thinking exactly this before even posting here, was I making a big deal out of nothing. I have had no issues whatsoever for the last 18 months, never had any issues with paperwork or incorrect calculations.

I am glad it was just me

[northernladuk]

Looking at some of the threads about people having problems with late paperwork etc that sounds like a bit of a win not a problem.