Finding an accountant

[Maslins]

- are there any guaranteed response times? (some big firms offer guaranteed response times which is one reason why you pay them more, if you pay joe blogs the same amount and he doesn't respond to your questions timely then it doesn't matter if he's a wizard)
- what is the client to accountant ratio? (probably will dodge this question, don't want to show they are overloaded)

Just to play devil's advocate on the above:
- we've heard a lot of people say the guaranteed response times were a farce. Many times they'd get a response "thanks for your question, we'll look into it and come back to you"...it's a response within a short time so ticks the box, but doesn't really help.
- it's not as black and white as that. Firstly the term "accountant" doesn't mean anything. Are they qualified with many years experience within the contractor sector? Or are they a junior minion who can do basic processing but not much else? The support team around the person answering the questions is massive. I think sometimes clients wrongly believe "their accountant" does everything, but typically there'll be many others behind the scenes. Of course you don't want a firm who are struggling to cope with their existing client numbers, but I don't feel that you can really compare firms based on a metric of clients:accountant.

OP - I kinda agree with Fred Bloggs. Much of what you're asking isn't relevant IMHO, but best of luck with it.

[WordIsBond]

Read this thread, it's exactly the same question:
https://forums.contractoruk.com/acco...countants.html

[fonejacker]

I would add the following:

- are there any guaranteed response times? (some big firms offer guaranteed response times which is one reason why you pay them more, if you pay joe blogs the same amount and he doesn't respond to your questions timely then it doesn't matter if he's a wizard)
- what is the client to accountant ratio? (probably will dodge this question, don't want to show they are overloaded)
- what happens when main accountant is away? who takes over?
- do they use outsourcing at all? some accountants farm donkey work offshore (probably will dodge this question)

I was with a big award winning accountancy firm previously and enjoyed the guaranteed response times as I knew when I fired off an email it would be answered same day, when I switched to another smaller firm the response times were much slower but my switch was pure for monetary reasons.

[Fred Bloggs]

The first question should be - Do you offer FreeAgent? Unless the answer is yes, then move along. Frankly, for a one man band I find your questions rather off the wall. Let's be honest, your one man band contracting company is nothing special. It's just like everyone else's.

[northernladuk]

https://support.freeagent.com/hc/en-...on-to-Projects

[password]

Ok thanks guys

[Lance]

No need to be a sarcastic cxxt! I wasn't asking for a recommendation but the kinds of things you guys ask when selecting an accountant..

If you looked at the recommendation thread you might find the exact information you’re asking for. It’s a long thread.

[northernladuk]

Ask them if they offer Freeagent as part of their package and if Hardeep Mangat has anything to do with them. If they say yes and who? you are on the right track.

Freeagent can handle multiple projects as standard by the way which might be useful to you. You can sign up for a free trial to have a look around for nothing.

And just for clarity they are not my recommendations. They are gathered from feedback from other respected posters or or from the actual effort they put in to the forum so is a qualified list rather than random.

[MrButton]

No need to be a sarcastic cxxt! I wasn't asking for a recommendation but the kinds of things you guys ask when selecting an accountant..

I can assure you that I won't be picking a professional to manage my accountant on the back of some recommendations from anonymous posters on an online forum.

The purpose of this thread is to try and discover the different things to consider when performing due diligence on somebody who is going to have significant influence on my personal finances.

If you have nothing valuable to add and only concerned with you post count, please jog on and find another thread to crap on mate.

Edit: I just saw your tagline is: "My post count is Majestic"

LOL

[MrButton]

Wouldn't it be great if we had a recommendations thread full of. Information such as this :

It would also be great if there was some kind of search where hundreds of other threads could be located.

[password]

Wouldn't it be great if we had a recommendations thread full of. Information such as this :

No need to be a sarcastic cxxt! I wasn't asking for a recommendation but the kinds of things you guys ask when selecting an accountant..

I can assure you that I won't be picking a professional to manage my accountant on the back of some recommendations from anonymous posters on an online forum.

The purpose of this thread is to try and discover the different things to consider when performing due diligence on somebody who is going to have significant influence on my personal finances.

If you have nothing valuable to add and only concerned with you post count, please jog on and find another thread to crap on mate.

Edit: I just saw your tagline is: "My post count is Majestic"

[northernladuk]

Wouldn't it be great if we had a recommendations thread full of. Information such as this :

[password]

So,

I'm starting out contracting and also running a number of projects myself, all in a single Ltd Co.

As opposed to just going with the first account who is presented to me, I have decided that I will have a conversation with a few accounting professionals over the next number of weeks.

It would be super helpful if anybody could share their experiences with going about such an exercise. I am compiling a list of questions that I am putting to service providers as a first screen. I've already discounted one guy because he was based up north and didn't do Skype and I couldn't find him on LinkedIn. He also was not able to provide any references given confidentiality clauses in engagements.

Current questions:

• Pricing method: per job, retainer, hourly?
• Actual rates, in the context of previous answer.
• Relevant certifications
• Typical sectors covered
• LinkedIn profile
• Base? Will we be able to meet face to face from time to time?
• References (past employment/self employment clients)

Thanks guys