Reply to: How much do you pay for your accountant?

[BlueSharp]

The answer to this is £0 when 90% of contractors are under IR35 next year


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It's starting to dawn on some of them that contracting inside IR35 via a ltd is not a viable option...

[GhostofTarbera]

The answer to this is £0 when 90% of contractors are under IR35 next year


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[ladymuck]

Mine is for LtdCo, one director, just last year so not really all that old. I only have one year end a year .

Just submitted for the 2018-19 year so I'll update with the new bill when I get it.

Update as promised.

Submitted trial balance and closing bank statements for accountant to do a check and calculate/submit CT. Turned around in under two weeks, charged £535 + VAT.

[Chart Accountancy]

I realise these are all quite old now but there does seem to be a large spread. Are all these for a limited company, with a single director/employee?
I was paying around £150/month for one of larger ones, but I have recently left and was going for a local guy, but not sure now.

You could still hire a specialist contractor accountant below this fee to also include FreeAgent. I suspect the £150/month was not including access to cloud software so a monthly fee in the region of £85-120 plus VAT including the software with a specialist contractor accountancy firm would be considered reasonable.

[Blert596]

Maybe it's time to stop assuming and take more of an interest in your company's finances then?


Irrelevant to us really so no point discussing. Your standard PSC with even 2 directors, maybe an employee make little difference to the work done, particularly when FreeAgent is used as you do most of the entry. The accountant deals with the numbers it spits out.
If your accountant is charging on a complexity or time spent approach with no tools to help then he's not really what you need for a small contractor business.

Hmmm... suddenly my £141 a month using FreeAgent with Trafalgar seems quite steep

[Wobblyheed]

£85.80 pm (includes VAT)

[northernladuk]

well, when my turnover went down, he charged me less, which is why I assumed he was charging on a percentage basis.

Maybe it's time to stop assuming and take more of an interest in your company's finances then?

however, what other criteria would they use? the more complex the business, the more they charge? The more employees, the more they charge.? The latter would be linked to turnover surely?

Irrelevant to us really so no point discussing. Your standard PSC with even 2 directors, maybe an employee make little difference to the work done, particularly when FreeAgent is used as you do most of the entry. The accountant deals with the numbers it spits out.
If your accountant is charging on a complexity or time spent approach with no tools to help then he's not really what you need for a small contractor business.

[JohntheBike]

the sooner he saw you coming the more he can charge..

well, when my turnover went down, he charged me less, which is why I assumed he was charging on a percentage basis.

[Lance]

perhaps it's just how my accountant works then

however, what other criteria would they use? the more complex the business, the more they charge? The more employees, the more they charge.? The latter would be linked to turnover surely?

the sooner he saw you coming the more he can charge..

[JohntheBike]

That's just wrong. It may be a consideration, but charging a fixed percentage of turnover is just weird.

perhaps it's just how my accountant works then

however, what other criteria would they use? the more complex the business, the more they charge? The more employees, the more they charge.? The latter would be linked to turnover surely?

[craigy1874]

As far as I'm aware, accountancy practise is to charge based on turnover with additional cost for running payroll. MyCo is charged 2% on its turnover.

That's just wrong. It may be a consideration, but charging a fixed percentage of turnover is just weird.

[Lance]

As far as I'm aware, accountancy practise is to charge based on turnover with additional cost for running payroll. MyCo is charged 2% on its turnover.

WOW. That's a great deal if you turnover £50k or less.
Less so if you earn more.

I pay £1,020 + VAT and get FreeAgent bundled in. Full accounts, quarterly VAT, one director SA, payroll and advice.

[northernladuk]

As far as I'm aware, accountancy practise is to charge based on turnover with additional cost for running payroll. MyCo is charged 2% on its turnover.

You couldn't be more wrong. All the contractor specialists charge anything between 60 and 120 quid usually including FreeAgent

Why would the cost vary by turnover when what they do for the average contractor is broadly the same? I don't see why a contractor on a good rate should pay more for nothing extra.

[JohntheBike]

Don't need names of firms, or if you think it's good value, just the price you pay each month?

(Asking for a friend, I am not in deep enough to need a real one myself....yet)

As far as I'm aware, accountancy practise is to charge based on turnover with additional cost for running payroll. MyCo is charged 2% on its turnover.

[ladymuck]

Scottish pounds or English Pounds?

Egyptian pounds would make it really cheap