Reply to: Accountant Not Submitted End of Year Accounts - 4 months overdue

[ladymuck]

I will do but the issue of the penalty notice must be dealt with first, hence why I asked the question on the standard procedure of HMRC notifying and issuing them. There would be no point starting the move over to another accountant right in the middle of all this, when my current one has agreed to settle the bill. If I leave now they might think they have an opportunity to wriggle out of it.

I agree. You can't move until this is resolved. It's still worth having a chat with other accountants so you have the new one lined up when you're ready to switch.

[Tractor Trace]

I see more reasons to get rid of them but no action to do so..

I will do but the issue of the penalty notice must be dealt with first, hence why I asked the question on the standard procedure of HMRC notifying and issuing them. There would be no point starting the move over to another accountant right in the middle of all this, when my current one has agreed to settle the bill. If I leave now they might think they have an opportunity to wriggle out of it.

[northernladuk]

I see more reasons to get rid of them but no action to do so..

[Tractor Trace]

A bit of a concern though that the accountant was asking me whether the penalty notice gets sent to my home address or the registered company address ( I use theirs). Seeing as he's the accountant surely he should be telling me or at least knowing the answer. I would have thought it would be issued to the company address?

As I am reliant on them forwarding any mail which arrives then it's a case of fingers crossed that they don't cock that up too. In the past they have failed to send items of mail. No sign of a penalty notice yet and I never even got a notification by post that the deadline was missed, which I'm not sure whether HMRC send.

[Maslins]

Well, finally heard back earlier today. They've filed the accounts, apologised and are accepting paying the fine when the penalty notice is served. It was literally just a case of forgetting or failing to press a couple of buttons to submit what were already prepared, authorised accounts. One mistake too many.

If they're making lots of other mistakes as your final sentence suggests, totally appreciate you'll want to move.

If this is the only mistake of significance though, they've made a mistake, apologised, and are accepting the consequences should be suffered by them, not you. No person or business is perfect, we all make mistakes.

Still, good outcome compared to where you thought you might be yesterday, so well done

[ladymuck]

Well, finally heard back earlier today. They've filed the accounts, apologised and are accepting paying the fine when the penalty notice is served. It was literally just a case of forgetting or failing to press a couple of buttons to submit what were already prepared, authorised accounts. One mistake too many.

Get the money off them first, then switch.

[Tractor Trace]

Well, finally heard back earlier today. They've filed the accounts, apologised and are accepting paying the fine when the penalty notice is served. It was literally just a case of forgetting or failing to press a couple of buttons to submit what were already prepared, authorised accounts. One mistake too many.

[Maslins]

Don't even wait. Find a new one, engage them and let them work it out with the old ones. I assume you still have all the necessary records, so if needs be the new ones can always start from scratch.

Personally I wouldn't agree with this. If your existing accountant has prepared figures, you've signed them off, and all that is waiting on is them submitting them, it would be a lot of extra hassle and cost to disregard that and start again from scratch with a new accountant. Also if the existing accountant isn't responding to you as a current paying client, it's highly unlikely they're going to respond to a new accountant when you've left.

If the existing accountant has gone completely AWOL (I'd give them at least a couple of weeks of periodic chasing before coming to this conclusion), then yes, you may have no other viable option...but I would make significant efforts to chase your existing accountant first. If what you say re progress to date is true, it should just be clicking a few buttons for them to submit, so a trivial task. That's not much help if they have disappeared off the face of the planet though.

If you did do everything, signed accounts etc and they simply didn't submit, then I think you'd have a good argument for asking the accountant to pay the fine. Whether they do or not (especially if they've gone bust in the meantime) is another question. Legally the fine rests with your company, not the accountant, so you'd need to pay Companies House then possibly attempt to recover from the accountant. Ie you're not in a great position on this front I'm afraid. You could potentially try to challenge the penalty, but I think your chances of being successful are low. As others have suggested, whilst some directors may find this unfair where they pay an accountant, the responsibility lies with you as director.

I don't see it having any significant impact on your credit rating or chances of getting another contract though, so I don't think you have any concerns there.

[GhostofTarbera]

As if by magic an article appears


Limited company tax ruling puts onus on directors to not just hand it all to their accountant


Sent from my iPhone using Contractor UK Forum

[malvolio]

Start contacting other accountants you fancy moving to so when your old one does pop up you can start to move away from them.

Don't even wait. Find a new one, engage them and let them work it out with the old ones. I assume you still have all the necessary records, so if needs be the new ones can always start from scratch.

However, as others have said, ultimately it's your problem, not the accountant's. So start paying attention to the company management.

[northernladuk]

Done that. Emailed and rang following up email. Promised I'd be called back. No phone call and no email response. Sent further email.... radio silence.

Start contacting other accountants you fancy moving to so when your old one does pop up you can start to move away from them.

[Tractor Trace]

You need to look closer to home. 4 months late is an awfully long time. And it’s your responsibility.

Stop emailing and start ringing..

Done that. Emailed and rang following up email. Promised I'd be called back. No phone call and no email response. Sent further email.... radio silence.

[Tractor Trace]

Erm, didnt you know when your year end was due, start getting stuff together or phoning and asking the accountant what they needed?

This is akin to driving around with an expired MOT or VED.

They prepared all accounts late last year, I authorised them months in advance for submission. I will look at going with another accountant but my fear is that the change over from one to another could cause even more hassle and further delays. Will this late filing alert stay on my company record indefinitely, even when the accounts are finally filed?

[TheDogsNads]

I discovered that my accountant had failed to submit my accounts after receiving a company risk rating change alert then on checking Companies House website, it showed that they are overdue by over 4 months.

This was just as I was considering applying for a Bounce Back Loan, which will now obviously no longer be an option for me with a reduced rating and outstanding submission. I have emailed my accountant querying why this has happened and am still awaiting a response. As I am between contracts will this show up when going through checks as part of starting a new contract with a potential client either direct or via an agency? As HMRCs website states that no appeal can be made based on late filing being as a result of an accountant's failure/ negligence then it looks like I will incur a late penalty fee of £750

Is there anything I can do in the way of damage limitation? Currently I am at the mercy of my accountant, still awaiting a response and not able to submit my own accounts - this has resulted in damaging the reputation of my business and surely any future prospects of getting contracts, with a late penalty notice on my company record for I don't know how long..

Erm, didnt you know when your year end was due, start getting stuff together or phoning and asking the accountant what they needed?

This is akin to driving around with an expired MOT or VED.

Bottom line is you could start getting heavy with the accountant and say they should pay any late filing fee \ penalty because of their 'error' but, I'll be surprised if they dont kick back.

Going forward, you need to take ownership. It's your company and ultimately you're responsible, running a company isnt a start and then forget all about it. Id also start looking around for a new accountant.

[Lance]

Accountant Not Submitted End of Year Accounts - 4 months overdue

You need to look closer to home. 4 months late is an awfully long time. And it’s your responsibility.

Stop emailing and start ringing.

Get a new accountant now.
Something you should have done many months ago.

They should be able to recover the situation. It’s going to cost you more than £750 though.

It’s unlikely to impact finding new work. Agencies don’t credit check their suppliers.