Reply to: The worst accountant!

[Fred Bloggs]

Indeed. Can't argue that point.

Mods...... save this one for posterity. Unlikely to ever be repeated.

[northernladuk]

So, he or she is going to have to do DIY then they can only blame themselves for not knowing and getting into a mess. Some people have to get into a mess first before they realise how things work.

Really smart people learn from other people's mistakes. But not everyone is that smart. They have to make the mistake themselves first to understand.

Indeed. Can't argue that point.

[Fred Bloggs]

THe fact the OP has been through so many accounts indicates a problem. Yes for end of year accounts but is the OP clued up enough about expenses, most efficient levels for pay with changing legislation, can check his own mistakes, knows about CH registation, filing and so on? If he's struggling because the so many accountants have let him down I'm guessing he's not capable of running it himself yet. Not knowing what he doesn't know is his biggest challenge.

So, he or she is going to have to do DIY then they can only blame themselves for not knowing and getting into a mess. Some people have to get into a mess first before they realise how things work.

Really smart people learn from other people's mistakes. But not everyone is that smart. They have to make the mistake themselves first to understand.

[northernladuk]

Yes, it is. I would only use an accountant to do my end of year accounts.

THe fact the OP has been through so many accounts indicates a problem. Yes for end of year accounts but is the OP clued up enough about expenses, most efficient levels for pay with changing legislation, can check his own mistakes, knows about CH registation, filing and so on? If he's struggling because the so many accountants have let him down I'm guessing he's not capable of running it himself yet. Not knowing what he doesn't know is his biggest challenge.

[Fred Bloggs]

Yes, it is. I would only use an accountant to do my end of year accounts.

And as long as you keep things simple in the company, it's not a lot of work to do year end yourself either. All the tools to do it are out there. Not everyone wants to but it's not difficult.

[NotAllThere]

Is it realistic for me to do the VAT returns myself? It looks pretty straightforward.

Yes, it is. I would only use an accountant to do my end of year accounts.

[courtg9000]

I've worked with DNS and TaxAssist which might be some names you've discussed in the forum, the others have all been one-man bands. DNS is the only contractor-specific firm.

To my knowledge I have never named my accountants here
Happy to be proved wrong.

[jamesbrown]

Darren Upton says that's a bold shout.

[edison]

I've been chasing my accountant to create my VAT return for Q1, I started this in March! I wanted them to submit it early as they had left it to the last minute to create the vat report for sign-off for q4, their husband had been ill and in the end, rather than share the vat report for sign off they simply filed it, with errors. I've now had 2 letters from HMRC and I've had enough of their lies, delays, not responding to emails, phone calls, and WhatsApp messages.

I'm still chasing to this day for them to submit it, I've signed it off now and it's been a struggle to get to this point, all they have to do is click submit.

They lied to me and told me that they had already sent it to me back in April and it must be an issue with my email. Once they forwarded the original email I check the email date and time against the metadata and found it was first sent on the 2nd of June (they had just edited the recipient, date and time), the VAT report itself was also only created on the 2nd, a short time before the email was sent.

I've had enough, I can't be bothered with useless accountants anymore. I'm now in a battle with them via Xero to take over as the admin so I can file it myself an take more responsibility.

Is it realistic for me to do the VAT returns myself? It looks pretty straightforward.

Also, I don't want to pay monthly for an accountant, I would rather pay the end-of-year CT return costs once completed. Is this realistic, do accountants offer a pay-on-completion arrangement?

I've been through 5 accountants in 7 years, and they have always ended up costing me more just to have everything redone because I've paid monthly and then left them before the CT had to be submitted and they've messed something up. Is this their business model...to annoy you before year-end so you leave and they keep the money!

Changing dates on emails is pretty bad but everything else you described I had even worse with my previous accountants SJD! There were almost no words to describe how awful the service became.

I moved to Paper Rocket that NLUK mentioned above and the improvement in service quality is staggering.

[Fred Bloggs]

I recommend the OP sets up to DIY with FreeAgent or similar. Then there's no one else to blame. HTH.

[Guy Incognito]

No chance will the let you pay after they've done a years work that's for sure. If anything you'll pay full up front. They carry out activities throughout the year and you also pay for their availability for advice at any point so no business in their right mind will do all the work and then charge afterwards.

You say this but since the MSC fiasco, I switched to a local accountant who is doing just that.

[northernladuk]

I've worked with DNS and TaxAssist which might be some names you've discussed in the forum, the others have all been one-man bands. DNS is the only contractor-specific firm.

TaxAssist is just a franchise so not a chance that was going to end well. I've spoken to a Tax Assist accountant before and they were bloody awful so could have said that was going to go wrong.

So, forgetting whats happened in the past and looking forwards.

Sticking my neck out I'd recommend the following people. I would say ring them and interview them first rather than just sign up. See who you click with.

Small company - Paper Rocket. Run by two very competent ladies. They do post on here from time to time and up for an award at the CUK awards in a few weeks
Medium - Maslins. Chris Maslin has been posting on here for years. He doesn't like me so he's got his head screwed on.
Larger - Gorilla. I'm with these. They've continued to grow so a good sized setup now. Not had any issues in the 7 or 8 years I've been with them. I'm sure they will reward my custom by forgetting to buy me a drink at the awards again

Other notable ones that we know but I've not used are Clarity Accounting and BI Accounting.

I'm pretty 100% sure that any one of them is all you will need and won't have issues. If you do then, well, maybe this isn't for you.

[mrjaywarren]

A proper accountant probably would but how much do you think a high end accountant bills per hour? You pay what, £1200 a year. Lets assume accountant can be on anything between 50 and 100 quid an hour. That's between 12 and 24 hours spent a year, not including the fact they are available to pick up the phone at anytime they are supposed to be billing other clients hourly. 24 hours a year. Do you think he can be arsed running a billing system for 24 hours a year. They'll spend more on admin, which they'll bill back to you as well. Any clue how much it might actually cost you on an hourly rate... clue... a tulip load more than you are paying now.

Spot on? It's absolutely bloody rubbish and shows a severe lack of understanding as to how it all works. It's pretty clear where the problem lies if you've been through that many accountants yet haven't a clue how it work.

Thanks for the advice, so only the monthly billing option then. Cheers.

[mrjaywarren]

5 accountants in 7 years. I went through 4 in 28 years! A huge difference. Last accountant retired at easter this year. His tenure of service was from 2009.
Are you buying accountancy services or are you being sold them? There is a huge difference.
I personally recommend not going with so called "contractor specialist accounts"
My advice on this has been the same for the past 13 years or so. Find a good solid small and reasonably local practice and develop a good working relationship with them..

I've worked with DNS and TaxAssist which might be some names you've discussed in the forum, the others have all been one-man bands. DNS is the only contractor-specific firm.

[Lance]

I suppose it is possible that OP went from SJD, to Nixon Williams, then Optionis, and now is with Caroola.... but that's only 4 crappy accountants.