Reply to: Accountant for Ltd company

[Nixon Williams]

Most accountants will do this for you, but there are some who let the client do all the work and they just pull together some sort of annual accounts etc.

Being "proactive" is debatable, some people want their accountants to come up with some magical scheme each month that will reduce their tax bill to zero, sadly reality is just not like that.

Generally, opportunities to review the systems in place occur with the Budget and to a lesser extent with the Pre-Budget Report.

We would review what all our clients are doing and try to ensure that they keep their tax bill as small as possible.

Alan

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

If you are proactive with all your clients in that respect then that differentiates you from the other accountants here already.

Forgive my naivete, but don't all accountants do that? It's line 1, page 1 on our manual.

[ratewhore]

For the less savvy among you, we can make sure all valid expenses are being claimed

If you are proactive with all your clients in that respect then that differentiates you from the other accountants here already.

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

Depends if you put a value on peace of mind. Its true that many of the posters on here are savvy contractors and know the score when it comes to tax saving. So for these guys the benefit would be someone with knowledge and experience looking over the finances and making sure the paperwork is in order. For the less savvy among you, we can make sure all valid expenses are being claimed, that the profits are being distributed appropriately, the Flat Rate VAT is being operated, that online filing discounts are being applied etc etc.

There's also a theory that self-filers are more prone to enquiry by the Revenue but I don;t know if that's true.

[ratewhore]

if the accountant allows you to concentrate on your business and you use the time not spent on your accounts to gain more business , you could easily negate the cost of the accountant

Theoretically yes. I'm interested in whats happening in reality.

[sidknows]

if the accountant allows you to concentrate on your business and you use the time not spent on your accounts to gain more business , you could easily negate the cost of the accountant

[ratewhore]

And I won't drag up the old argument about any accountant should not in effect cost you anything anyway and if they do you should sack them..

Quite. Bearing in mind the majority of contractor 'specialists' advise low salary, high divs (which, to be honest, any contractor should already know), how is the, say, £1000 annual fee being recouped by the actions of the accountant?

I have no axe to grind btw, I'm just interested to find out how people reach the net zero cost for an accountant...

[malvolio]

£95 a month for accountancy services and £150 a time for a detailed IR35 contract review. Can't see too many hidden extras in there...

Or do you mean NW, in which case perhaps the better answer would have been "Why don't you ask them?"

And I won't drag up[ the old argument about any accountant should not in effect cost you anything anyway and if they do you should sack them..

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

A fully inclusive quote should really fully include everything. Try an accountant with no hidden extras.

[diesel]

I applied to SJD for a quote for accountancy services,they offered:

"extensive package are £95 plus VAT per month for a single person operation.
We are specialists in the IR35 area, able to offer advice and carry out detailed contract reviews on your company's contracts with its clients. Cost of a Review is £150 plus VAT."

I did not find their services much cheaper than Brookson (whom i am with now). Brookson include the IR35 compliance checks within their fee.

Although i will be interested in saving on my Brookson fees, i saw an advert for Nixon Williams at £60pm. Do they do IR35 checks? if so is it included in fee or extra?

[Nixon Williams]

Interesting that you mentioned it, I normally wouldn't say anything bad against NW, their service has been exellent generally. However they made 2 mistakes recently, when I called them, they said it was because there are a few new staff. Anyway no biggie so far, but it does bother me, so I'm keeping a close eye on their account at the moment.

If I am guessing your identity correctly, I have reveiwed your file and cannot see what you are referring to - please PM me with the details and I will gladly look into this for you.

Alan

[williamdavis]

Not that they need it, but I've been with SJD (hi Darryl) for quite a while now and would recommend them.

My advice is decide what's important to you:
1. Do you need them to be close by or are you happy to work purely over the phone/e-mail?
2. Large or small firm - pros and cons for each.
3. What’s it like when you call them?
4. I would 100% look for a specialist firm or you may find your accountant is more often than not spending their time with their more juicy clients i.e. the ones that pay them the most money (which is understandable enough).

For me, I chose SJD because I wanted to be able to meet with my accountant if I got stuck. I got a good feeling about them when I called, this was important to me as I knew starting up as a contractor would be a pain in the arse but everybody has their own views on how important this is too them.

All the big players you see advertising on contractoruk I would assume provide a reasonable level of service, if they didn’t, the people on this forum would hunt them down and kill them! Also they wouldn’t have got big in the first place without providing a reasonable level service.

Call a few up and see how you feel.

Hope this helps.

[ratewhore]

I'm still not clear on what makes an accountant a specialist in OMB or contractor issues.

[sidknows]

Funny how sjd has come in for discussion again after a relatively quiet period about their services
!!

funny how the opriginal poster has disappeared but no doubt he or she will reappear after this post!

[vhadiant]

Happy with Nixon Williams.

But...

They keep noddying up my monthly profit/divi calculation. Once is excuseable but this has happened for me 4 times on the trot now. I know Alan watches this forum so I'm sure he will appreciate the feedback.

Interesting that you mentioned it, I normally wouldn't say anything bad against NW, their service has been exellent generally. However they made 2 mistakes recently, when I called them, they said it was because there are a few new staff. Anyway no biggie so far, but it does bother me, so I'm keeping a close eye on their account at the moment.