New accountant - not much involvement from me

[SueEllen]

Sue, what legal reasons should I be fearful of? I am hearing stories about a consultancy going bust at the moment. If I mention the name, what trouble do I get into?

Depends on what and how you post.

If the moderators don't like the post they will just remove it.

[northernladuk]

Just started your contract and posting on CUK at 10 past 9 already. Good start.

[blacjac]

I would definately be suspicous if my accountant didn't want me to know the details and kept telling me to let them handle it.

However my last accountant is currently being investigated by the West Yorkshire police for allegedly stealing his clients money by fraudulantly claiming refunds from HMRC on their behalf.




And he was recomended to me by the PCG when I started out.

[northernladuk]

Yeh. I think I definitely fall under the category of wanting to understand it all.

And I want to know in advance and not last minute! My wife says I can be really annoying at times though..... LOL

<cough>

[singhr]

It's fair game to ask loads of questions.

The reason is I've met a few small business owners who trusted their accountant. They claim their accountant managed to swindle them out of some of their cash.

There are even claims on this board that an accountancy firm that use to post on here has done the same and caused them problems with HMRC. (Do a search either here or through google as we can't name names for legal reasons.)

Sue, what legal reasons should I be fearful of? I am hearing stories about a consultancy going bust at the moment. If I mention the name, what trouble do I get into?

[psychocandy]

Yeh. I think I definitely fall under the category of wanting to understand it all.

And I want to know in advance and not last minute! My wife says I can be really annoying at times though..... LOL

[SueEllen]

Should I just be patient? Or is it fair game to hassle the accountant as much as you feel necessary?

It's fair game to ask loads of questions.

The reason is I've met a few small business owners who trusted their accountant. They claim their accountant managed to swindle them out of some of their cash.

There are even claims on this board that an accountancy firm that use to post on here has done the same and caused them problems with HMRC. (Do a search either here or through google as we can't name names for legal reasons.)

[Clare@InTouch]

Yeh. I have been emailing him but I do appreciate hes got other clients to deal with as well.

I get the impression that most of his clients prefer him to just get on with it and leave them alone whereas I do prefer to know whats going on myself and understand things.

We get both, some people who just trust us to do what needs to be done and are happy to take our advice, others who question everything and want to understand exactly what's been done and how we got to the accounts/returns. You're paying for the service, so never be worried about asking for explanations to ensure you're happy.

Never forget that it's YOU who signs off the report and YOU who is legally responsible for them being correct, so you should ask any many questions as necessary to ensure you're satisfied.

[psychocandy]

I'd suggest you call or email as many times as necessary to ensure you're happy with what's being done. If you feel like you're being too much trouble then try email - then he can respond in his own time and give you a full answer that you can go back and review.

As director you are fully responsible for taxes/deadlines/payments so you should make sure you know what you need to do and when you need to do it (and understand why you're doing what you're doing too).

Yeh. I have been emailing him but I do appreciate hes got other clients to deal with as well.

I get the impression that most of his clients prefer him to just get on with it and leave them alone whereas I do prefer to know whats going on myself and understand things.

[Clare@InTouch]

I'd suggest you call or email as many times as necessary to ensure you're happy with what's being done. If you feel like you're being too much trouble then try email - then he can respond in his own time and give you a full answer that you can go back and review.

As director you are fully responsible for taxes/deadlines/payments so you should make sure you know what you need to do and when you need to do it (and understand why you're doing what you're doing too).

[psychocandy]

Just signed up with a new accountant as I've just started my contract.

He was recommended by a friend and he was the only one in the area certified by the PCG. I phoned him and he seemed a really nice, helpful guy and the services he provided were great as was the price.

So he set the company up for me, IR35 reviewed my contract at short notice, and off I went on my contract.

Only problem is now he seems happy to go and arrange things. I'm a bit uptight and like to know exactly how things work etc. but I feel as if I'm constantly hassling him.

For instance, he'll happily answer my questions if I phone him but usually I get the impression that hes trying to say to me - dont worry its all in control.

I even asked him about paying for the company setup, and officially signing up for his services. His answer was dont worry we'll sort that out again I trust you. Cant believe how chilled this fella is !!

Is this normal for accountants? Last time I contracted I went through a company called Giant (who were crap) but they gave me documents about procedures about how this worked etc.

With this accountant, hes yet to tell me when payroll will be done, how to record my expenses, etc etc.

Should I just be patient? Or is it fair game to hassle the accountant as much as you feel necessary?