Reply to: Contractor Accountant + Freeagent?

[Clare@InTouch]

Yes, fair point.

Back at ya

[Wanderer]

If you leave at a year end then it makes no difference

Yes, fair point.

[Maslins]

I've used Maslins for a couple of years now and find FreeAgent to be very easy to use, and it allows the accountant to offer advice based on my actual financial position in real time. Maslins also proactive in helping me to meet all of the limited company obligations & deadlines, although FreeAgent does also have tax timelines & your owed amounts to keep you honest.

Thumbs up from me to both FreeAgent & Maslins.

:-) ...I promise despite the close timescales that this was not me logging out of one CUK account and in to another!

Mojito, cheers, no idea who you are, let me know and I'll send a beer in the post or something...

[Mojito]

Maslins recommendation

I've used Maslins for a couple of years now and find FreeAgent to be very easy to use, and it allows the accountant to offer advice based on my actual financial position in real time. Maslins also proactive in helping me to meet all of the limited company obligations & deadlines, although FreeAgent does also have tax timelines & your owed amounts to keep you honest.

Thumbs up from me to both FreeAgent & Maslins.

[Maslins]

From a director's point of view it's easier to switch accountants when using a generic system like FreeAgent. Perhaps this is another reason why some accountants might prefer to develop their own proprietary systems.

Some truth in this, esp the first part.

Re the latter part, maybe, but I think it works both ways. Sure, it perhaps makes it harder for clients to leave (as they'll be changing their accountant AND your bookkeeping package)...but surely it also makes businesses who like the bookkeeping package they use but not their accountant less likely to change to you.

Like Clare says if you leave at a year end it shouldn't pose too many problems effectively copy/pasting the trial balance from one package to another...but it's never quite that simple (eg tying up VAT quarters etc), plus you'll lose the historic data.

[Maslins]

We partnered with FreeAgent 3-4 years ago and haven't looked back. Don't really work with any other bookkeeping packages these days.

Every contractor and accountant has their own preferred way of doing things, typically what they're used to. FreeAgent isn't the only way, but it's our preferred way.

I've heard the same thing re SJD, their preference is their spreadsheet, but I believe there is some flexibility in that.

[NimbleJackAccounting]

No other accountants on here use veiled advertising, they just let their posts do the work for them.....

Apologies re the advertising guys, was not intentional. Noted for future.

Claire valid point, contractors are sometimes bunched together in a one solution fits all. In essence anything that can save them time is a good thing combined with a good accountant like yourself.

Learning every day on this forum.

[Clare@InTouch]

From a director's point of view it's easier to switch accountants when using a generic system like FreeAgent. Perhaps this is another reason why some accountants might prefer to develop their own proprietary systems.

If you leave at a year end then it makes no difference - stop using our portal on 31/03/2013 and start using the SJD spreadsheet on 01/04/2013. Simple.

Most accountants, at least if they're regulated, will always act professionally during handover too. It's not in our interests to make life difficult for clients who want to leave - imagine the stick we'd get on here if we did!

If you really wanted to discourage people from leaving you'd charge them a termination fee. Which some accountants do.

[Wanderer]

There are accountants who support it, but many of the usual suspects don't because it makes life more difficult.

From a director's point of view it's easier to switch accountants when using a generic system like FreeAgent. Perhaps this is another reason why some accountants might prefer to develop their own proprietary systems.

[Clare@InTouch]

Hi Claire,

You have written some great posts on here, well done.

I have to say I disagree, if you read all the happy customers on our website they are really embracing Free Agent, why?

Because it allows you to keep a real time track of your accounts,gone are the days where your accountant gives you a bill at the end of the year and telling you how much tax to pay.

It combines the best of a personal dedicated accountant, who can keep an eye on your accounts in real time. As contractor and freelancers you will have an average of 30 items per month so with the auto recognition it take 5 minutes a month.

Its the way forward, we must embrace new technology. Although I admit, it may not suit people are not tech savvy!

Indeed my view is slightly biased but at least try the free trial.

Thanks,

I'm not against technology, quite the opposite in fact, but it has to save time not create more work. For us, clients using other software means we cannot integrate their bookkeeping with our accounts, VAT, tax and payroll systems - therefore it takes more of our time to be able to do the same work we would do for clients who do use our systems.

Software solutions can offer all the information available in a set of management accounts. But then so can a set of management accounts, which many accountants can provide too.

Don't get me wrong, accounting software has it's place and it's great if you build you business model around it. But we don't, which is why we don't tend to use it in preference to our own.

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

Poor effort Nimblejack. I know to my cost that being in the slightest bit "fly" on this site will get you nowhere. Nor will poor use of apostrophes.

[administrator]

No other accountants on here use veiled advertising, they just let their posts do the work for them.....

Agreed. You have been warned, NimbleJack!

[northernladuk]

There are some great ones on here, I would post a link to our website (not allowed). Ensure your accountant reconcile's the accounts and your FreeAgent regularly.

Thanks

No other accountants on here use veiled advertising, they just let their posts do the work for them.....

[NimbleJackAccounting]

I doubt I'm the only contractor whose ideal accountant would be one that specialises in contracting and also supports Freeagent, preferably included in their fee since it makes their job easier.

I've been with SJD before and I have done a search which suggests that SJD supports it if you really insist on using it but do any of the specialists see it as a good thing instead of competition?

There are some great ones on here, I would post a link to our website (not allowed). Ensure your accountant reconcile's the accounts and your FreeAgent regularly.

Thanks

[NimbleJackAccounting]

Don't agree.

For a lot of accountants you'll find that Freeagent (or any other software for that matter) doesn't make their life easier as it doesn't integrate with their own systems and processes in the same way that their own solutions do. It's also very easy to get into a mess if you don't really know what you're doing, which makes everything an awful lot harder. I've seen more than a few Freeagent accounts where the balance sheet doesn't balance and there's a big suspense account!

There are accountants who support it, but many of the usual suspects don't because it makes life more difficult.

Hi Claire,

You have written some great posts on here, well done.

I have to say I disagree, if you read all the happy customers on our website they are really embracing Free Agent, why?

Because it allows you to keep a real time track of your accounts,gone are the days where your accountant gives you a bill at the end of the year and telling you how much tax to pay.

It combines the best of a personal dedicated accountant, who can keep an eye on your accounts in real time. As contractor and freelancers you will have an average of 30 items per month so with the auto recognition it take 5 minutes a month.

Its the way forward, we must embrace new technology. Although I admit, it may not suit people are not tech savvy!

Indeed my view is slightly biased but at least try the free trial.

Thanks,