Have I been had?

[aoxomoxoa]

Thanks all, I just wanted to gauge opinion and don't have any intention of jumping ship, especially as it's my own fault I didn't ask for a quote up front. I've written and explained to the accountant that the charge was somewhat more than I was expecting and have asked for a breakdown, and will take it from there.

And I agree that good advice is worth paying for, and I have no reason to doubt the quality of the advice offered.

[BolshieBastard]

According to the OP himself, there's more than an hour's work there (what with the follow up stuff). £450 sounds like 3 hours to me. You *should* have a letter of engagement that you signed when you began using this accountant. Check this and I suspect that you'll see that you haven't been 'ripped off'.

Personally, I'd rather pay good money for good advice than peanuts for bad advice. So think about how much the accountant may have saved you before jumping ship.

Agree with this especially about paying for quality advice.

If it is 3 hours work then the fee isnt too bad. OP needs to find out how much 'work' was done to be able to form a better picture.

[BolshieBastard]

Just got an invoice from my accountant for c. £450 +VAT for an hour's consultation regarding strategies for taking payments from my limited co, plus answering some follow-up Q's by email and then preparing paperwork for additional shares to make Mrs A. a shareholder too.

Seems a bit steep on the face of it, but would be interested in what the general consensus is.

BTW I didn't ask for a quote up front, so I realise I've only got myself to blame, and I guess I could be entering NLUK's hall of non-business like shame

450 + VAT seems steep for an hour! How does that relate to when they do your accounts? Are you on good terms with the accountant and can you approach them to negotiate a lower fee?

[Platypus]

According to the OP himself, there's more than an hour's work there (what with the follow up stuff). £450 sounds like 3 hours to me. You *should* have a letter of engagement that you signed when you began using this accountant. Check this and I suspect that you'll see that you haven't been 'ripped off'.

Personally, I'd rather pay good money for good advice than peanuts for bad advice. So think about how much the accountant may have saved you before jumping ship.

[psychocandy]

Does seem a bit steep. Especially when, for those of us who pay monthly, thats about 1/3 years worth of work.

I had this once back in the early days of IR35. Friend of a friend accountant. Had meeting - told me he knew all about IT contractors and IR35 etc.

Then slapped me a bill for something like £500. When I told him to explain, he said it had taken him time finding out about IR35 and researching the subject. Yeh right OK... I aint paying you for learning I pay for your expertise.

Told him to do one and then never heard from him again.

[tractor]

.....

We don't know the nature of the questions and the detail of reply you required for each question so we can't say if it was steep or not.

We also don't know the relationship you have with your accountant and how often you ask them questions even on simple things.

I know from the people I know who are accountants and have done small business accounting, that some of their customers are constantly asking questions and that includes the same question repeatedly. This means when they have the chance they charge them.

Accountants, lawyers etc don't want "difficult" customers so charging them for work they may have done someone else for free is a way to get rid of them. Another way is just not responding to them.

The emboldened part made me laugh as I realised that might be why we see a lot of posts that complain about accountants not responding to questions

[SueEllen]

We don't know the nature of the questions and the detail of reply you required for each question so we can't say if it was steep or not.

We also don't know the relationship you have with your accountant and how often you ask them questions even on simple things.

I know from the people I know who are accountants and have done small business accounting, that some of their customers are constantly asking questions and that includes the same question repeatedly. This means when they have the chance they charge them.

Accountants, lawyers etc don't want "difficult" customers so charging them for work they may have done someone else for free is a way to get rid of them. Another way is just not responding to them.

[VectraMan]

£450 an hour sounds a lot to someone who's used to charging 37.5 hours a week, but that's not really how an accountant would work. I'm not saying it's okay, but it's an hours consultation, plus some further consultation by email, plus drawing up some paper work. How much do you think they should charge? It's not unreasonable to charge a higher price for one off extras like this, and you really should have asked.

[DeludedAussie]

Just got an invoice from my accountant for c. £450 +VAT for an hour's consultation regarding strategies for taking payments from my limited co, plus answering some follow-up Q's by email and then preparing paperwork for additional shares to make Mrs A. a shareholder too.

Seems a bit steep on the face of it, but would be interested in what the general consensus is.

BTW I didn't ask for a quote up front, so I realise I've only got myself to blame, and I guess I could be entering NLUK's hall of non-business like shame

dont pay it and ask for copy of signed contract. let him sue you

If you lose you will have to pay but you wont pay any legal fees so you have nothing to lose

[cojak]

My accountant gives me an hour review of my accounts and plans every year which is included in my standard fees.

Unless your standard monthly fee is cheap (less than £100 pm) I'd say you were taken for a ride.

[captainham]

£450 an hour Now that's a rate the rest of us can only dream of!

I would be mega-peeved if it were me; I'd be complaining, attempting to negotiate that figure downwards, followed by binning them and taking my business elsewhere in disgust.

[aoxomoxoa]

Just got an invoice from my accountant for c. £450 +VAT for an hour's consultation regarding strategies for taking payments from my limited co, plus answering some follow-up Q's by email and then preparing paperwork for additional shares to make Mrs A. a shareholder too.

Seems a bit steep on the face of it, but would be interested in what the general consensus is.

BTW I didn't ask for a quote up front, so I realise I've only got myself to blame, and I guess I could be entering NLUK's hall of non-business like shame