Reply to: Do I expect too much of my Accountant?

[DirtyDog]

Are you saying all your customers are lazy and forgetful?

[SueEllen]

I'll offer the remainder of the financial year to demonstrate improvement, otherwise I think I'll be moving on swiftly to my next accountant.

Why do you think he will change for you?

If that's his business model then he will be happy to do without your business.

Remember like us he is running a business and if a customer is too difficult he can choose to get rid of them.

[Clare@InTouch]

Are you saying all your customers are lazy and forgetful?

Toad

I think many people have the same attitude I do when it comes to servicing my car. I could do it myself, but I'd have to do lots of research in order to get it right and then spend days of my otherwise spare time doing it. I'd rather pay someone else to do it so that I can spend my time doing nice things. Like diving. Or shopping

[GillsMan]

I think when it comes to an accountant, you have to also consider how right they are for you. For example, I really like my accountant and have no intention of leaving, but I wouldn't recommend him to everyone.

He runs a small company and his prices are pretty damn reasonable, £76 per month, inc VAT. He often waives his fees for additional bits and pieces, and he didn't charge any extra when I took on my first full time employee. He hasn't raised his prices in the 3.5 years I've been with him come to think of it. Also, the advice he gives me is pragmatic, and safe. He has a healthy disdain of HMRC, but a healthy respect of their rules, which I think is the right balance. So if I ask him if I can do something, he tells me the reality of the situation and what the rules say. I think this is really good.

But, he does take 5 days to get back to me on most of my queries (though if I tell it's urgent I will get a quicker response), and sometimes he's unbelievably surly and curt in his responses. Almost - almost - to the point of being rude. But I'll take that, because I really value the rest of his service.

So sometimes you have to look at the whole package, and not just the type of advice you're given, but whether the advice is consistent to your attitude to risk.

[northernladuk]

That doesn't narrow down who you are

Are you saying all your customers are lazy and forgetful?

[7specialgems]

Thanks to everyone for their input and experiences.

On the basis of some of the experiences I've read on this thread, I've scheduled a meeting to discuss the last 12 months (in particular e-mail response times which clearly has been poor).

During the meeting, I will ask for any literature that they may be able to provide about expenses, which I may go away and digest.

I think I'll try and politely ask about the guy's workload as well as I am fairly confident he is a company director who spends almost all of his time trying to grow his business and next to none on his books (defering them to unqualified temps, judging by the names that are on my revenue returns and snooping on them on LinkedIn).

If he's a ghost when I call and e-mail him then I doubt heavily that he's finding the time to keep his skills sharp and stay on top of the legislation.

I'll offer the remainder of the financial year to demonstrate improvement, otherwise I think I'll be moving on swiftly to my next accountant.

Cheers again everyone

[Clare@InTouch]

I get Clare to do mine as I'm far too bloody lazy and forgetful to do it myself.

That doesn't narrow down who you are

[Underscore Pt2]

There's not a massive amount I can add as I mostly agree with the above. Certainly with regulated investment advice which we're not allowed to give, and forecasts which would be outside the remit of most monthly accounting services unless you're a commercial business like a pub (and then paying more for your service anyway).

When it comes to things like expenses it can be difficult as without intimate knowledge of your business and what costs will be necessary for you to run your company it's hard to always know what you can claim. What we can do though is give you a list of common things, give you the criteria an expense has to meet in order to be allowable, score easy points by picking up obvious omissions like use of home, and ask you to call or email if you're ever unsure. A quick email saying "can I claim this?" can often be answered quickly and easily (not always, but often!)

I think a lot of the cost of a monthly service is the availability of a professional to answer your questions, but to some degree it's down to you how much you make that worth. I have clients who seem to call me nigh on every day with various questions (or sometimes just for a chat) and others who I don't think I've ever spoken to and we simply prepare the accounts and returns for.

As NLUK says you're also paying someone else to keep on top of legislation for you, and to sit on the phone to HMRC to sort out small issues that would otherwise waste your time. Then there's the software that make iXbrl and RTI a lot easier than the terrible HMRC online options that you may otherwise have to use.

All in all I think it's lot of little things, but it's also what you make of it. Bug your accountant a lot more and you may feel you get more for your money. And definitely complain about the email situation, that shouldn't be normal service. It's usual to have delays at certain times of the year, or when there are holidays/illness, but not all the time.

I get Clare to do mine as I'm far too bloody lazy and forgetful to do it myself.

[DirtyDog]

Can I claim XYZ?

Has an easy answer - yes.

Can I claim XYZ without incurring a benefit in kind?

Potentially has a much more complicated answer

[Clare@InTouch]

but still managed to write 365 words on it



Why do I have this feeling that this daily responsibility usually gets delegated to you Craig

On both counts!

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Thanks for your comments.

With regards to the management of expenses, it helps to frame my ideas.

Whilst I agree an accountant doesn't have a crystal ball then I wonder if I'm being too harsh if I *expect* them to give a glance to what I am claiming from time to time and get in touch if they spot large, typial absences, such as "he doesn't claim lunch" or "it's winter, did you know you can claim a Flu jab? Just a thought".

It would be interesting if any accountants chipped in to say "well actually yes, as a practice, we do that" or any clients can state "my accountant does those things for me". I wonder if I'm paying Premier League prices but getting League 2 service.

I guess I am trying to work out in my head where that line is... where you pay someone and pass over full care and attention to them and you concentrate on your business

Expenses are an absolute mine field and no accountant is going to 'recommend' that you claim something without being fully appraised of your circumstances in case it would not actually be allowable. To give you an idea - rules regarding subsistence are here Travel expenses: general: accommodation and subsistence: include associated subsistence and here BIM47705 - Measuring the profits (specific rules and practices) - receipts and deductions: specific deductions - travel and subsistence: expenditure on meals and accommodation and here EIM05231 - Employment income: scale rate expenses: subsistence expenses: table of benchmark scale rates and here Travel expenses: general: accommodation and subsistence: subsistence costs that are not attributable to the travel: examples and here HM Revenue & Customs: Revenue & Customs Brief 24/09 etc. etc. etc.

One of the things you pay your accountant for is to know all this stuff so that they can advise you when you have a question but you cannot expect them to impart their knowledge to you, in its entirety, in an email

[Clare@InTouch]

In my experience, the shorter the question, the longer the required answer. Eg "Can I put my car through the company?"

Very true! Sometimes the value is not in the question itself either, but in where it digresses to. Can I claim my car? can expand into discussions about cars, leases, travel, food, hotels, 24 month rule etc. We can pre-empt some of these, but sometimes a question is so left field it's impossible to predict.

" Why didn't you tell me I could......." is often difficult because there are so many possible things it could apply to that we'd need to teach clients every bit of tax law in order to cover every possibility.

Right, tea.

[northernladuk]

Quite often the shorter the question, the longer the required answer. Eg "Can I put my car through the company?"

Or when the mail starts 'My mate/guy in pub says I can.....'

[northernladuk]

There's not a massive amount I can add

but still managed to write 365 words on it

It's only annoying when you distract me from staring out the window all day!!! On the plus side, you have a daily responsibility to make me tea

Why do I have this feeling that this daily responsibility usually gets delegated to you Craig

[Maslins]

...A quick email saying "can I claim this?" can often be answered quickly and easily (not always, but often!)...

Quite often the shorter the question, the longer the required answer. Eg "Can I put my car through the company?"