What are you paying for your Ltd Company accounts

[marple]

I paid 1000 plus VAT when I was billing once a month. That was with a load of travel & subsistence expenses and business a/c receipts for ICT, furniture and the like.

When the company was dormant for a year I was charged 300 plus VAT.
It's now 500 plus VAT and I only incoiced 3 or 4 times.
My accounts only needed the Director Loan and P/L a/c calculated and to be formatted so they were presentable to companies house. There wasn't much work involved, for the accountant, in fact I received the accounts back for signing 3 hours after submission and when I called half way throgh that time the accountant was "out to lunch".

Typical

Thanks very useful - I fired off an email on Monday to my accountant outlining my proposals - nothing back yet - maybe at lunch

[Aman]

I paid 1000 plus VAT when I was billing once a month. That was with a load of travel & subsistence expenses and business a/c receipts for ICT, furniture and the like.

When the company was dormant for a year I was charged 300 plus VAT.
It's now 500 plus VAT and I only invoiced 3 or 4 times.
My accounts only needed the Director Loan and P/L a/c calculated and to be formatted so they were presentable to companies house. There wasn't much work involved, for the accountant, in fact I received the accounts back for signing 3 hours after submission and when I called half way through that time the accountant was "out to lunch".

[marple]

What line of work are you in?

Making savings, particularly in difficult times, is prudent but, as has already been highlighted by another poster, just because your turnover has dropped doesn't mean your service providers should have to compensate.

That said, if you are either not happy with the service and could easily walk away to a new accountant who charges less or if you have a strong relationship with your accountant that allows you to openly discuss the possibility of him reducing his fees then, by all means, go for it.

Personally, I wouldn't bother as any saving would be marginal.

I am a PM, currently in the finance & banking sector

[Clippy]

For me rates have not fallen that much - I am just getting less work i.e more gaps between contracts and less private work. I suppose all this austerity talk has made me think about where I can make savings, when times are good you tend to get a bit complacent. I am looking to reduce my operating cost across the board to maximize my profit. Service providers such as accountants should be looking to do the same, as DC says we are all in this together

J

What line of work are you in?

Making savings, particularly in difficult times, is prudent but, as has already been highlighted by another poster, just because your turnover has dropped doesn't mean your service providers should have to compensate.

That said, if you are either not happy with the service and could easily walk away to a new accountant who charges less or if you have a strong relationship with your accountant that allows you to openly discuss the possibility of him reducing his fees then, by all means, go for it.

Personally, I wouldn't bother as any saving would be marginal.

[filthy1980]

From your tone, I guess you weren't really looking for a polite, professional reply. But let's try one anyway...

Top-of-the-market for me was £1200/day on a short contract in 1999/2000.

For a longish stint with a single client - 2.5 to 3 years - the best I ever got was £900 / day.

At the moment, on a long contract (and I've just renewed for another 6 months), I'm "slumming it" on £650 /day.

So, yes, I guess I "took the clients line and fell for it". Still, they offer flexible working (worked from home all last week), they offer paid days off whilst I attend high-performance computing conferences on their behalf, and they offer a plush City office to work in. And they are a very, very nice bunch of people to work for. Oh, and the job itself really "floats my boat" - I absolutely love it (so I guess it's more of a hobby than a job, really.) They also offer me free training in all aspects of Investment Banking, a market which seems to be quite popular in contracting these days, or so I'm told. Oh, and with the UK economy in such a dire state, I'm quite happy to take a rate reduction to leave me on "just" £650 / day. Oh, and the coffee machine in the office serves a really nice Latte (30p / cup.)

Jobserve seems to show I could maybe get a little more (maybe £700-750), but the extra money would mean nothing to me - as I doubt I'd find a nicer place to work. Or nicer people to work with.

So, in summary, yes, rates in my line of work have fallen. Still, I'm not starving. But a big thankyou for your concern.

bar steward!!!

[nomadd]

So why have your rates fallen? Because your clients took that line and you fell for it?

From your tone, I guess you weren't really looking for a polite, professional reply. But let's try one anyway...

Top-of-the-market for me was £1200/day on a short contract in 1999/2000.

For a longish stint with a single client - 2.5 to 3 years - the best I ever got was £900 / day.

At the moment, on a long contract (and I've just renewed for another 6 months), I'm "slumming it" on £650 /day.

So, yes, I guess I "took the clients line and fell for it". Still, they offer flexible working (worked from home all last week), they offer paid days off whilst I attend high-performance computing conferences on their behalf, and they offer a plush City office to work in. And they are a very, very nice bunch of people to work for. Oh, and the job itself really "floats my boat" - I absolutely love it (so I guess it's more of a hobby than a job, really.) They also offer me free training in all aspects of Investment Banking, a market which seems to be quite popular in contracting these days, or so I'm told. Oh, and with the UK economy in such a dire state, I'm quite happy to take a rate reduction to leave me on "just" £650 / day. Oh, and the coffee machine in the office serves a really nice Latte (30p / cup.)

Jobserve seems to show I could maybe get a little more (maybe £700-750), but the extra money would mean nothing to me - as I doubt I'd find a nicer place to work. Or nicer people to work with.

So, in summary, yes, rates in my line of work have fallen. Still, I'm not starving. But a big thankyou for your concern.

[marple]

For me rates have not fallen that much - I am just getting less work i.e more gaps between contracts and less private work. I suppose all this austerity talk has made me think about where I can make savings, when times are good you tend to get a bit complacent. I am looking to reduce my operating cost across the board to maximize my profit. Service providers such as accountants should be looking to do the same, as DC says we are all in this together

J

[thunderlizard]

I agree completely. My rates have also fallen, so I'm insisting my local Ferrari dealer drops his prices on the new 458.

It all makes complete sense when you phrase it the way you did: I'm earning less than I used to, so everyone else in the world should drop their prices to compensate me.

So why have your rates fallen? Because your clients took that line and you fell for it?

[marple]

I agree completely. My rates have also fallen, so I'm insisting my local Ferrari dealer drops his prices on the new 458.

It all makes complete sense when you phrase it the way you did: I'm earning less than I used to, so everyone else in the world should drop their prices to compensate me.

Nice one

[Waldorf]

I use Nixon Williams and pay £75 per month, plus vat.

Great overall service, seems many pay alot more for less?

Contractor Accountancy and Accountant - Nixon Williams

[nomadd]

Was on 200k... I'm averaging 100K now and my accounts fees have not changed much - less revenue - less profits then the % of accounts costs against operational profit increases significantly. I am considering challenging them for a better deal...

I agree completely. My rates have also fallen, so I'm insisting my local Ferrari dealer drops his prices on the new 458.

It all makes complete sense when you phrase it the way you did: I'm earning less than I used to, so everyone else in the world should drop their prices to compensate me.

[marple]

Hi

I have been contracting for more years than I can remember via my own limited Company I also manage to put through a little other business so my T/o has been as high as 200K in some years. I m averaging 100K now and my accounts fees have not changed much - less revenue - less profits then the % of accounts costs against operational profit increases significantly. I am considering challenging them for a better deal - they do my Ltd Co accounts & payroll and all the paperwork associated with Ltd co - returns etc - I do my own VAT - all my accounts are posted on to a sage type system and I just run of a Tb for them at the end of the year. What would you say is a fair price in this current economic climate?