Accountancy Fees

[David Ayers 171]

So with Making Tax Digital around the corner and his partner wanting to retire my accountant has merged his business with a bigger company.

They came and introduced themselves yesterday and we discussed options on how to move forward.

Anyway they said they would get back to me with a cost proposal (I'm guessing increase)

So I just wanted to get an idea what people are paying.

At the monent I pay £600 a quarter. Which is basically me giving them the invoices and they do the Vat and end of years accounts.

I guess the things that effect the amount of work/price are. Turnover £1.3 million. Cars sold 250. Employees 0. Not a Limited Company

[trade vet 697]

I would imagine it will cost you more with the new guys.My understanding is that when accountancy practices get sold,the done thing is for the buyers to jack up everyone’s fees to pay for the purchase.I know an accountant who has done this a few times and it has worked even when losing 30% of clients.

You need an accountant who is respected by HMRC but they still make mistakes and there is little you can do about it.HMRC say that it is us who are responsible for the actions of your accountant.Ours is advising all clients to do MTD themselves by getting £20 per month software packages.This will apparently calculate VAT so your accountant cannot charge you for that anymore.

I think MTD is crap because it could be an invitation for fraud,I am sure invoices could get doctored and inflated and more VAT reclaimed.I understand prosecuting fraud now is rarely cost effective and the average jury does not understand fraud cases.

[Nick M.K. 574]

2 hours ago, David Ayers said:

Turnover £1.3 million. Cars sold 250. Employees 0. Not a Limited Company

£1200 a year for the accounts plus £100 for VAT every qtr plus £100 each for both directors' personal income taxes plus £50 a year for dormant accounts of a limited company we have but do not use (registered it to make sure the name doesn't get taken by someone else but we don't trade under it)

[EPV 631]

4 hours ago, Nick M.K. said:

£1200 a year for the accounts plus £100 for VAT every qtr plus £100 each for both directors' personal income taxes plus £50 a year for dormant accounts of a limited company we have but do not use (registered it to make sure the name doesn't get taken by someone else but we don't trade under it)

More or less exactly what I pay annually 

[Tim H 16]

4 hours ago, Nick M.K. said:

£1200 a year for the accounts plus £100 for VAT every qtr

Nick/James, Do you give the accountant a box with a load of paper in for that, or do you give them a spreadsheet, that you have prepared and a few bank statements.We have a management system that costs £500/yr to produce everything including doing our own VAT returns and is MTD ready. Our accountant  has us on a cute £160/mth to produce our annual accounts, and £50 for doing my personals. They're good, but I now can't help but feel he's got me on a hook. 

[ExCouncilJobsworth 27]

^^^

If you got it on a spreadsheet wont it be better to do it yourself as you already done the donkey work? 

As OP says HMRC insist your agent isn't responsible but YOU are.

I am not vat registered but do my own tax return. 

Also make notes on how your agent does it all and then next time you could do it yourself?

I dont know how complex vat gets but standard tax return online isnt too bad plus you have help guides for every question. It could save you £2k and give you a better understanding of your numbers and view of your business from a different angle 

[Merlot 3]

6 hours ago, Nick M.K. said:

£1200 a year for the accounts plus £100 for VAT every qtr plus £100 each for both directors' personal income taxes plus £50 a year for dormant accounts of a limited company we have but do not use (registered it to make sure the name doesn't get taken by someone else but we don't trade under it)

Very similar, though wife does the VAT every quarter and accountant runs his eye over it. Doesn’t charge the £100 quarter for this. 

[MattR 177]

13 hours ago, Tim H said:

Nick/James, Do you give the accountant a box with a load of paper in for that, or do you give them a spreadsheet, that you have prepared and a few bank statements.We have a management system that costs £500/yr to produce everything including doing our own VAT returns and is MTD ready. Our accountant  has us on a cute £160/mth to produce our annual accounts, and £50 for doing my personals. They're good, but I now can't help but feel he's got me on a hook. 

Tim, That sounds a lot.Might be worth trying someone different.