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Accountant Problems

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    #21
    Originally posted by KittyCat View Post
    Well I'm glad I do my own accounts - I know I've probably missed a trick or two - but they're accurate & I know where I stand at all times.

    Plus anything I'm really not clear on I just ask hmrc - I hate getting the hmrc letters but I'd definately rather be in control than have any nasty surprises!

    Sounds like a whole bunch of extra hassle having an accountant.
    Kitty - you certainly do have some 'interesting' ideas on things I must admit.
    Rhyddid i lofnod psychocandy!!!!

    Comment


      #22
      Originally posted by KittyCat View Post
      Well I'm glad I do my own accounts - I know I've probably missed a trick or two - but they're accurate & I know where I stand at all times.

      Plus anything I'm really not clear on I just ask hmrc - I hate getting the hmrc letters but I'd definately rather be in control than have any nasty surprises!

      Sounds like a whole bunch of extra hassle having an accountant.
      You serious? As you can see in the thread I linked in your other thread you are out of pocket by a good amount by not using an accountant... and for how many years we don't know. No PAYE just dividends? Seriously?
      'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

      Comment


        #23
        Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
        We have a 3rd degree connection on LinkedIn!! Bearing in mind we are all connected by 7 degrees I guess that isn't as good as it sounds?
        at least one reason to then
        thanks needed the cheer in this thread

        Comment


          #24
          Originally posted by psychocandy View Post
          Hang on - have I got this right? You paid dividends to yourself and basically went over into the next bracket on a personal basis?

          Is this right? Sounds like.
          Yep bang on the money. It was my first year contracting and I was utterly dismayed but unsure.

          NW claimed I had to put it on a separate email and not just on my invoice email. Shame that nugget was left out until after several months of trading.

          Comment


            #25
            I'd be wary about relying on HMRC for full & frank advice. They may give a yes or no on expenses, but they are unlikely to expand any further than the specific questions you ask (you're claiming X have you thought about Y? You're working in X, have you claimed for Y? There a recent court case which says you don't need to pay us VAT on bank interest, so please feel free not to......etc etc.)

            They also won't be able to talk you through any type of tax planning ideas as they don;t have full access to all your information, they just see a glance at a particular tax/year.
            ContractorUK Best Forum Adviser 2013

            Comment


              #26
              Originally posted by Support Monkey View Post

              Tis true, it never ceases to amaze me why people think they can just hand over their business finances to a stranger and expect them to know it ins and outs intimately from a few invoices and spreadsheets, ultimately its up to you to contact the accountant explain what you want so its all clearly understood and do the same when any issues arise rather than bouncing emails around and then moaning about a lack of response.
              If I were an expert in accounting I wouldn't be paying someone over a grand a year to do it for me.

              Remember this is an all inclusive service as below. No mention of estimates or doing it yourself too.


              For just £95 plus VAT per month we offer the following on our Premier Service:

              Set Up

              Form a Limited company at Companies House or set up your business.
              Register your business for PAYE.
              Register your business for VAT.
              Register your business for Corporation Tax or Business Tax.
              Register your business for the VAT Flat Rate Scheme.
              Assist with opening a Cater Allen Bank or HSBC account.
              Monthly

              Operate your payroll with payslips for each employee.
              Calculate and issue profit statement for your business.
              Quarterly

              Calculation & advice of VAT returns & payments.
              Calculation & advice of PAYE payments.
              Annually

              Issue and file P14's/P60 & P35 with HMRC.
              Issue and file P11d & P11d(b) with HMRC.
              Calculate and advise of Class 1A NIC payments.
              Prepare & file annual accounts with HMRC.
              Prepare & file Corporation Tax return (CT600) with HMRC.
              Prepare accounts for Companies House.
              Prepare Companies House Annual Return (AR01).
              Personal Tax Return for one director, if received by 30th September after the end of the tax year. A small charge may apply if you join part way through the tax year.
              As When

              Dedicated Account Controller including their direct phone number & email address.
              Unlimited telephone & email support.
              Ongoing book-keeping.
              Produce dividend vouchers and board minutes.
              Deal with any general HMRC correspondence and queries.
              Advise Companies House of company changes.
              Deal with change of address for the company and director.
              Mortgage, tenancy & VISA references.
              Complete National Statistical Office questionnaires.
              Deal with HMRC investigations were we have done the work, provided you have followed our advice and/or not concealed anything from us.
              If you decide to cease using our services, your only commitment is to give us one month's notice.
              If you choose to move to another accountant, we do not make a charge for the transfer.
              Your obligations to us:

              Send us copies of your invoices.
              Send us your expense claim form.
              Send us a copy of your business bank statements.
              Respond to letters and emails from us.
              Pay our fees each month.

              Comment


                #27
                Originally posted by Nixon Williams View Post
                Julie

                As you have posted details on this forum I will respond to you on here.

                I did note your first posting on this thread and responded directly to you. I am sorry if my attempt to assist you ‘creeped’ you but I find that most clients appreciate an attempt to remedy any problems.

                We generally process our client’s paperwork on the day of receipt and note that we received an email on 30/11/11 with your invoices and expenses etc. However, my colleague Nathan, had contacted you with some queries regarding the expenses and to point out some duplications. You re-sent some paperwork on Sunday (04/12/11) and Nathan sent you a courtesy email on Monday to advise you of a delay.

                Today (06/12/11), Nathan again contacted you with the queries that he had, mainly with some copy receipts that we could not open (I believe you mentioned that these may be due to you converting on a Mac?).

                Our service is more thorough than other accountants in that we check your receipts etc so that you have some protection in the case of a HMRC enquiry/investigation. You would not have this benefit if you simply submitted a spreadsheet.

                However, assuming that you are happy, I will ask Nathan to process your submission without the copies of receipts that we have requested and assume that you hold valid copies.

                The monthly profit and loss statement that we prepare is an estimate and so would any interim statement, even the largest company will produce estimated interim statements, the annual accounts are when the process is more thorough.

                To deal with your other points:



                I sent you an email on 20/11/11 to ask regarding this, whilst you have not responded, I understand it relates to 2008 - again, if you can provide some details I would be happy to look into this for you.



                One of my other colleagues, Simone, has responded to this - this was due to a missing invoice that we had not been supplied with, hence the profits were higher when we prepared the annual accounts amd so higher profits will mean more corporation tax to pay.



                All we need is one month's notice from you and we can close your file and transfer your paperwork to a new accountant. We have provided tax advice, as an example we suggested an expense you could claim for but you decided against claiming for it. We do prepare a monthly profit and loss statement.

                I hope this explains the situation.

                Alan
                Alan

                Your Sunday morning email was swiftly followed up by an email from another person to whom I did respond. I assumed from his email that you had delegated responsibility for this.

                At the end of the day we could get into mud-slinging but simply put you may wish to look into

                1. a lack of consistency in the way monthly checks are applied (NW will question and delay my ability to pay myself for items on my statement <£10 but don't ask about £5500? or even £10000)

                2. funny business - I don't quite know how else to describe it (Nathan was not available for a few days and I had no response at all to " I need to pay myself please get back to me" - sent on the 1st and copied separately for your records. 1/5 emails in the last week - yet still no pay figures)

                3.personal loss due to 1 and 2

                Btw, all-inclusive as stated on your website claims NW "Operate your payroll with payslips for each employee and calculate and issue profit statement for your business."

                Calculate does not imply estimate - in my mind and the dictionary they are very different things.

                Comment


                  #28
                  Originally posted by juliehendry View Post
                  NW claimed I had to put it on a separate email and not just on my invoice email. Shame that nugget was left out until after several months of trading.
                  We do ask that clients advise us when they declare a dividend, mainly so that we can record the fact but also so that we can issue the correct paperwork for them.

                  There is no requirement to send a separate email, declaration of a dividend can be advised by phone, email or by post.

                  Alan

                  Comment


                    #29
                    Originally posted by juliehendry View Post
                    Alan

                    Your Sunday morning email was swiftly followed up by an email from another person to whom I did respond. I assumed from his email that you had delegated responsibility for this.

                    At the end of the day we could get into mud-slinging but simply put you may wish to look into

                    1. a lack of consistency in the way monthly checks are applied (NW will question and delay my ability to pay myself for items on my statement <£10 but don't ask about £5500? or even £10000)

                    2. funny business - I don't quite know how else to describe it (Nathan was not available for a few days and I had no response at all to " I need to pay myself please get back to me" - sent on the 1st and copied separately for your records. 1/5 emails in the last week - yet still no pay figures)

                    3.personal loss due to 1 and 2

                    Btw, all-inclusive as stated on your website claims NW "Operate your payroll with payslips for each employee and calculate and issue profit statement for your business."

                    Calculate does not imply estimate - in my mind and the dictionary they are very different things.
                    Julie

                    I have no wish to exchange words via a public forum but if this is the way you wish to proceed I am happy to comply.

                    1. Although we do review bank statements to check that we have copies of receipts, we cannot easily do this with payments of dividends, which is why we do request that you notify us if you declare a dividend. Simply writing ‘dividend’ on a bank statement does not indicate to us whether it is a fresh dividend or an already declared dividend that a client has decided to pay late. If we were simply to ‘create’ a dividend for each entry on a bank statement, it is highly likely that the client’s accounts would end up very muddled. I hope that you can understand our reasons for this.

                    2. I have explained that the delay was due to a request for more details from you, however I have instructed Nathan to process the information we already hold on the basis that you hold copies of the receipts etc. You will have this in the morning.

                    3. I am not sure what 'personal loss' you refer to.

                    We do calculate the profit statement for clients, accounting information is to provide a 'true and fair' view of the financial position of a company, I am happy to certify that the profits statements we have produced are a true and fair view of your financial position.

                    One of our aims is to prevent our clients getting on the wrong side of HMRC and if, a client is subject to a review, HMRC go away empty handed. To achieve this, we do like to ensure that a client's paperwork is in order - you will not have this with a spreadsheet service. Added to this, we do not make any additional charge for HMRC enquiries provided a client has followed our guidelines.

                    If there is anything else you wish to raise, please email me, you have my email address, I am happy to go through any other issues that you may have.


                    Alan

                    Comment


                      #30
                      Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
                      You serious? As you can see in the thread I linked in your other thread you are out of pocket by a good amount by not using an accountant... and for how many years we don't know. No PAYE just dividends? Seriously?
                      Would have been cheaper to pay for an accountant to do it properly.....

                      I wont try because I'll get it wrong and NLUK will neg me again but can anyone give details of how much extra tax is paid by using purely dividends as opposed to PAYE of £7000 and dividends for the rest? (Assuming lower tax rate for all of this).
                      Last edited by psychocandy; 6 December 2011, 18:04.
                      Rhyddid i lofnod psychocandy!!!!

                      Comment

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