SJD accountants

[Andrew@Wisteria]

Filing returns takes too long and is full with mistakes (ltd and personal)
They used to be quite pro active sending reminders for a lot of stuff, like payment of NI due, most of these reminders seem to have gone
They lost my personal tax return details and then wanted to charge me because I had to refile and that was after their deadline after which they charge £100 or so.
In general need to chase them myself on many things

But mostly it's the price quality ratio when paying them almost 1.8k per year (incl VAT) for the little amount of work they do, I would just expect a little bit more from them

I'm in the same boat - have been contracting in the current company for 3 years, been with SJD all this time. I also feel the service is a little expensive for what you get. I get generic reminders for filling stuff in which I did weeks before - but have to check just in case. I also feel they could have given a little more advise rather than just the generic stuff - plus I'm fed up of the old spreadsheet system and want to move to something more up-to-date. Haven't bothered looking to reduce the rate (I'm still on the £126 inc vat per month rate - so expecting an increase). Anyway I'm going to move to one of the others recommended on here, expecting similar service but for less cost.

For the prices you are both paying you should definitely expect a personalised service - not just automated reminders even when you have sent your information through! Mistakes can occur as everyone is human, although ultimately depends what the mistake is and what steps are taken to rectify it. If you aren't happy then you can easily pay another accountant.

[Martin at NixonWilliams]

I wonder if any contractor accountant ever worked their fees as a % of your rate rather than fixed rate?

They shouldn't be, this is an indicator of running an MSC!

[Maslins]

I wonder if any contractor accountant ever worked their fees as a % of your rate rather than fixed rate?

I doubt it. There's not really any correlation between how much a contractor earns and the amount of compliance work involved. Adding a zero on to the end of the numbers in a CT return doesn't make it any more time consuming to prepare/file.

[Andrew@Wisteria]

I doubt it. There's not really any correlation between how much a contractor earns and the amount of compliance work involved. Adding a zero on to the end of the numbers in a CT return doesn't make it any more time consuming to prepare/file.

Agreed. More to do with the number of transactions / work required.

[DirtyDog]

I also feel they could have given a little more advise rather than just the generic stuff

Maybe they could advise on when to use the word "advise" and when to use the word "advice"?

[northernladuk]

Great service from the SJD manchester office here too. My account was taken over by a guy called Mike early last year and I've had nothing but great service. Would definitely recommend SJD to others

Same office and same feedback from me. Different accountant but all is fine for me. Looking at the number of complaints about accountants we have on the boards I don't think anyone is ever going to give the perfect service 100% of the time but SJD seem to be as good as they come for me.

I can't see how a % charge against rate would work. We would just get a load of people complaining their accountant is too expensive when they get a rate rise and their fees go up for exactly the same amount of work.

[Clare@InTouch]

Same office and same feedback from me. Different accountant but all is fine for me. Looking at the number of complaints about accountants we have on the boards I don't think anyone is ever going to give the perfect service 100% of the time but SJD seem to be as good as they come for me.

I can't see how a % charge against rate would work. We would just get a load of people complaining their accountant is too expensive when they get a rate rise and their fees go up for exactly the same amount of work.

It would be a nightmare to manage, even if it wasn't an MSC issue as Martin points out. I can imagine trying to keep track of daily rates, adjusting fees each time rates change, and keeping track of it when clients don't always update systems at the same time. And what if someone is out of contract for 6 months, would we just not charge at all for anything?

Plus, why should you pay £100 for a VAT return whilst your mate only pays £50? It takes us the same time to prepare it most of the time.

[d000hg]

I doubt it. There's not really any correlation between how much a contractor earns and the amount of compliance work involved. Adding a zero on to the end of the numbers in a CT return doesn't make it any more time consuming to prepare/file.

It would be a nightmare to manage, even if it wasn't an MSC issue as Martin points out. I can imagine trying to keep track of daily rates, adjusting fees each time rates change, and keeping track of it when clients don't always update systems at the same time. And what if someone is out of contract for 6 months, would we just not charge at all for anything?

Plus, why should you pay £100 for a VAT return whilst your mate only pays £50? It takes us the same time to prepare it most of the time.

Very good points. And yet an agent works exactly the opposite way

[NickFitz]

...an agent works...

Most CUKers would be surprised to learn that

[pjclarke]

Long-standing and satisfied client here. The turnover of personal accountants is a concern, as you don't get chance to form a good working relationship, but even the 'newbies' seem to know their stuff or know a man who does. I guess there are good business reasons (for their business, I mean)

They've also been willing to provide service beyond what some others might, e.g. advising on working overseas or hosting my VAT inspection at their office with my personal accountant talking TaxSpeak and playing calculator-hockey in a way which left my head spinning. That resulted in a £700 rebate.

Plus, the man himself is on here and has a history of being proactive wrt complaints.

By and large you get what you pay for.