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Accountant not very collaborative?

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    Accountant not very collaborative?

    I have signed up with an accountancy firm X, and have paid for their services for the whole year, about 1200.
    They signed me up with an online tool, and that was if from their side. I have talked to my accountant for a couple of times, however other than that he has been neglecting my emails, and his communication has been very poor, even for basic questions ("am I allowed to expense this?").

    Given that I have paid them for the whole year, can I claim that I want to stop collaboration since their service is very poor? Anybody's got previous similar experience?

    #2
    Did they have an SLA for responses in their engagement document? What does their engagement documentation say about leaving. Is there a grace period? How much notice do you need to give. Read their documentatuon thoroughly.

    Is the tool Freeagent or their own portal.

    Are your questions really basic and should you be doing a bit of research? Can I expense this for example. It's pretty clear cut what you can and can't for most things. Even if they are basic the accountant should answer in SLA but you might not helping yourself by sending too many basic mails?
    Last edited by northernladuk; 22 May 2018, 09:10.
    'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

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      #3
      Thanks for the heads up. I'll look at all these first.
      I think, in any case, I pay them some money for their services, I should get support. Simple as that.

      Tool's Intuit Quickbooks.

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        #4
        And for future reference may be better to pay monthly by Direct Debit rather than all upfront.

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          #5
          You pay them to be your accountant.

          Not your personal tax advisor - which is slightly different.

          Also you should as a business owner have a good idea of what is extensible and what is not

          Can you assure us you are not like a yappy puppy?

          In that you feel because you have paid these guys to do your accounts you now feel they should be available 24/7 to answer all your questions - not matter how pointless?

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            #6
            Originally posted by Skag View Post
            Thanks for the heads up. I'll look at all these first.
            I think, in any case, I pay them some money for their services, I should get support. Simple as that.

            Tool's Intuit Quickbooks.
            There is often a perception issue about what an accountant does, which is why it's very important to read your engagement documentation carefully. Many people expect accountants to be proactive and be there to help them run their company. They think the accountant should be trawling their accountants and advising about claiming this and that. The reality is these sausage factory set ups rely on the online portals so you actually do the data entry and they check it and that's about it. How much time would you spend on a clients work for £1200 a year? 24 hours over a period of a year? It's not a lot is it.

            They are a tool for you to use at best. You have to run your own company and know how the finances work. You are the one that ultimately signs off the accounts, the accountant only prepares them for you.
            'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

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              #7
              Originally posted by saptastic View Post
              And for future reference may be better to pay monthly by Direct Debit rather than all upfront.
              I would definitely go for that in the future. It was a rushed decision anyway.

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                #8
                Originally posted by original PM View Post
                In that you feel because you have paid these guys to do your accounts you now feel they should be available 24/7 to answer all your questions - not matter how pointless?
                Who said 24/7?
                Maybe more like answer my email once a month.

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                  #9
                  If you are concerned about what you can and can't expense you'd do well to search on here first using the google method. I think we've just about had everything and too prove it here is one mentioning expensing swingers parties.

                  Just change the keyword to suit what you are asking. A general rule of thumb is it has to be wholly and exclusively for business but there are exceptions.

                  Type the following (or similar in to google)

                  swingers party expenses site:forums.contractoruk.com

                  https://forums.contractoruk.com/acco...ght-murky.html
                  'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

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                    #10

                    You're very helpful, thanks!
                    I'm new to contracting btw so I'm finding my steps..

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