Moving from Parasol to LTD

**Royston Vasey** · 24 March 2008, 09:58

NW for me.

I have not used SJD but 2 of my colleagues are in the process of ditching them.

**[email protected]** · 24 March 2008, 10:17

purple online accountancy
www.purpleaccounts.com

**Waldorf** · 24 March 2008, 10:28

Nixon Wiliams for me as well, good service and not ripped off with a huge fee.

**maverick192** · 24 March 2008, 10:56

Thanks I would not have found NW had you not recommended them and I'll now add them to my list of considerations.

Just shows how indispensable this forum is!

**Gonzo** · 24 March 2008, 17:54

Originally posted by maverick192 View Post

I've been contracting for 8 months under Parasol, and have now decided to move to a ltd arrangement.

I don't have any accountancy knowlegde, so I'll be leaving this side of things completely to the professionals and I've narrowed down my choices to one of two accountancy services:

I appreciate that the fees may not be the most competitive on the market, but I've narrowed this choice down based on recomendations and on the amount of information available on each company's site.

So, my question is, does anyone already use either of these companies and would you recommend them?

I am also about to join the PCG, do you think that the PCGPlus membership is worth the extra cost over standard membership?

Thanks for your time.

It looks like JSA will do a lot more "hand holding" than SJD will. There are reasons why that is not necessarily a good thing, but beware that you are not comparing like with like.

I'm with SJD and am not in the process of ditching them.

It seems that their number of clients has increased rapidly over the course of the past year or so, from something like 5000 to 8000 clients.

This is since the government moved to stop people using "Managed Services Companies" (and this is one of the reasons you don't want your "accountant" doing too much for you).

This expansion has been accompanied by murmurs of declining service standards. I have had to chase a couple of things up over the past six months, but these were sorted out immediately.

As for PCGPlus, I have that too.

What do you get?

PAYE Audit Cover - whether this is worth it depends on who is running YourCo's PAYE. If you are doing it yourself (and it sounds like you won't) then I think that this is worth having.

Jury Service Cover - if you are not on the electoral roll then you are not going to get called. Plus some might think that the total amount reclaimable is a bit low, but without it you would get nothing if you were called.

Agency Failure insurance - this does happen. Again, some might think that the total amount covered is a bit low, but without it you would get nothing in these circumstances.

Online Learning Resource centre - no idea. I must remember to investigate this when I find the time.

I think that there are preferential rates on invoice chasing. This potentially saves you some hassle, many are content to do this for themselves as hopefully it will not be needed too often.

**Gary_Jones** · 27 March 2008, 22:16

From my personal experience I'd say to not necessarily discount a local accountant and just have them do your year end - Inland revenue have a helpline that is genuinely the best call centre I have ever used.

I'm going overseas for a year in 8 weeks and the Inland Revenue have helped me get things in order much more than my "named accountant" , who has been largely dissapointing, but helpful if you burst a blood vessel.

There are good accountants out there, but I think the more you go with the "largest" the more you lose the personal service that you could really do with, during your first year.

Oh and go with PCG basic at a minimum, see what you think - I've been VERY impressed with them and have only needed them once, due to their excellent guide of how to be a contractor (available on their site I think).

**Jubber** · 28 March 2008, 08:06

I have used both and they both have been OK.

They've both provided the services that they said they would. I preferred SJD as they used a simple spreadsheet for the 'books'.

I've never had to ask for specialist advice from either. When I had my PAYE (IR35) review it was so simple and easy I didn't have to ask the accountant anything. (I work outside of IR35)

Either will help get your business up and running.

**malvolio** · 28 March 2008, 08:30

The key point of PCG Plus over basic membership (apart from a few extra freebies) is that the representation covers with any PAYE investigation, not just IR35 ones. If you get professional help at that point you might well stop it turning into an IR35 one; you'll most likely win anyway, but who needs three years of hassle and form-filling?

Moving from Parasol to LTD