Have you changed accountants?

[contractor79]

Hi
A friend of mine wants to change accountants. He has a limited co. He is disappointed with the clarity of communication on the phone with his accountants, struggles to understand what they say and they struggle to understand his questions, and email response is also slow. Also he pays up to £1.5k/year in fees. His acocunts are simple- money in and out, hardly any expenses and he has to input them all onto some software they gave him. Furthermore most times he calls there is an answer phone particularly on Fridays when he has a few spare moments to deal with such issues.
Who do you recommend and please state the annual cost.
thanks
c79

[TheRefactornator]

£1.5k p/a is steep but it is what I was forking out myself until recently.
I'm now with Nixon Williams, for my Ltd co it costs me £720+VAT p/a and so far I'm impressed with the service. Much better than the old one at half the cost.

There are few other usual suspects mentioned and appearing regularly on here but it's better that others advise about them.

[BrilloPad]

If he changes accountants - will he be able to understand them?

[FiveTimes]

I changed accountants due to poor service, and I've been well happy with the new accountant.
They are a small local firm and are available 6 days a week

Best thing I ever did.

[BolshieBastard]

Sounds like tulip accountants to me.

Deffo change them. I rate my so havent changed except when I went with MP. Since I ended that relationship, I've gone back to my original accountants.

[Waldorf]

I am with Nixon Williams too and fully recommend them.

If there is anything I don't understand I call them and they will explain, not had any issue to date, can't understand why some people pay a fortune for what seems to be an inferior service.

[contractor79]

thanks I may transfer to Nixon
is it easy to do this? or can I expect hassle

[Waldorf]

I didn't transfer, I set up from scratch, but a friend of mine moved to them and I am not aware there was a problem. Speak to them and see what they say.

[TheRefactornator]

thanks I may transfer to Nixon
is it easy to do this? or can I expect hassle

Mine was a transfer; the only hassle was getting my previous accountant to release my accounts in a timely manner and handover everything that was required P35 / P11D / CT600 / balance sheet etc.

NW wrote to them making the request for all the required info but until they'd received it, they were hampered in being able to offer me a full accounting service; It wasn't NW's fault at all and it was all sorted after about 3 weeks of me haranging with the old accountant. Now it's plain sailing.

[contractor79]

thanks guys, think I'll make a transfer soon