How much do you pay your Accountant monthly ?

[Ruse]

I am looking at starting a new Ltd Co having closed my old one some years back.

I started looking at accountants and first went to the PCG approved list for an accountant in my area.

They wanted £160 per month for their "enhanced service", the less enhanced service was £100 per month but didn't include VAT return. To be fair the enhanced service does include a no of other add ons as well.

However this seems very steep to me. A few years back I was paying about £90 per month for everything, although they were pretty crap.

[BolshieBastard]

My co doesnt pay its accountant monthly. It wouldnt do either unless there was a substantial discount.

Last set of accounts including payroll etc except VAT and which covered two businesses, one of which was retail, was £1500 inc VAT.

[DiscoStu]

I pay just under £75 with Nixon Williams.

[northernladuk]

I searched the forums and found I was knee deep in threads on the same topic. Bargain.

[malvolio]

Perhaps you should read http://www.lpwcs.com/wordpress/2009/...ost-you-money/

[JonSmile]

cost is reletive, you could argue down the cost but you have to remember that for a couple of days invoice you are getting a service, that if done correctly can make your company efficient in costs and distribution of profits etc.

Doing it yourself is never normally going to benefit you - ok, PAYE, TAX, etc are fairly simple to do, but a good accountant adds other value as well.

At the end of the day, if you go DIY on your accounts, you wil either be working evenings and weekends to do your accounts (and then paying to have them signed off at the end of the year) or not working for a client for a couple of days - and the lost income will equal the cost of the accountant.

I would always go for a local accountant who is used to dealing with small 'one man band' type of companies - you will get a personnal service and can always drop in to discuss issues / concerns / questions.

Jon

[Ruse]

cost is reletive, you could argue down the cost but you have to remember that for a couple of days invoice you are getting a service, that if done correctly can make your company efficient in costs and distribution of profits etc.

Doing it yourself is never normally going to benefit you - ok, PAYE, TAX, etc are fairly simple to do, but a good accountant adds other value as well.

At the end of the day, if you go DIY on your accounts, you wil either be working evenings and weekends to do your accounts (and then paying to have them signed off at the end of the year) or not working for a client for a couple of days - and the lost income will equal the cost of the accountant.

I would always go for a local accountant who is used to dealing with small 'one man band' type of companies - you will get a personnal service and can always drop in to discuss issues / concerns / questions.

Jon

Yes I agree with all of this and this is what I did i.e. went to a small local(ish) accountant. However I still think £160 per month is too steep. It's more than twice what DiscoStu is paying Nixon Williams. So I do wonder what my local accountant could be doing that might be worth twice as much.

[Maslins]

A couple of things that might cause the price to be higher:

Where are you based? A "local" accountant in Central London will inevitably be much more expensive than one in a village oop North/in Wales.

How big is the firm? PWC won't look at anything for less than £10k, but unqualified Joe Bloggs working on his own from home will get excited at £500/year.

Most firms that deal with a lot of contractors will offer 2 or more rates, dependent upon how much work the contractor is prepared to do themselves.

I'd recommend taking a look at a package like FreeAgent. It's a piece of online software that does not only your bookkeeping, but helps with invoicing and a whole host of other things too. We, along with quite a few other accountants work closely with it and it's ideal for the one man contractor market.

[Sally BFCA]

I agree with Maslins, Free Agent is an excellent product designed by contractors, for contractors and freelancers.

Just as a note of precaution:

I have sometimes taken over clients that have used a high street accountant.
Where there were no problems to report; many of the clients were not made aware of the myriad of legislation surrounding the contracting industry, especially when it came to IR35 status.

There are many contractor accountants out there of which I'm sure you will find a happy medium with one of them.

[BlueElise]

SJD - £100 or so per month, all pay, ni, tax, dividends, vat and advice if required. (no I don't work for them).