Accountant and Tax consultant needed for my books?

Mandles

I am doing my books and they are in a right mess even though the turnover is incredibly low as a very small business. the inland revenue have given me 30 days to send all our reports in for our books. Because of this we got an accountant .He has sorted them out and taken them to a tax consultant. Is this what happens or have we not got a very good accountant? I just want advise as the money we are spending i want someone who knows their stuff and dont want to be paying 2 people when we only need 1. By the way we do not need to pay vat as income for company is so low and inland revenue actually owe us money from cis vouchers.

..Just want to be sure that we have a good accountant and that this is normal.

Treading_Water

I would have thought that this is quite unusual and that a reasonable accountant would be able to give you all the advise you need. Is there likely to be something in the books they would feel needed checking out?
Based on the size of your company I would have said an accountant was enough, but other people may have different views.

Pennywise

I'd agree - any decent accountant should be able to sort out tax for probably 90% of basic small businesses. My only thought is whether they are using a specialist for something out of the oridinary - for example, how many years are you behind with your tax returns? If you are 2 or 3 or more years behind, you could be looking at hefty penalties (or even prosecution) on top of the tax due - your accountant may have thought a specialist could negotiate with HMRC to get your penalties reduced.

Mandles

Yes, we have got fines and they are doing 2005-2006 and he charges £350 for tax consultants and accountant is charging £400 . Is this reasonable?

Pennywise

Total costs of £750 for sorting out a "right mess" isn't particularly expensive. You should be expecting to pay a qualified accountant £250 - £500 for a normal year's accounts and tax returns. That can easily double (or more) where decent book-keeping hasn't been done by the business owner.

ceeforcat

The accountant is being wise if believes that you may require specialist tax advice. There is also an increased likelihood that HMRC may want to look more closely at the resultant returns particularly if made from incomplete records. At this point you may find that £350 is only the start of it.

Treading_Water

As stated by Pennywise £750 would be a lot to pay for small company simple accounts, but is probably a bargain in your current situation. The right accounts and tax advice will probably save you a lot of hassle.
I notice that the other day you were advising a poster that they didn't need to use an accountant to file their Limited company end of year accounts. Perhaps you would rethink your advice given your current predicament.

3plus1

Have you checked what professional qualification(s) your accountant has?

Did you mean £350/400 per hour or £750 total fee?

Mandles

Treading_Water wrote: »

As stated by Pennywise £750 would be a lot to pay for small company simple accounts, but is probably a bargain in your current situation. The right accounts and tax advice will probably save you a lot of hassle.
I notice that the other day you were advising a poster that they didn't need to use an accountant to file their Limited company end of year accounts. Perhaps you would rethink your advice given your current predicament.

I dont think you need an accountant necessarily if your books are ok. It is my OH's company and being a typical bloke files reciepts in all sorts of strange places like jeans , which get washed, or in cars on the floor, that is why they are in a mess(thus the mess for early years). I have done the current year and chased up every reciept as it is spent and have kept simple up to date books with vt+ and books tally perfectly and i have done most of the reports myself so no i would not rethink my advice earlier about not needing an accountant unless you have a OH that can't put reciepts in a box marked reciepts! Also the other business was also very small and i don't know why but i felt like it was a woman poster and i know it is not 100% true but usually they are more organised.;)

Cook_County

It sounds as if you need a specialist in 9A enquiries so that HMRC get no more or less information required to settle the enquiry. Why 2005-06 so late would be my first question?

It appears you could have saved money and hassle by taking proper advice some years ago. I suggest you address this today as well.

Mandles

Cook_County wrote: »

It sounds as if you need a specialist in 9A enquiries so that HMRC get no more or less information required to settle the enquiry. Why 2005-06 so late would be my first question?

It appears you could have saved money and hassle by taking proper advice some years ago. I suggest you address this today as well.

Because my OH thinks that if you have messed up and lost most reciepts then it is best just to bury your head in the sand and put all threatening letters in a draw as that will makes it all disappear!:mad:..Lucky i love him !