Bad Accountant - What are my rights please?

darenmatthews

Yes, I'll prefix it with "pseudo". You're correct that not all are the same and I can testify to that. My sadly departed original accountant was a consummate professional and a real gentleman. I miss him.

darenmatthews

Dear all,

As promised, I'm keeping you abreast of the progress of this discussion.

I am now told that HMRC have sent a cheque to the accountant in respoct of PAYE/NI for £458.37. he is forwarding this to me.

The other refunds (which I believe are tax overpayments made by my ex-Ltd. company "should be in progress but they (HMRC) did say might take some time".

This is a little vague but it's the best I have so far.

Pennywise

Playing devil's advocate here, if your previous accountant was so good, why were there these overpayments due back from HMRC and why didn't he sort them out? Any decent accountant would have made sure that any overpayments either didn't arise in the first place or reclaimed within just a few months of the tax year end.

Have you considered that it may be your previous accountant who had got behind with things and was getting lax, and that your new accountant is doing his best to pick up the pieces with little or no information from your original accountant's files?

I say this because I've just picked up a new client who was likewise in awe of how wonderful the old accountant (now retired) was and literally everything I look at is a mess with overpayments on VAT, PAYE, CT and personal tax, some going back beyond the time limits for reclaim. I'm racking up a lot of time which the client is starting to get annoyed about. It's not me he should be annoyed with, it's Mr Wonderful who was clearly not as good as he made out!

darenmatthews

Hi Pennywise,

No, that's certainly not the case. These problems started long after my previous accountant passed away. He was excellent, albeit not awesome. I use those words to describe events such as a Tsunami, not an accountant :-)

The period I am having difficulty with are the years that the new accountant dealt with.

Also, I agree. Any decent accountant would have sought to have these repaid.

In fact I spoke with my new accountant only half an hour ago. He told me that HMRC would not commit to when they would refund the monies due to me. In your experience, what can I do to expedite payment or get some sort of timescale?

Many thanks indeed for posting,
Daren.

Horace

I would find a new accountant pronto - this person is not a proper accountant by the sound of it if he was then he would know what he is doing.

If you are a member of a chamber of commerce you could ask them who they would recommend and if you have friends in business, ask them too. Interview your prospective accountants too to make sure that they will do the best job for you and pick the one that you like best.

I found out earlier this year that my accountant wasn't an accountant at all - she had passed herself off as being the owner of the company she worked for when in fact all the time she was an employee and only a client manager. She was lax when it came to keeping appointments and she would often cancel at the last minute with a feeble excuse or not turn up at all:mad: It is only since I moved firms this year that I found out that I actually hadn't received what I had paid for - I had no cashflow forecast or anything else really other than a profit and loss sheet. My new accountant gives me proper advice as well as doing my tax return - she has also helped me set up a new company after reading my latest business plan.

One of my clients had a similar problem - he used an 'accountant' who didnt submit the tax returns and he only found out when the HMRC started fining him for non-submission. It has taken months to sort out.

I must admit that when I found my new accountant, I interviewed 3 companies - two were really keen but I ruled them out because they were friends and I had already been bitten by that as my previous 'accountant' was a friend and I didnt want to go down that path again. I went with the company that gave me the best advice - the company has since split into two and I have stayed with one half as the guy that I interviewed has split off and now offers FD services and I am not quite ready to go down that route.

If there is one thing that I have my finger on it is my accounts, I know exactly what is going on with my money at any time of day or night.

villabadger

darenmatthews wrote: »

In fact I spoke with my new accountant only half an hour ago. He told me that HMRC would not commit to when they would refund the monies due to me. In your experience, what can I do to expedite payment or get some sort of timescale?

Hi
Don't expect a quick refund. I have a really good accountant and he is struggling to get hmrc to process things quickly. I am chasing a refund for our P35 return. It was submitted in early April with an expectation that we should get our cash within 50 days. However, hmrc told us this week that they won't even be looking at it until sometime in July!! They have given us the opportunity to write to them to explain why we think they should process our return now - what a brilliant attitude when they owe us £1000's. Somehow, it never works the same way when you owe them cash!

So, in summary, I hope you have better luck than us.

darenmatthews

Thank you Horace and Villabadger,

Horace, I wish I had been as thorough and sensible as you when my account was passed onto the new accountant. If you read the first post in this thread you will see that I made some stupid mistakes, such as paying a bill for £1000 to have my record added onto his Sage accounting software. It seems I do not learn by my mistakes - something which I will remedy.

Villabadger, Yes. The attitude towards the taxpayer is scandalous and how they make us jump through hoops to get what is rightfully ours beggars belief! I do anticipate a lengthy delay and hope that they do not run salt into what is becoming a large wound by giving me a similar opportunity.

Perhaps my only consolation (and I'm digging deep here) is that due to the next-to-zero interest rates on offer, I am not losing much by way of investment income. It still does not excuse or make any easier to swallow, their high and mighty attitude. I does make you so angry, doesn't it?

Many thanks for the advice, moral support and I wish you all well.