Accountants charges

ellywellywoo

In January I need to submit my self assesment accounts and have been quoted £350 for a company to to do them for me.

I have worked out all the basic info such as turnover, expenses such as materials, advertising and mileage but I dont know how to work out the additional info such as the % of my bills ie water, broadband, etc. (I run a mobile chiropody business). My office is at home and I havnt a clue about working any of this out.

Does this sound a lot of money or about right?

InsertWittyName

Sounds about right to me.

chrismac1

£250 to £350 plus VAT is about the range. These days you can't really take on any new client for a fee of under £100 even for the most basic of needs. This is because of all the silly red tape like anti-moneylaundering regulations.

I have a "home office" calculator I can send you if you PM me your e-mail, which I complete for every home as office client who wants to claim more than £4 per week. This calculator complies with the HMRC blurb which follows.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/bim47825.htm

BargainHunters

I would say that is quite expensive as you have calculated all the figures. I would suggest:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/file-online.htm Using HMRC as it's free, although you will need to wait on an activation code via the post
or
https://www.nextdaytax.co.uk/ Using NextDayTax, costs £89 but can complete online within 10 minutes and no activation code required as they take care of that for you

utilities2008

There are some cheaper alternatives, I am using cheapaccounting . co. uk and they are cheaper than what you mentioned.

scragend

BargainHunters wrote: »

I would say that is quite expensive as you have calculated all the figures.

But what is to say that the OP has calculated the figures correctly? Is the OP familiar with UK GAAP etc?

£350 is less than one day's work for an average accountancy practice. Bear in mind all the elements of the job - looking at what's there, entering the information into the computer software, drafting the accounts, having it reviewed by a senior member of staff, writing to the client, maybe a client meeting - and that's before you even get as far as doing the tax return.

We have very few self employed clients who pay less than £350 for accounts + tax return.

utilities2008

In my case I could have done it myself but I wanted to be sure that what I was doing is correct and more to the point HMRC will be happy to see that being my first time I decided to use an accountant. From what I heard, they do tend to check more thoroughly first-timers who don't use accountants.

Cook_County

GoldenRules for choosing a tax preparer:

1. QUALIFICATIONS
Do not be shy! Ask if they are members of professional bodies in the UK and if so, which ones and for how long.

2. COST
Ask what they charge!

3. COMFORT
Pick one who is qualified and who you feel you can get on with. Thisis personal choice so call a few firms before deciding...

chrismac1

And a fourth one - Referalls! Ask them for the names and contact details of up to 3 existing clients. If they are decent, you should find yourself speaking to someone who has something in common with you and your needs.

kendall17

chrismac1 wrote: »

And a fourth one - Referalls! Ask them for the names and contact details of up to 3 existing clients. If they are decent, you should find yourself speaking to someone who has something in common with you and your needs.

I dont know whether I'd be happy giving my client's details out to someone who has just wondered in off the street.

OP - You have done most of the work yourself, complete it yourself. I'm sure if you're stuck someone on here will help you out.

We'd probably charge around £250+vat. As someone has stated, the red tape around everything plus the short turnaround would also be factored in.

chrismac1

No you would not just give out a client's details to some random person who has just come in off the street. You simply ask clients if they are OK with this up front, in my case as part of the six monthly Client Satisfaction Survey. Some say no, most are in fact more than happy to. I have never had a single complaint or negative comment from any client on this issue.

At this stage I don't regard this one as a short turnaround, in fact there are plenty of days to go yet. But if the OP were to sit on this another 2 weeks then things would get sticky.