What size of turnover do you need to have before you need to get an accountant?

Legacy_user

Don't want an accountant as feel they are an expensive luxury but if the turnover is say £500k per annum, then do you HAVE to get one?

paddyrg

You never have have to get one, but if you're coining a half-mil a year I'll bet they can save you more than their fees by employing one.

Pennywise

If an accountant is an "expensive luxury" at any level of turnover, you've got the wrong accountant. There are so many different types of accountant, so many different qualifications, expertise, specialisms, etc. There really is the "right" accountant for any size of business.

Having said that, turnover isn't a good indicator - it's profit that's more important - if your business is making only a tiny profit or a tiny loss, then there's probably not much an accountant could do.

pinkypoopydoo

I may be biased, but a good reliable accountant or bookkeeper is a basic essential to most businesses, even with a much lower turnover of £500K.

Tight control over all fiscal aspects of your business are vital. They don;t just "do the books" (or at least a good one doesn't), they can help with planning, budgeting, stock control management, debt control, the lot. You buy a whole package, not just someone to produce a trial balance once a month.

paddyrg

Ps turnover over 70-something grand and you will need to be vat registered, not what you asked but may be what you need to know!

emsywoo123

berbastrike wrote: »

Don't want an accountant as feel they are an expensive luxury but if the turnover is say £500k per annum, then do you HAVE to get one?

Huge mistake. An accountant will (should) always save you more than they cost. Unless you are one. In which case don't bother

ThemeOne

Pennywise wrote: »

If an accountant is an "expensive luxury" at any level of turnover, you've got the wrong accountant.

In that case all the accountants I tried were the wrong ones! I found they charged big and did very little, and were usually "not available" if you phoned up.

I now do my limited co accounts myself. OK I may not be up to all the dodges the accountants know (assuming those I used actually knew anything) but I'm in control, understand the process, and save their fees.

You can get a lot of free help too from HMRC if you're unsure of anything.

I'd take a lot of convincing to go back to using an accountant.

Wywth

ThemeOne wrote: »

In that case all the accountants I tried were the wrong ones! I found they charged big and did very little, and were usually "not available" if you phoned up.

I now do my limited co accounts myself. OK I may not be up to all the dodges the accountants know (assuming those I used actually knew anything) but I'm in control, understand the process, and save their fees.

You can get a lot of free help too from HMRC if you're unsure of anything.

I'd take a lot of convincing to go back to using an accountant.

Correct. You clearly tried the wrong ones. Choosing an accountant shouldn't involve trial and error.

Btw, has anyone else noticed the propensity of little used/unused accounts from 6+ years ago coming back to life recently?
Did someone register loads of user accounts back then, or has the security of some older user accounts been compromised?

emsywoo123

Wywth wrote: »

Correct. You clearly tried the wrong ones. Choosing an accountant shouldn't involve trial and error.

this, times 1000

ThemeOne

Wywth wrote: »

Btw, has anyone else noticed the propensity of little used/unused accounts from 6+ years ago coming back to life recently?

I'm one of them. No reason to do with security in my case, just realised what a great forum this is and decided once again to take an active part.

carrot-cake_2

Accountancy fees aren't determined by your turnover. They are based on the quality of your books and records and how much work they have to do in order to produce your financial statements.

Money can be saved if you have already done the bookkeeping yourself. However if you don't know where to start with bookkeeping some companies find it much cheaper to have a separate bookkeeper and accountant as Accountants tend to cost more for bookkeeping.

I'm an accountant working in an accountancy practice and the state of peoples books that we see day in day out is ridiculous. They then moan that we have charged them too much but they don't see how much work it has taken to get everything in order before we can even start.