Ltd Company accountant service

bigmaz

Hi guys

Looking for an accountancy service for my ltd company as I am going contract again soon. Whats the normal kind of charge per month these days. Got a few quotes, but not sure if they are high or not.

Thanks in advance

InsideInsurance

It depends what the accountant is going to be doing for you and how much advice is involved

I pay £100 inc VAT for them doing payroll, vat, all company returns, self assessment etc with 2 directors and me providing the data in a simple spreadsheet. They are happy to field most questions and do a lot of the behind the scenes things off their own back but arent the most proactive in terms of telling you that you could hold your AGM as a weekend in Paris payable by the company etc as I know some other contractors do.

Ive seen some charging a lot less but they are purely reactionary and wont do anything unless asked and didnt include things like SA returns. Alternatively seen some that are a bit more expensive but never seen any evidence of the justification for the extra

bigmaz

InsideInsurance wrote: »

It depends what the accountant is going to be doing for you and how much advice is involved

I pay £100 inc VAT for them doing payroll, vat, all company returns, self assessment etc with 2 directors and me providing the data in a simple spreadsheet. They are happy to field most questions and do a lot of the behind the scenes things off their own back but arent the most proactive in terms of telling you that you could hold your AGM as a weekend in Paris payable by the company etc as I know some other contractors do.

Ive seen some charging a lot less but they are purely reactionary and wont do anything unless asked and didnt include things like SA returns. Alternatively seen some that are a bit more expensive but never seen any evidence of the justification for the extra

Thats a really good price. Could you tell me who that company is? Or PM it please? Thats good they to SA as well, last time I was contract, the company never included these for me, so was hit with that bill.

Tell me more about the AGM thing, lol! That sounds good

Vectis

InsideInsurance wrote: »

It depends what the accountant is going to be doing for you and how much advice is involved

I pay £100 inc VAT for them doing payroll, vat, all company returns, self assessment etc with 2 directors and me providing the data in a simple spreadsheet. They are happy to field most questions and do a lot of the behind the scenes things off their own back but arent the most proactive in terms of telling you that you could hold your AGM as a weekend in Paris payable by the company etc as I know some other contractors do.

Ive seen some charging a lot less but they are purely reactionary and wont do anything unless asked and didnt include things like SA returns. Alternatively seen some that are a bit more expensive but never seen any evidence of the justification for the extra

That's either a mistake or worryingly cheap at around £84 + vat. Or do you mean £84 per month?

You're saying that's £84 for all your payroll every month for a year, VAT returns every 3 months, all the company returns to Companies House at the end of the year plus self assessments for 2 directors each year?

InsideInsurance

bigmaz wrote: »

Tell me more about the AGM thing, lol! That sounds good

Companies can have a number of legitimate expenses like its AGM, an annual party (sure most do it as an Xmas party but can be any one thing) and a number of other similar things. Just because your company is a 2 man band etc doesnt technically change the rules however how far you want to push the rules and attract the attention of HMRC is another matter.

Personally never billed for an AGM but I know a former colleague had a 5* european weekend break for all his shareholders (close family) every year on the company and had been contracting 20+ years

InsideInsurance

Vectis wrote: »

That's either a mistake or worryingly cheap at around £84 + vat. Or do you mean £84 per month?

You're saying that's £84 for all your payroll every month for a year, VAT returns every 3 months, all the company returns to Companies House at the end of the year plus self assessments for 2 directors each year?

Its £1,200 a year inc VAT but exc company house fees which are at cost. They normally charge a little extra for the 2nd self assessment but I negotiated that down

bigmaz

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Companies can have a number of legitimate expenses like its AGM, an annual party (sure most do it as an Xmas party but can be any one thing) and a number of other similar things. Just because your company is a 2 man band etc doesnt technically change the rules however how far you want to push the rules and attract the attention of HMRC is another matter.

Personally never billed for an AGM but I know a former colleague had a 5* european weekend break for all his shareholders (close family) every year on the company and had been contracting 20+ years

This sounds great, haha, never heard of this. But dunno if I would want to risk it.