Accountacy charges

MM2002

Hi All,
I have been faced with a bill of nearly £500 from my accountant for basic bookeeping of my rented property. I email the odd receipt to her(not that many) and ask the odd question but thats about it. Are these fees the norm?
Thanks for replies in advance.
Matt

csgohan4

depends on your income from the property. If it's just rent, you could do it yourself tbh, filling a self assessment isn't so bad when you look at it.


but £500 seems about right for the year.

marliepanda

MadMatt2002 wrote: »

Hi All,
I have been faced with a bill of nearly £500 from my accountant for basic bookeeping of my rented property. I email the odd receipt to her(not that many) and ask the odd question but thats about it. Are these fees the norm?
Thanks for replies in advance.
Matt

When you asked her to be your accountant, what fees did you agree?

The 'norm' is whatever you agree to.

Victor_the_Gink

Check your Engagement Letter.

G_M

Does she charge by the hour? A Fixed Fee?

We can't see the contract you signed with her. Nor do we know how much time she spent on your case.

Does not seem excesive though.

Unless your affairs are verycomplex, why are you using a accountant? (This is a moneysaving forum!)

MM2002

Thanks for the replies. Seems this is about right then, if maybe slightly at the top end. I have always been employed by large firms and have never needed to look into tax, so its all greek to me, so paying someone to do it(correctly) is the only solution. On the question of does she charge by the hour etc, by the breakdown its by the minute. Every email she has answered, every phone call has been charged.

csgohan4

MadMatt2002 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. Seems this is about right then, if maybe slightly at the top end. I have always been employed by large firms and have never needed to look into tax, so its all greek to me, so paying someone to do it(correctly) is the only solution. On the question of does she charge by the hour etc, by the breakdown its by the minute. Every email she has answered, every phone call has been charged.

if they charge by email and phone, maybe shop around and see any other competitive quotes and ensure they are chartered and registered

MM2002

Again thanks for replies. What with tax law changes the only profit im going to make is when selling the house, and this is a hefty bill on top of tax etc. Rent charged is £1100 pcm so with hardly any receipts going through it must work out at over £200 per hour for her rate!
If thats the norm(so it seems) then thats fine. I just need to become an accountant in my next life

Tyler119

Do it yourself...it is really really simple that someone simple like me does a few for simple people like me

flashg67

As above, I did mine for he first time last year. Once you break down each type of expense in the way the tax return wants it, it's quite easy to do