Help! Accountant Charges

[Peter Jolley]

Could anyone please advised what is the average hourly rate of an accountant? I can appreciate that this is a difficult question to answer, but I am just after a ball park figure.

I believe my accountant is trying to pull a fast one with me, and over charge........ :evil:

Any information would be greatley received.

Pete.

[Ozzy]

Hi Pete,
Accountants charges vary depending on location and expertise. My mum's account is less than half the price of my accountant, but my accountant is in what I would say "a different league", and our businesses have different requirements. My mum is a sole trader with a much lower turnover, profit and transaction type and she looks after just her business bookkeeping. My accountant looks after both my businesses and personal interests, and also mentors and provides advice on business planning and strategic decisions.

I guess you need to decide what type of support you want from an accountant and then decide what type of accountant to get onboard. No-one else can really advise what an accountants hourly rate should be except that accountant, and what he/she values their time at. It just depends on whether your accountant is over stating time spent, but if that was the case they wouldn't be an accountant for very long as they are governed by quite a bit of red tape.

[Peter Jolley]

Thanks for that.

I feel I have been stung by my accountant tho', he has only finalised three months worth of books that were produced by me using sage (which he commented on were very good) and also a financial statement for companies house.

At which he has charged a very large fee.... If it is the norm' I wish I had looked at accountancy as a profession myself....

I think I will speak to buisennes link as a way forward, because I do not want to go to arbitration.

[Alpha]

Peter

First of all the term Caveat Emptor would apply if your accountant(Or at least any professional accountant) has given you a letter of engagement which clearly outlines the terms i. e. what he charges and what work he will do on your behalf. You should then have agreed a fee or at least an indication of the fee for doing the required work for this shorter period.

As Ozzy said there are so many different methods of charging for the work and differing rates depending on such things as the the type of work, the quality of your book keeping and how much subsequent work he had to do, obviously the overhead structure that he has and so on and so on.

If you want to PM me with a detail of the work he has done I would give you a ball park cost of what I would charge which will then give you at least one comparison.

[BMS]

Peter

Having dealt with a number of different accountants over the years, as has been previously stated the fees can vary widely from firm to firm.

If you want to PM me the details of what was done and the fee I would be happy to take alook at it, but generally as it sounds as though this was just year end finalisation of accounts you would probably be looking at £350 + depending on where you are and the amount of work involved (£45 + per hour seems to be the norm and I believe that most of the professional accountants bodies actually have guidelines with regards to the fees charges) .

[Alpha]

The hourly rate you quote is a little low from the research that I did when setting up. Accounatnts rates vary between £60 and £150 depending on the nature of the work. This was around the Midlands area so there may very well be variations in Wales.(Or the rate may include a mixture of book keeping and accounting/tax work)


Accountancy bodies do not issue guidelines but again I did come across an example given on the ACCA site which suggested that a self assessment return should start at £300 and more to be charged for additional schedules.(I personally thought this was a little steep but perhaps then writer was based in London and worked for one of the big 4 firms :) )

[BMS]

Hi Alpha

You are of course right in that there are regional variations in the fees charged and , of course, the nature of the firm ie large cororate firm of accountants to small sole trader organisations.

I have quoted what seems to be the bottom end of the fees scale and I have worked with larger bodies which use your top end value (and in some cases even higher.

Interestingly enough the the accountants that I deal with normally charge around £70 - £100 for self assessment returns depending on the complexity of the returns.

The lesson to be learned is mayby use a firm of accountants in a different area or outsource ..........plug plug


With regard to the fees scale, I cannot say definitively where I read or so the information but I could have sworn it was on a CIMA or ACCA related website......but I won't argue the fact.

[Alpha]

It may be the ACCA website where I got my self assessment example from but the guidelines there were an individuals not the institute.

I can at least guarantee that CIMA doesnt. :D

(Disclaimer....unless it went up on the site within the last two weeks)

I am however a voiciferous campaigner for CIMA to help its Members in Practice much more than they currently do.

[BMS]

Hi Alpha

"My opinion" is that CIMA qualified accountants seem to be regarded as poor relations to ACCA members. Maybe this is due to working with audit firms and not company accountants though..............

[Alpha]

The problem is that for many years we specialised in working in companies only not in practices and that perception is still there especailly amongst the less enlightened members of ACCA and ICAEW.

There are noww increasing numbers of members in practice particularly since the deregulations which meant that companies did not require an audit if T/O was less than £1M (Revised two years ago to £5.6M).

There are many of us who have worked in businesses and therefore have a valuable insight on what companies need especially from the strategic point of view.
We are professionally trained accountants just like the others.

[Peter Jolley]

I like this forum, post a question and genrate a debate :D

Thanks to you both for your help with my original problem.

Pete

[MinuWeb]

I would suggest speaking to your accountant. Explain that you have concerns about the fees charged and ask him to justify them.

You will always find others that may be cheaper making it feel like you have been ripped off, but you should give them the chance to defend and explain their charges.

[Peter Jolley]

I have spoken to him and I asked for a complete breakdown of costs. He then just sent a list of the work he did without costs. So I asked again and am now waiting for the breakdown.

[BMS]

Hi Peter

The problem is that with an hourly rate it is difficult to question the time taken for a particular task.

P.S. sorry to piggy back a reply to Alpha but I agree CIMA qualified acountants are equally capable if not more so.....

Have always believed in the premis that CIMA qualified accountants are in fact better suited to the day to day management of company accounts due to their flexibility and the business strategy orientated nature of their training, as opposed to the sometimes rigid historical and factual approach taken by ACCA qualified accountants.

And before we get outraged replies from ACCA's, this is my viewpoint only, based on my experience of working with various people......

[winton50]

I would characterise a Management (CIMA) accountant as looking out the front of the ship (budgeting, forecasting) and an ACCA as looking out the back (Audit, Tax etc.) but they both have the same basic skills and knowledge.

It's just like going to the doctors some are GP's and some specialists.

[BMS]

Hi Stuart

Nice description, must remember that one...

[Peter Jolley]

To all who contributed with this thread.

Update.

Following a meeting with my accountant, I have managed to reduce my fee notice by a third, which is better than the full fee notice he wanted to charge me.

Thanks to all who assited me with this.

A good lesson learned.

Always go for a fixed accountancy fee....

Pete :D

[Alpha]

Congratulations Peter.

Does make me wonder though why he could not offer that price in the first place :)

[Peter Jolley]

Indeed, I agree.

Basicly he could not justify his fee and had to back down.

You have probably guessed that he will shortly be my ex accountant.

Pete.

PS. So I will be looking for a fixed fee accountant in the not to distance future.

[BMS]

Peter

When you are ready to do this get in touch and I will be happy to quote.

[Joyous]

I feel I have been stung by my accountant tho', he has only finalised three months worth of books that were produced by me using sage (which he commented on were very good) and also a financial statement for companies house.

At which he has charged a very large fee....

Hi Peter

Just out curiosity can I ask how much he initially charged you for this?

Regards

Joy