Looking for an accountant ASAP

[BTB1]

Hello,

I am about to start my own building business after finishing training a few years ago. I need to find the help of a good accountant as I really have no idea what I need to do and have no idea on cost.

I have a pretty full order book for the next 6 months with some other big jobs in the pipeline for later in the year. Realistically sales in the first year will be around 150k leaving around 30k as my salary. I have 5 - 8 staff, mainly apprentices.

I really need to sort out my obligations and budget for accouting services. I'd welcome any advice and information on price of services. I suspect I need quite a lot of help with payroll, tax etc. I have a few meetings will local accountants (Glasgow) early next week and hope to have someone on board in the next few days. I'll be happy to discuss princing with any accountants on here though as I am happy to work with someone remotely. Please drop me a PM or message if you'd be interested helping. Details of prices, ball park figures would really help as I need to come to a decision asap.

Thanks,

Willy

[Tej]

Hello,

I am about to start my own building business after finishing training a few years ago. I need to find the help of a good accountant as I really have no idea what I need to do and have no idea on cost.

I have a pretty full order book for the next 6 months with some other big jobs in the pipeline for later in the year. Realistically sales in the first year will be around 150k leaving around 30k as my salary. I have 5 - 8 staff, mainly apprentices.

I really need to sort out my obligations and budget for accouting services. I'd welcome any advice and information on price of services. I suspect I need quite a lot of help with payroll, tax etc. I have a few meetings will local accountants (Glasgow) early next week and hope to have someone on board in the next few days. I'll be happy to discuss princing with any accountants on here though as I am happy to work with someone remotely. Please drop me a PM or message if you'd be interested helping. Details of prices, ball park figures would really help as I need to come to a decision asap.

Thanks,

Willy

Hi Willy

sales = 150 k
salary=30k
balance to be paid to staff of 5-8, NIC, tax,pay for materials, vans, plant etc:)
and of course accountants fees.
Don't leave anything..does it?.. cover your costs?

You definitely need a good accountant

Glad you have a full order book!

Good luck!

[Maslins]

You say yourself you need quite a bit of assistance. I would therefore go with one of the accountants you find in Glasgow.

Using someone remotely is fine if you know what you're doing, but nothing beats sitting down with someone for an hour or two with the paperwork in front of you to help you understand things.

[BTB1]

Hi Willy

sales = 150 k
salary=30k
balance to be paid to staff of 5-8, NIC, tax,pay for materials, vans, plant etc:)
and of course accountants fees.
Don't leave anything..does it?.. cover your costs?

You definitely need a good accountant

Glad you have a full order book!

Good luck!

120k covers the cost of apprentices from the college at around £60 per week. Most of these guys are part time. Labour and material costs have been assessed well and I have been pretty prudent with the sales estimation.

Any information on prices of services and what I should be looking to budget?

[Homshaw]

I have some large builders on my books and they are quite demanding in terms of time spent

With complex VAT, being CIS sub-contractors as well as Contractors, needing a payroll with quite high staff turnover the difficulties of paperwork being mislaid, filling in CITB forms plus the usual limited company accounts they can be a handful.

I wouldn't try to do it remotely. You need someone helpful and local

It's good that you have such a healthy order book many builders are struggling badly at the moment

If you have so many apprentices you need to watch your level of supervision. One of my clients left a worker to demolish a wall. He decided he would stand on the wall and swing the hammer between his legs. He fell off, damaged his ankle, sued (no win no fee) and won because of lack of supervision

You need someone you're happy working with and you almost regard as one of your team. Might be good if you went on a HMRC CIS course as it is a high risk area and you need to be aware of the issues

[Maslins]

Price really depends on how much help you need, the size of the firm you go to, and how competent you are at doing things yourself.

I agree with Homshaw that even if fairly clued up, you're likely to need more help than most. Go speak to a few accountants near you. They'll typically offer a free initial consultation where you can discuss what you need, get a feel for them (ie whether you like them/trust their ability/want to work with them), and get a quote as well.

Don't just go for the cheapest quote, go for the one that seems to understand you, your situation, and what you need.

[Tw Installations]

Hello,
Im from glasgow too and have had to go through a few accountants.

I'm just changing over at the moment, I was very impressed with what the new guy is offering. Very understanding, guarantees all of his work, ie if your invoices, bank statements etc are in to him he will guarantee to have your monthly P&l back in x amount of days kind of thing.

It depends on what you are after, my last accountant of 4 years for example very resonably priced, salt of the earth guy but nothing ever got done - had to wait months before i knew how much tax was due - constant letters through from inland revenue demanding money from us - we were constantly firefighting

Now we need a bit more - new guy meets once every month with us and will go through our figures with us, explain what they mean to us, coach us and check our understanding, spotting problems before they occur.

If your interested In getting it right from the start and growing your company then He is definately worth a look.

If your searching for the best prices, then I agree it with the person who said cheapest is not the best, from experience this will get you by but if you are looking for a bit more it might not be the best option

Hope this Helps
Tommy

[Tej]

BTW.. just as Homshaw pointed out.. CIS alone is a veritable minefield. It generates a shedload of paperwork. The H & E stuff is a nightmare too.

So.. you really need a good accountant. will pay for himself/herself in the long run.

Hope you are not being put off by all this.. but a good accountant will also be able to help you do some cashflow forecasts.. and budgeting.

Don't forget.. that when you run your own business..... you are the last one to get paid:) ( thats the £30k outta the window);; just kidding:D