Accounts Costs - what's usual

[SarahDinnage]

Hi

I just wondered your views. I have a small company turning over £5k a month.

At present:

I use an online accounts system which costs me £15 (payable to accountant), I do my own invoicing, credit control and banking.

My accountant does my VAT quartlely and prepares my accounts quartlerly and charges me £75 a month plus the £15 for use of the online accounts portal. There will be a further charge for year end accounts.

What do you think. I haven't heard or seen him since my last VAT return and I just not sure what I am paying for..but I am prepared to be told I am wrong:redface:

Sarah

[Philip Hoyle]

Depends exactly what he has to do to turn your online book-keeping into VAT returns and management accounts. £225 per qtr for a VAT return and mgmt accs doesn't seem excessive to be honest. Hopefully, by doing quarterly mgmt accounts, the year end accounts should be a lot less. It would be interesting to know what the year end accounts have been quoted at - then we'll be better placed to give you an opinion.

[Williams lester]

Wny not compare a few online prices, ours are detailed on the website and are fully inclusive of use of our online software and all the statutory accounts and tax returns etc.

[MyAccountantOnline]

Hi

I just wondered your views. I have a small company turning over £5k a month.

At present:

I use an online accounts system which costs me £15 (payable to accountant), I do my own invoicing, credit control and banking.

My accountant does my VAT quartlely and prepares my accounts quartlerly and charges me £75 a month plus the £15 for use of the online accounts portal. There will be a further charge for year end accounts.

What do you think. I haven't heard or seen him since my last VAT return and I just not sure what I am paying for..but I am prepared to be told I am wrong:redface:

Sarah

Hi Sarah

I am an accountant and run an online accountancy practice.

You will find a huge variation in what accountants charge, and how they operate.

I would say the service you are getting is from a fairly traditional type accountant.

To see a different service to that which you have at present you might be interested in taking a look at my website - http://myaccountantonline.co.uk/

[KM-Tiger]

Are there any complications in what your business does? That could make a difference.

If there are not any complications then I would be aiming to pay about half of what you are paying now. If you are doing the data entry then generating the VAT return is trivial, and even allowing time to check for howlers is no more than 30 mins work including making the payment.

Do you need quarterly accounts from your accountant? If you are using bookkeeping software (on or off line) you can produce your own anytime you like, together with any other reports you want. I always like to keep a close eye on current liabilities, ie to VAT, HMRC and other creditors to help avoid cashflow surprises.

That said the most valuable service you get from an accountant is the advice, and if that's of very high quality it may be worth it.