Accountancy fees for small businesses..

[Gem87]

Hi Everyone!

I was wondering if there were any small businesses out there that would be willing to disclose how much they pay each month/year for an accountants services? We're a small company with 4 full time staff and we currently pay our accountants for the following services:

- Preparation of the statutory financial statements and preparation and submission of the financial
statements to Companies House.
- Conversion of the accounts to iXBRL format, preparing corporation tax
computations along with corporation tax return, CT600 for submission
to HM Revenue & Customs.
- Dealing with all company secretarial work including preparing the
annual Confirmation Statement for filing at Companies House.
- Preparation of P11D, calculating your Class 1A National Insurance
Liabilities and advising on the payment of tax. Filing the P11D forms
online with HM Revenue & Customs.
- ''All other associated tax work''
- Processing the company payroll including auto enrolment for the year

We also pay a separate monthly payment to them for the subscription to XERO.

I appreciate it will vary from business to business and area, but we're not sure if we're perhaps paying a bit too much...

Many thanks

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

I would be surprised if it is more than a couple grand, however, a lot depends on the number of transactions and the complexity of the accounts.

 

[UK Contractor Accountant]

That's weird - asked the same question 3 years ago!! did you get a cheaper quote back then?

I just wondered if anyone would be willing to share what they currently pay their accountant per month/year? We're a limited company, with 5 employees and we're being charged just over £3000 per year + a £36-00 per month Xero subscription. In our fee they cover:

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Regularly reviewing your costs is a good thing - I do wonder how they got on back then!

 

[Gem87]

Thanks for your replies! We were going to switch 3 years ago, as we did find somewhere else slightly cheaper, but then covid/lockdowns/furlough hit and it suddenly didn't seem a good time to move with all the uncertainty going on. Since then, we've now half the work force and we're paying almost £4000 a year + a XERO subscription to the same accountant. I appreciate costs go up each year, but it just seems a bit much and wanted some similar comparisons to help me put it into perspective.

 

[UK Contractor Accountant]

Thanks for your replies! We were going to switch 3 years ago, as we did find somewhere else slightly cheaper, but then covid/lockdowns/furlough hit and it suddenly didn't seem a good time to move with all the uncertainty going on. Since then, we've now half the work force and we're paying almost £4000 a year + a XERO subscription to the same accountant. I appreciate costs go up each year, but it just seems a bit much and wanted some similar comparisons to help me put it into perspective.

does seem a bit steep - we have companies with similar requirements on a fixed fee arrangement of £180 + VAT per month.

Xero - do you have multiple currencies requirements as cant see why you would need to pay for the Premium Plan of £36 per month?

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Hi Everyone!

I was wondering if there were any small businesses out there that would be willing to disclose how much they pay each month/year for an accountants services? We're a small company with 4 full time staff and we currently pay our accountants for the following services:

- Preparation of the statutory financial statements and preparation and submission of the financial
statements to Companies House.
- Conversion of the accounts to iXBRL format, preparing corporation tax
computations along with corporation tax return, CT600 for submission
to HM Revenue & Customs.
- Dealing with all company secretarial work including preparing the
annual Confirmation Statement for filing at Companies House.
- Preparation of P11D, calculating your Class 1A National Insurance
Liabilities and advising on the payment of tax. Filing the P11D forms
online with HM Revenue & Customs.
- ''All other associated tax work''
- Processing the company payroll including auto enrolment for the year

We also pay a separate monthly payment to them for the subscription to XERO.

I appreciate it will vary from business to business and area, but we're not sure if we're perhaps paying a bit too much...

Many thanks

As an accountant I'd need a bit more information before giving you a quote and I think most accountants would too. I'd want to know the type of business you run, the approximate annual turnover, how many staff P11D forms are required for, whether it's a weekly or monthly payroll and what exactly the 'other associated tax work is'. That said I suspect based on what you've mentioned you are paying near the upper end of the fees you'd typically get charged.

Are you happy with Xero or is that something you'd consider changing?

 

[Bobbo]

Thanks for your replies! We were going to switch 3 years ago, as we did find somewhere else slightly cheaper, but then covid/lockdowns/furlough hit and it suddenly didn't seem a good time to move with all the uncertainty going on. Since then, we've now half the work force and we're paying almost £4000 a year + a XERO subscription to the same accountant. I appreciate costs go up each year, but it just seems a bit much and wanted some similar comparisons to help me put it into perspective.

You don't list it in the package of services, so I assume they are not doing the company's bookkeeping or VAT returns?

If so, for that fee level it sounds likes you're potentially in the 'makes a dog's dinner of the bookkeeping with numerous adjustments required' category.

If that fee is in fact including the bookkeeping and VAT but was omitted from the list, then you're probably getting a good deal.

The workforce having halved does not mean the work has reduced by as much. A payroll is still being ran whether there's 4 or 8 people on it.