- Original Poster
- #1
Hi all, this is my first post on here, albeit a very long one so please be gentle! Especially as I know I have made a few mistakes in my decisions!
I started my limited company towards the end of November 2024 whereby I provide engineering labour to different companies. I dealt with one or two recruitment agencies at the time and one suggested an accountancy that he highly recommended. As he was trying to fast track me into a position quickly, he said that I should go with this company as he can deal with them directly and push things through quicker. I know this should have set alarm bells ringing but I went with it to start having some income for Christmas which was only 4 weeks away.
The troubles started when they incorporated my business, I set up an account with a virtual office company so that my personal address was not on companies house website. I informed the accountancy of the address so that they could incorporate my company using this address. They failed to do this and set up the business on there using my private address. I complained and they said that they have now changed it but when you go on there, they simply changed the address from my personal one to the virtual address, so my personal address is still on there as a previous address. I complained and they said there is nothing they can do about this and they gave me a free month of their services as an apology.
I was then assigned an "Accountant" who had no clue about finances and advised me not to take any dividends or draw a salary until the new tax year started in the following April. This advice was incorrect as I had not taken any dividends in the tax year so I missed out on the dividend allowance for that year. I didn't know at the time as I was new to running a business and didn't know about tax free allowances etc which is why I went with an accountant when starting my business. I complained and I was assigned another accountant there, who seemed slightly more proactive but still not worth the £140 a month I was paying.
After being with them for just over a year, I came to to the conclusion that I would move as they were not justifying their monthly charge. I had been watching a few companies on YouTube putting out tax and accounting advice videos and one company in particular caught my eye and they seemed to come across professional and human. They advised on their videos to book a free discovery call, so in January 2026 I called them so they sold me the dream, such as business strategy advice, tax planning, etc and they said they can take over my accounts and I would pay about £30 a month less. I know I made a mistake here but the sales person was very keen to get me on board asap so I signed up and set up a direct debit without double checking my previous accountants cancellation terms as I was so keen to get away from them where they were so useless, so when I gave them notice of termination, they said I had to give 3 months notice. The new accountant took the first direct debit very rapidly and I got onto them to ask them to place my account on hold as I was still in contract to my previous accountant for another 2 or 3 months. They kindly did this (even though I know I had paid them a months payment for effectively a couple of zoom calls and a few onboarding emails I did not pursue getting it refunded as I was very busy at the time). Then came April/May 2026 and my previous accountant was still charging me so I sent an email to them reminding them that my 3 months notice was up so please stop charging me. They acknowledged their mistake and said I would no longer be charged. I then got onto the new accountant and they resumed payments. I had already given the new accountants the companies house authorisation codes in January when I signed up so they had access since then.
The troubles started however when I realised that the new accountant had missed my quarterly VAT return deadline and I had a fine and penalty point come through the post from HMRC. They admitted their mistake and gave me 2 free months to cover the fines and interest charged by HMRC.
During the first month of their services resuming in May, they also had to be reminded 3 times over the course of a few weeks to add my Free agent account to their practice dashboard otherwise my Free agent account would get frozen. They did this eventually 2 days before the deadline.
Unfortunately, similarly to the previous accountant, they have not been proactive in any way in informing me of deadlines, such as the corporation tax being due for payment at the end of August (which I only knew about through Free agent) otherwise that would be overdue as well.
So far, I have not received any of the business strategy and tax planning etc they promised, however, more importantly is that my company accounts are now overdue as they were due on approximately 20th August 2026 for the year 2024-2025. I enquired and as per usual, the replies were very slow and after a couple of days someone replied and said my accountant had now left the business and my enquiry would be passed to someone else and they would get back to me after a few days. After another week, I still had not had an answer to why my accounts were overdue so I sent an unofficial complaint. To which they replied and said that my account manager was out of the office indefinitely, however they replied on their behalf and said that the accounts overdue for filing were from 2024-2025 which are the responsibility of my previous accountant and not theirs so it was not their concern. They were prepared to file the accounts for me for which a fee would be payable! I have also noticed that my previous accountant hasn't filed my CT600's (one for a 12 month period and strangely one for a 10 day period?) So there is now also a charge for submitting these!
My argument is that the new accountants have access to my companies House account since January so surely in that 7-8 months they should have taken a look into my business and tax affairs and noted any deadlines etc. I also believe there should be a professional handover letter (professional clearance letter) sent by the new accountant to the old one requesting information to ensure a smooth handover but I don't believe this was done. I know it was not a smooth transition due to the 3-4 month gap whilst we served the 3 month notice period but even so, I believe my new accountant should be responsible for the accounts & tax returns as the deadlines for submittal fall within the period I am paying for their services, even if the periods covered fall in a previous business year, especially considering I am paying a large monthly fee. It is getting close to the deadline of the 20th September before the accounts fall into the next penalty threshold and I also risk being prosecuted!
I am just after some advice here really about who you would be pursuing for this mess and any advice really. I know I have made a few mistakes but I have been suffering from depression and anxiety for a few years and it takes its toll sometimes which makes me loose concentration and take my eye off the ball.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I started my limited company towards the end of November 2024 whereby I provide engineering labour to different companies. I dealt with one or two recruitment agencies at the time and one suggested an accountancy that he highly recommended. As he was trying to fast track me into a position quickly, he said that I should go with this company as he can deal with them directly and push things through quicker. I know this should have set alarm bells ringing but I went with it to start having some income for Christmas which was only 4 weeks away.
The troubles started when they incorporated my business, I set up an account with a virtual office company so that my personal address was not on companies house website. I informed the accountancy of the address so that they could incorporate my company using this address. They failed to do this and set up the business on there using my private address. I complained and they said that they have now changed it but when you go on there, they simply changed the address from my personal one to the virtual address, so my personal address is still on there as a previous address. I complained and they said there is nothing they can do about this and they gave me a free month of their services as an apology.
I was then assigned an "Accountant" who had no clue about finances and advised me not to take any dividends or draw a salary until the new tax year started in the following April. This advice was incorrect as I had not taken any dividends in the tax year so I missed out on the dividend allowance for that year. I didn't know at the time as I was new to running a business and didn't know about tax free allowances etc which is why I went with an accountant when starting my business. I complained and I was assigned another accountant there, who seemed slightly more proactive but still not worth the £140 a month I was paying.
After being with them for just over a year, I came to to the conclusion that I would move as they were not justifying their monthly charge. I had been watching a few companies on YouTube putting out tax and accounting advice videos and one company in particular caught my eye and they seemed to come across professional and human. They advised on their videos to book a free discovery call, so in January 2026 I called them so they sold me the dream, such as business strategy advice, tax planning, etc and they said they can take over my accounts and I would pay about £30 a month less. I know I made a mistake here but the sales person was very keen to get me on board asap so I signed up and set up a direct debit without double checking my previous accountants cancellation terms as I was so keen to get away from them where they were so useless, so when I gave them notice of termination, they said I had to give 3 months notice. The new accountant took the first direct debit very rapidly and I got onto them to ask them to place my account on hold as I was still in contract to my previous accountant for another 2 or 3 months. They kindly did this (even though I know I had paid them a months payment for effectively a couple of zoom calls and a few onboarding emails I did not pursue getting it refunded as I was very busy at the time). Then came April/May 2026 and my previous accountant was still charging me so I sent an email to them reminding them that my 3 months notice was up so please stop charging me. They acknowledged their mistake and said I would no longer be charged. I then got onto the new accountant and they resumed payments. I had already given the new accountants the companies house authorisation codes in January when I signed up so they had access since then.
The troubles started however when I realised that the new accountant had missed my quarterly VAT return deadline and I had a fine and penalty point come through the post from HMRC. They admitted their mistake and gave me 2 free months to cover the fines and interest charged by HMRC.
During the first month of their services resuming in May, they also had to be reminded 3 times over the course of a few weeks to add my Free agent account to their practice dashboard otherwise my Free agent account would get frozen. They did this eventually 2 days before the deadline.
Unfortunately, similarly to the previous accountant, they have not been proactive in any way in informing me of deadlines, such as the corporation tax being due for payment at the end of August (which I only knew about through Free agent) otherwise that would be overdue as well.
So far, I have not received any of the business strategy and tax planning etc they promised, however, more importantly is that my company accounts are now overdue as they were due on approximately 20th August 2026 for the year 2024-2025. I enquired and as per usual, the replies were very slow and after a couple of days someone replied and said my accountant had now left the business and my enquiry would be passed to someone else and they would get back to me after a few days. After another week, I still had not had an answer to why my accounts were overdue so I sent an unofficial complaint. To which they replied and said that my account manager was out of the office indefinitely, however they replied on their behalf and said that the accounts overdue for filing were from 2024-2025 which are the responsibility of my previous accountant and not theirs so it was not their concern. They were prepared to file the accounts for me for which a fee would be payable! I have also noticed that my previous accountant hasn't filed my CT600's (one for a 12 month period and strangely one for a 10 day period?) So there is now also a charge for submitting these!
My argument is that the new accountants have access to my companies House account since January so surely in that 7-8 months they should have taken a look into my business and tax affairs and noted any deadlines etc. I also believe there should be a professional handover letter (professional clearance letter) sent by the new accountant to the old one requesting information to ensure a smooth handover but I don't believe this was done. I know it was not a smooth transition due to the 3-4 month gap whilst we served the 3 month notice period but even so, I believe my new accountant should be responsible for the accounts & tax returns as the deadlines for submittal fall within the period I am paying for their services, even if the periods covered fall in a previous business year, especially considering I am paying a large monthly fee. It is getting close to the deadline of the 20th September before the accounts fall into the next penalty threshold and I also risk being prosecuted!
I am just after some advice here really about who you would be pursuing for this mess and any advice really. I know I have made a few mistakes but I have been suffering from depression and anxiety for a few years and it takes its toll sometimes which makes me loose concentration and take my eye off the ball.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
