Experience with Accountancy Partnership or Crunch?

[JamesMarketing]

Out of curiosity, are you talking inclusive or exclusive of VAT?

I'm sure it's inclusive...but like I said they print everything out and both use old school local accountants it seems. So I'm aware it's not easy to compare.

 

[Bob]

FWIW Crunch weren't very helpful when they were on here for a short while
All replies were basically, send us a private message and we'll respond direct. Most responses were from marketing rather than technical

 

[JamesMarketing]

FWIW Crunch weren't very helpful when they were on here for a short while
All replies were basically, send us a private message and we'll respond direct. Most responses were from marketing rather than technical

I appreciate that, they seem very salesy! I asked for the qualifications of their accountants, and why there is no information about the actual team of accountants on the site. Their response was that they are a very successful business, business business business. They have in-house training for their accountants...blah blah. Didn't answer what I asked.

 

[john1989]

£375 + vat for a set of company accounts, company tax and director self assessment. I think you underestimate the work it takes, and have an unrealistic price in your mind.

£375 could be done if they simply put your trial balance into statutory format.

 

[UK Contractor Accountant]

£375 + vat for a set of company accounts, company tax and director self assessment. I think you underestimate the work it takes, and have an unrealistic price in your mind.

£375 could be done if they simply put your trial balance into statutory format.

Even then In most cases I have taken over the Statutory accounts are wrong -especially in the related party & transactions with Directors notes disclosures.

 

[john1989]

I've seen some horrifyingly bad accounts, and it usually costs the client more in the long run to sort out. They don't see that at the time though.

 

[Jon Norris]

All replies were basically, send us a private message and we'll respond direct. Most responses were from marketing rather than technical

We pay the accountants to speak to clients, not prat around on forums (that's my job!).

I asked for the qualifications of their accountants, and why there is no information about the actual team of accountants on the site.

We're AAT, ACCA and IPSE accredited - as to individual qualifications that's a bit of a moving target right now as lots of exams are being sat, I'll see if I can dig them up for you though.

 

[Bob]

We pay the accountants to speak to clients, not prat around on forums (that's my job!).

Shame that forums work better with members who know what they're talking about rather than their marketing people. Maybe you could contribute to the marketing forum

We're AAT, ACCA and IPSE accredited - as to individual qualifications that's a bit of a moving target right now as lots of exams are being sat, I'll see if I can dig them up for you though.

What exactly does ACCA accredited mean? I wasn't aware that ACCA accredited firms other than as Approved Employers

 

[David Griffiths]

We pay the accountants to speak to clients, not prat around on forums (that's my job!)./QUOTE]

You migh gain some respect if you don't refer to contributors on this forum as "pratting around"

 

[Lee Murphy]

Hello everyone, I thought I would join in the pratting about!

Our bookkeeping software; Pandle was only released around 4 months ago which is probably why nobody has heard of it. The idea behind it is that it takes a very basic approach so that the user can pick it up more quickly. For a contractor it's perfectly adequate but for a more complex business we would recommend other packages such as Sage, Clearbooks or Kashflow. We never force bookkeeping software on clients and we have many that prefer to use spreadsheets (that we can provide) or a package of their choosing.

We are also ACCA accredited (Approved employers!) and we have 2 ACCA qualified accountants and 2 ACA along with 3 juniors who are a mixture of AAT and degree level qualified, all studying towards ACCA. Even our sales guy is studying ACCA so that he better understands prospect's requirements!




Hope that helps!

 

[kevin.doran]

It's almost as though you could hear us talking about you @Lee Murphy

Welcome to the forum...

 

[Lee Murphy]

Yes, it's funny how we always stumble across threads that mention our company

Thanks Kevin!

 

[Bob]

Glad to see you here and that you employ qualified staff. Could I just mention that use of HMRC logo on your website breaches their copyright

 

[Bob]

Reference here

 

[Lee Murphy]

Hi Bob, thanks for pointing that out. HMRC is also our supervisory authority for anti-money laundering regulations (apparently 15,000 firms are not regulated!) which was the purpose of the logo. I will however contact HMRC to see if this is still allowed.

 

[kevin.doran]

It's not unfortunately Lee, off the top of my head you can't really use it for anything these days.

 

[Bob]

Hi Bob, thanks for pointing that out. HMRC is also our supervisory authority for anti-money laundering regulations (apparently 15,000 firms are not regulated!) which was the purpose of the logo. I will however contact HMRC to see if this is still allowed.

No it's not. Logo is Crown Copyright.

 

[Bob]

HMRC is also our supervisory authority for anti-money laundering regulations (apparently 15,000 firms are not regulated!)

Most professional firms are regulated for ML purposes by their professional bodies.
This isn't a dig at you by the way. Hopefully you will stay and contribute to the forum

 

[Lee Murphy]

Okay cheers, I'll ask the developer to remove it. It's probably better not to be too associated with HMRC anyway based on the advice potential clients have received from them (once they eventually get through to someone!)

The forum does seem like a great resource so I look forward to pratting about with you

 

[Bob]

You'll find we're actually quite nice and supportive when you participate in the forums

 

[Lee Murphy]

I didn't doubt that for a moment!

 

[JamesMarketing]

@Lee Murphy I appreciate you coming to the Forum, especially being online on a Saturday too!

Clearly you're winning vs Crunch, and everything I have looked at I'm happy with. Still more expensive than the amount the guys I spoke to pay for theirs, at £65.40/month inc VAT (~£784/year) but I guess that's motivation to grow the business quicker so it's not an issue!

 

[Lee Murphy]

@JamesMarketing No problem at all. Speak to Henry on Monday and we will be more than happy to reduce your fee for your first year after which time hopefully you'll have built a global conglomerate!

 

[JamesMarketing]

@JamesMarketing No problem at all. Speak to Henry on Monday and we will be more than happy to reduce your fee for your first year after which time hopefully you'll have built a global conglomerate!

That's very kind. Looks like the solution has been found

 

[77Sq]

Sorry to join the thread a bit later, I was recommended to put my 2p to it. A I wanted to add is that £1200 is a bit steep, particularly if you've done the majority of the preparation yourself.

 

[JamesMarketing]

Sorry to join the thread a bit later, I was recommended to put my 2p to it. A I wanted to add is that £1200 is a bit steep, particularly if you've done the majority of the preparation yourself.

Thanks.

Lee and the team at The Accountancy Partnership have been awesome so I'm confident that I made the right choice!

I wasn't particularly happy with the way Crunch answered my questions, shying away from giving out any information about qualifications other than their own internal training.

 

[HC-Samuel]

Hello,

I am currently with Crunch but I find their online system pretty frustrating and time consuming, I assume its because they want everything in the system to input correctly so they can eventually produce accounts which is fine but it can be nusisance.

Things like bank reconciliation I find extremely frustrating. I have been trialling FreeAgent and find the workflow there *much* more fluid and easier to work with so may move to that and find an accountant that doesn't lock me into an one particular system.

@JamesMarketing how are you getting on with The Accountancy Partnership?

Thanks
Sam

 

[JamesMarketing]

@JamesMarketing how are you getting on with The Accountancy Partnership?

Hey Sam,

So first let it be clear that I have never got on easily with accounting. I tried to learn what I could in several modules at University but I could never recall anything and it just didn't click.

@Lee Murphy and the team have been amazing, have helped me via email and phone whenever I have needed it and always in great detail. I actually use their online bookkeeping software Pandle – it's easy for me to use, and obviously easier for them to manage, update and work with because it was built by them. I fully understand why you'd want to use other software if you need the features and don't want to get locked down, but right now for my business Pandle handles everything.

I'm confident that I'll be staying with The Accountancy Partnership, and would definitely recommend them. Why don't you fire them an email or start a live chat on the site to see if they're right for you?

 

[Bob]

I have been trialling FreeAgent and find the workflow there *much* more fluid and easier to work with so may move to that and find an accountant that doesn't lock me into an one particular system.

Maybe have a word with @Philip Hoyle a long term member on here who uses Free Agent amongst other packages