Recommend Good Accountant?

[Chris4444]

Hi,

I am currently trying to locate a good!! accountant to set on as i am setting up as an Engineering Consultant. I live in the South Yorkshire area and am looking for a QUALIFIED experianced person who can not only do the paperwork but guide me as to the best options for my business as opposed to just filing tax returns etc and charging me an annual fee.

In my humble opinion a good accountant should save me at least as much as they are costing me per annum. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

All of our associates are fully qualified.

 

[GillespieBS]

Its difficult to get an impartial opinion so you should speak to any similar consultants/sole traders and business people in your area to see who they use and whether they are satisfied. You could also ask your bank manager for a recommendation.

To confirm their accreditations, you can contact their institute to satisy yourself that they do have the qualifications that they state.

As a consultant you could consider accountants who provide services to freelancers, contractors, consultancts such as the PCG. Go to http://www.pcg.org.uk/cms/index.php. A lot of these firms operate nationwide so you need to consider whether you want a personal service.

Best of luck

 

[Jenni384]

Hi Chris

There are a number of great accountants here on UKBF (such as Elaine, Nicola, David*). It's well worth having a look through some of the topics in the Accounts forum to see if any of us seem like the kind of people you'd like to work with.

Also have a look at the sticky about choosing a good accountant, there's some excellent advice in there.

We are a firm of qualified accountants looking after clients across the UK. Feel free to have a look at our website to find out more about our complete service.

We have a number of consultants on our books and a good deal of experience in this area.

We're happy to point some references from UKBF your way if you'd like.

Jenni

*And plenty more, apologies to those not on my very brief list, it's nothing personal!

 

[David Griffiths]

Stuart from Accountancy Extra is a member on here and is based in Halifax

Link here

There are others who are happy to work remotely

 

[Homshaw]

Where abouts in South Yorkshire?

I could voucher for a gentleman called Jon Newton in Doncaster.
His number is 01302 310306

 

[Snap Executive]

I too can vouch for Stuart from Accountancy Extra. He is my accountant and offers some very good advice.

Cheers
Jim

 

[accountancyextra]

I too can vouch for Stuart from Accountancy Extra. He is my accountant and offers some very good advice.

Cheers
Jim

Thanks Jim

 

[Homshaw]

Thought Halifax was in West Yorkshire off the M62

 

[accountancyextra]

Thought Halifax was in West Yorkshire off the M62

That's right, it is. Only about 40 mins to Doncaster & Sheffield areas though

 

[EfficientEnergySolutions]

My accountant is fantastic. Always has time for any questions no matter how basic and her fees are very competitive.

Let me know if you want her details.

 

[Chris4444]

Thanks for all the help guys. I am based between Doncaster and Barnsley. I shall follow up both leads given and see where they end. How do i check the associate list on this website?

 

[*Lexxy*]

i feel this may be a silly question, but here goes!

if you're using an accountant that's not local to you, i presume the accountant would expect a client to have all of their accounts in some electronic format that can easily be sent online? perhaps using software for the accounts (sage, kashflow type systems?).

i imagine we'd be classed as 'manual accounts' at the moment, i record all purchases & sales each month on the pc but this is then printed out as header sheets for each month to go with the physical sales & purchase invoices. all these monthly files then get taken to our accountant along with our bank statements, paye info, cheque & paying in book & any other 'useful' info for the year.

i'm guessing with our manual/basic way of doing things only a local accountant would be suitable for us?

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

i feel this may be a silly question, but here goes!

if you're using an accountant that's not local to you, i presume the accountant would expect a client to have all of their accounts in some electronic format that can easily be sent online? perhaps using software for the accounts (sage, kashflow type systems?).

i imagine we'd be classed as 'manual accounts' at the moment, i record all purchases & sales each month on the pc but this is then printed out as header sheets for each month to go with the physical sales & purchase invoices. all these monthly files then get taken to our accountant along with our bank statements, paye info, cheque & paying in book & any other 'useful' info for the year.

i'm guessing with our manual/basic way of doing things only a local accountant would be suitable for us?

can still work remotely with this - can discuss how if you want to know more!

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

i feel this may be a silly question, but here goes!

if you're using an accountant that's not local to you, i presume the accountant would expect a client to have all of their accounts in some electronic format that can easily be sent online? perhaps using software for the accounts (sage, kashflow type systems?).

i imagine we'd be classed as 'manual accounts' at the moment, i record all purchases & sales each month on the pc but this is then printed out as header sheets for each month to go with the physical sales & purchase invoices. all these monthly files then get taken to our accountant along with our bank statements, paye info, cheque & paying in book & any other 'useful' info for the year.

i'm guessing with our manual/basic way of doing things only a local accountant would be suitable for us?

Hi Lexxy

No not at all - many accountants myself included wont insist remote clients only send details electronically.

I have many clients who simply post details to me and it works very well indeed for us both.

There are many options for working with an accountant who isnt local to you.

 

[*Lexxy*]

that's interesting, thanks Elaine & Nicola

would i be right to make the assumption that we're probably being charged more for our yearly accounts with our manual way of doing things, as opposed to someone using an accounting software package?

i normally keep pretty much on top of things & my record keeping is quite good (usually!). we normally only have the odd question or 2 when we go for our yearly visit to the accountants, which i can usually clear up straight away (quite often i've already made a note in the accounts/on a bank statement etc., but nobody has read it or tied the info together).

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

that's interesting, thanks Elaine & Nicola

would i be right to make the assumption that we're probably being charged more for our yearly accounts with our manual way of doing things, as opposed to someone using an accounting software package?

i normally keep pretty much on top of things & my record keeping is quite good (usually!). we normally only have the odd question or 2 when we go for our yearly visit to the accountants, which i can usually clear up straight away (quite often i've already made a note in the accounts/on a bank statement etc., but nobody has read it or tied the info together).

always worth while shopping around - but it may be the case. It is easier / quickly to do things form an accounting system as it can produce draft accounts, a trial balance and all of the things that get us accountants excited

 

[*Lexxy*]

LOL, Elaine, you get excited easily don't you!

i'll ponder on this a bit more as i really am getting a sense of 'time to change' our current accountant...

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

LOL, Elaine, you get excited easily don't you!

I need to get out more but at my age and hormones .... and as Wild Goose has pointed out here:

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=159044&page=3

 

[Jenni384]

Hi Lexxy

Agree with the above, there are plenty of ways of working remotely that can be electronic or not, or a mixture of both.

Accounting systems as Elaine says are much more efficient. Some accountants will do all of that for you so you don't even have to worry about bookkeeping.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

t
would i be right to make the assumption that we're probably being charged more for our yearly accounts with our manual way of doing things, as opposed to someone using an accounting software package?

Thats actually a very difficult question to answer.

Often people assume that if they use an accounting package the accountant wont need to do much at all at the end of the year to produce the annual accounts.

The problem is that people will rarely invest in training to use a package properly and what was a simple job becomes the opposite.

It can therefore be the case that a really tidy well kept set of manual books can take less time to process than a job where someones made a hash-up using software.

Of course its not always the case.

If you are happy with your current accountant it would be a really good question to put to them.

 

[Jenni384]

Often people assume that if they use an accounting package the accountant wont need to do much at all at the end of the year to produce the annual accounts.

The problem is that people will rarely invest in training to use a package properly and what was a simple job becomes the opposite.

It can therefore be the case that a really tidy well kept set of manual books can take less time to process than a job where someones made a hash-up using software.

Thank you Nicola!

This is exactly why we developed All Beans Counted, as the accounts can only be as good as the quality of the data entered, whether into an accounting package or a manual system. By allowing qualified bookkeepers to complete all the work, it means the accounting process is more streamlined (no hash ups!) and the quality of the accounts is much more easily guaranteed.

 

[Chris4444]

All the posts are very interesting but seem to have one underlying tone and that is the simple process of book keeping; i use the phrase simple with the greatest respect, what i mean is i am looking for an accountant who can advise me the legal intracate ways of retainng as much of my hard earned cash as possible!! By this i mean advise that perhaps if i changed XYZ i can legitamately claim it as an expense, am i making the most of the tax break available of home office etc.. you get the idea. This to me is where an accountant really becomes a valuable ASSETT to my business as opposed to an EXPENSE.

 

[Jenni384]

All the posts are very interesting but seem to have one underlying tone and that is the simple process of book keeping; i use the phrase simple with the greatest respect, what i mean is i am looking for an accountant who can advise me the legal intracate ways of retainng as much of my hard earned cash as possible!! By this i mean advise that perhaps if i changed XYZ i can legitamately claim it as an expense, am i making the most of the tax break available of home office etc.. you get the idea. This to me is where an accountant really becomes a valuable ASSETT to my business as opposed to an EXPENSE.

We seem to have gone off on a tangent in this thread - sorry, it happens sometimes on here

To work out if an accountant is going to do for you what you want, you need to have a chat with a few to get their measure. I would say that all (or hopefully all!) of the accountants on here would advise their clients how to maximise their profits and minimise their tax. You're right, this makes accountants assets not expenses. Some other accountants have been recommended on this thread, and I'd assume they would be the same. Most accountants offer a free first meeting and it's then you should be able to find out what kind of accountant they are.

 

[Zeno]

All the posts are very interesting but seem to have one underlying tone and that is the simple process of book keeping; i use the phrase simple with the greatest respect, what i mean is i am looking for an accountant who can advise me the legal intracate ways of retainng as much of my hard earned cash as possible!! By this i mean advise that perhaps if i changed XYZ i can legitamately claim it as an expense, am i making the most of the tax break available of home office etc.. you get the idea. This to me is where an accountant really becomes a valuable ASSETT to my business as opposed to an EXPENSE.

If you man the sort of accountant who tells you to write off your summer holiday as a "fact finding mission" then you won't find one here (I hope).

If however you mean you want to find an accountant who will work with you to structure your affairs in the most tax efficient way then I am sure any who have responded so far will do a great job for you.

 

[maxine]

I'd also make another suggestion and that is to ask for testimonials from current clients in a similar industry just so you hear things from client's perspective too... Obviously nobody is going to give a client's details (with their permission) of someone that will give a poor reference but it can help on balance with everything else you enquire about.

 

[weebly_one]

We chose our accountant 10 years ago by following a similar forum to this one and seeing someone give consistently good common sense advice on the area of business we were involved in (at the time purely IT contracting and IR35 issues)

We live nowhere near the guy, have only spoken on the phone once in 10 years, and have conduted all business via email and post. But we have always gained timely advice when needed and feel confident we have the right accountant for our company.

In case anyone is interested the guy is Jon Griffey from Hacket Griffey in Haverhill, we are in Northants.

 

[Homshaw]

Be interesting to see what happens on IR35 at the next budget.

The contractor's life could be made a lot less stressful

 

[weebly_one]

Be interesting to see what happens on IR35 at the next budget.

The contractor's life could be made a lot less stressful

Not a problem for us anymore - my husband got out of contracting just after the millenium bug reprogramming was all done, and we now provide IT support and bookkeeping and accounts advice to small businesses - so we no longer have to be concerned with IR35.

 

[orit13]

It is not easy for getting any impartial opinion thus you must talk to the similar consultants business person or sole traders in your place.

 

[QuickHomeBuyers]

If you man the sort of accountant who tells you to write off your summer holiday as a "fact finding mission" then you won't find one here (I hope).

If however you mean you want to find an accountant who will work with you to structure your affairs in the most tax efficient way then I am sure any who have responded so far will do a great job for you.

Where can I find the accountant who will help me with my "fact finding mission(s)"?