Do accountants charge too much?

[matt.chatterley]

Our accountant isn't "cheap" (final bill depends on how much of her time we take up!), however, she has been able to answer almost every related question we've ever had, immediately and authoritatively.

She's also helped to ensure that we pay the correct amount of taxes - which happens to be less than before.

As Ray says - you need to make sure you're picking the right accountant for you - someone who you can work with (and who will work with you), providing an appropriate service for your circumstances..!

[UK Business Network]

Before I ever started for myself, accountants were scum, they are the ones that stopped us having larger marketing campaigns, reduced things we "Sales Managers" needed to effectively do our jobs, I now know this was a weak cop out, A good manager can drive his team and sales targets whatever the situation.

I totally retract any nagative thoughts or views I ever had before, all I hear now is how much an accountant saves! If anything I think their fees are awesome compared to the savings the right accountant gains for you.

It is one of the only industries I know of that actually returns more than it takes, if you have the right accountant, he or she will be worth their weight in gold, whether that is in being able to sleep at night or from the ability to keep your books and returns exactly as they should be, advising you on what can be claimed and what cannot be claimed.

My argument for service costs has always been the same, when you pay £50 for a plumber just to knock on your door, it is not the 10 minute journey he just made, it is the 20 years experience he has that means he can fix your problem in 30 minutes, instead of paying £20 an hour for one that takes 6 hours!

I beleive its the same with an accountant, if you have the wrong one then you may see this as a negative cost, but if you have the right one, keep them close.

[AboveParr]

I agree with Kip - If an accountant saves you more money than his/her bill then they are worth every penny IMO. A lot of people calling themselves accountants can copy and paste your figures into the righ format but that's not the same thing...

[fundingportal]

A big question this!!

I have one accountantr contact who can illustate how he has kept custoers out of prison because they choise to take advice from 'A bloke in the pub' rather than a professional. What is that service worth?

A bit like compare the meerkat! Compare Accountants, Cheapest Accountants, Cheap Accountants, Cheap Accountant., Compare Accountants, Cheapest Accountants, Cheap Accountants, Cheap Accountant
allows you to get quotes for different accountanacy services!

That approach to professional service (perhaps any services) sends shivers dowm my spine!

From early business mistakes, the main thing I would suggest isa communication; we asked our accountant to do lots of things for us on the assumption that they would be included in his original pricing - my were we surprised when the bill came through! Still, you know what they say about assumption......

[Mark]

I think mine charges 'just about right' but it's still painfull!

[BetterTAX]

our fee is based on a % of the rebate we achieve for our clients. it's in our interests to work our socks off and get the best/ most we can. at least that way, it's always directly proportional and in relation to the refund coming back.

[wood1e]

As with everything the price of any service is what the market has to offer...the more the service can offer, like professional tax advice then the higher the fee.

Seems the older I get the more people want something for nothing...Not suggesting that this OP is stating that.

I think it is where anyone who thinks something is easy then why pay someone!! That seems to be getting more previlant these days!!

@BetterTax - What if there is no rebate? No charge? I know a few million self employed who would be up for that

[BetterTAX]

hi wood1e,

we offer a guaranteed refund or no fee service - also free tax advice and tax returns... we're good like that!

i also know what you're saying about worth... although i was going to go on to say about giving something for free, people do not recognise its worth but, hmmm, we do that! (lovin' the hard hat!)

[wood1e]

I am impressed, so you complete a self employed persons tax return and if there is 'no rebate no fee'

How do you make any money?
What if I was turning over £65000?
Maybe you need to PM me your secret, don't want the PAYE stasi getting hold of the information

No one recognises the value of 'FREE' I develop websites and SEO solutions and everyone things because they can x for themselves, they think they can do the whole shebag!!!

So I really get wound up when people start questioning (normal) fees!!!

[BetterTAX]

we only work with construction industry tradesmen. so by offering free advice, we can ascertain at that point whether a rebate is likely or not.

as for you turning over £65000 - hope you're VAT registered!!

[wood1e]

Oh I see, nice one

£70,000 for VAT

[BetterTAX]

ahhh new VAT threshold... doh, silly me!

as it happens, i was discussing this thread with my "boss" , and (i dont get involved with the returns side of things) we do returns for free, which does take time and yes, there is sometimes, no refund to be had (times are very tough in the construction industry) - so guaranteed refund or NO fee does stand

[Gillie]

As stated a good accountant is worth their weight in gold and should be guarded!

However, you should also realise that an accountant is best used to help you with your business, give advise, help you pay the least amount of tax - legally of course - and help you come to the right decisions etc - they aint there to sit and debate with you if you have lost your receipts and that you shouldnt be including meal receipts on your vat return and that yes, insurance doesnt have vat on it so you cant claim that either!

These are all things you should either get yourself a good accounts package either on or offline or get yourself a good bookkeeper - which incidentally did most realise are far far cheaper to use than sticking your poor overworked accoutant with!

[Procom]

Yes thats why @ProcomITServe use Chris.blenkin@Streetwiseaccountancy.co.uk who understand money matters at affordable costs.

Drop him an email, they do a geat job.

[Kontracta Matt]

I'll announce my conflict of interest straight away and say that I, kontracta Matt, am a chartered accountant so what I say should be borne in mind with this(!)

Out of interest I'd love to know what people perceive what is a good charge - does it relate to a percentage of turnover? percentage of profit? what has been saved on taxes? number of visits? etc. (It won't affect our pricing structure by the way - I'm genuinely after answers rather than some rubbish attempt at market research)

I'm sure other posters have mentioned this but accountants are no different to any other trade or profession when it comes to charging (the differences come when you have to tell amusing work based anecdotes at parties). Some will overcharge, some will be about right and others will be a steal. Likewise some work may end up being shoddy, some what you asked for and some being great value for money. Some won't have a qualification, others will be specialists in their field. Etc etc .... It's just a question of asking around or ringing up some people and then arriving at what you consider to be what's right for you.

[wood1e]

I blame the internet for all this 'over charging'!!!

I get it all the time, can you develop me a website for £50!! No!! Why not? I can get it free or even cheaper with some stupid government incentive or where some large corporation is giving them away free.

My answer is great go and use one of them!!

Obviously with no internet there would be no websites!!

So without all the information that the internet provides, people wouldn't think they could 'do their accounts' rather than pay... Rather than pay a professional to look at employment law, people go to the internet!!

As mentioned above there is always, cheap, not-so cheap, about right, and expensive.

But it is all perception...what is expensive to Fred Blogs Plumber is dirt cheap to BP.

[Kontracta Matt]

I tend to agree with you there Wood1e.

We've had some, shall we say, 'interesting challenges' with self done accounts that have gone wrong. Ultimately it ends up a false economy for some as it will end up costing more to sort out the mess. (That said we have guilty ourselves of doing some things which we really should've paid for - SEO, marketing etc). It was an old law professor at my uni who said that if there is one thing that we should take from our course then it is 'never buy a house from a DIY enthusiast'!

Again I really agree with the analogy you use. At least as far as what I do is concerned, what value do you put on peace of mind(?) The next step is to find an accountant who meets that value in both service and monetary terms - and there are plenty of us around so at least one should fit your bill.

[wood1e]

I tend to ask potential clients when they go on about £50 websites, or SEO campaigns...what are they trying to achieve and what are they will to earn out of it per day!!

Are they willing to work for £50 per day?

I know some things only takes a few hours, but then there is the phone calls, the changes to the design and thousands of other ad hoc elements!!

I do get some guys come back to me a year or so later saying that the £50 website acutally cost them £500, becuase the website came with no hosting, or an additional cost for a contacts page/google maps/webmaster tools/analytics etc, and /or little or no thought to SEO...as they tend to ask why can no-one find me?!!

There is a price to fit eveyones pocket, but remember just because it is 'free' or 'cheap in India', does not mean it is cost effective.

[paperfreebilling]

This thread reminded me of an old tale/joke often used by management types:

The story goes that a complex machine has stopped working shutting an entire assembly line down. Every hour that goes by the company is losing thousands of dollars. After many hours of trying to get the machine working again, the plant manager calls in an outside expert (consultant/engineer) to assess the situation (I've heard this story ascribed to lots of people, including Henry Ford...anyway...) So the expert comes in, walks around the machine, looks at the dials and screens, and finally asks to borrow a hammer. With one swift and decisive tap of the hammer the machine fires right up. Relieved, the plant manager thanks the expert profusely and asks the expert to send the invoice right away. When it arrives there is a single line item charge of $1,000. The manager immediately calls up the expert and demands to know why hitting the machine should be worth $1000?! The expert acknowledges the concern and agrees to revise the invoice. The new invoice arrives with two line items: Hitting machine with hammer: $10. Knowing where to hit the machine: $990

And it's pretty true I beleive with accountants - Yes it might just look like entering in a bunch of numbers, but its working out where to put each number, and the classification of the numbers is the hard bit!

[Mark]

Any accountants here finding they're having to lower their fees due to the current economic climate?