Hopefully someone can help or at least guide me a little 😀
I set my own ltd company last year as I am an engineering contractor and this seems to be the industry way for tax purposes.
I employed an accountancy company to set up the ltd company initially and as a ‘good will’ gesture decided to go with them for my first year tax returns.
Anyway upon the initial consultation a figure of £1500 for the year was mentioned but it was all dependant and certainly wasnt an agreed amount.In my naivity I thought no more of it and and twelve months on I submitted detailed excel spreadsheets of my expenditure and company bank statements.
The above I am lead to believe is pretty much what you are paying for an accountant to do for you so therefore where this story leads I believe is justified.
The company statements themselves are extremely simple with one payment coming in and one recipient going out (me) 😀
So to summarise I have now had an end of year tax bill which to me the company has not worked at getting down at all.They have done the absolute minimum using the expenses that I calculated (including mileage allowances etc) and have also included their bill which works out at the £1500 previously mentioned plus VAT.
There has already been some friction with regards to the bill and I have already said that I am not refusing to pay ,which I am not, I just want to pay what I think the job they have done for me is worth.
Speaking with other contractors / self employed peeps the going rate seems to be around £800 for the year.
My question is where do I stand with regards to not paying all of this?Is there some kind of ombudsman that deals with accountants etc.
I have no doubt that with a little imagination that he could ‘justify’ the charges but as far as I am concerned this is daylight robbery!!

any advice would be much appreciated

thanks all for looking 😀

If they said £1500 at the start, why would you assume anything else?

But in any case, sounds like it’s time to find a new accountant.

I don’t really understand the problem. You thought it was going to cost you £1500…it cost you £1500. They have done your accounts…you are essentially a lone ranger…so the chances of fiddling round the tax are very difficult.

It does seem expensive, but not absurd if they are in London.

Shop around next time for an accountant specializing in freelancers/self-employed people (who are ltd, companies).

I think the ltd company thing is a false economy really. It seems to be loads of headache for no return at all at the moment.

They are complaints procedures not sure how you would go about it though. But you are probably going to have to start with the body they are registered with. do you know who they are registered with? Have that actually done anything wrong? Was anything actually written down?

As above.

Pay up and move on.

Find a new accountant and get them to do it from this point forward. A tip though. Wait until HMRC have acknowledged the personal and co. tax for the year, then theyve done what you need them to do, pay the tax and move on.

Look on it as a lesson learned. Ok, it cost a few hundred quid but you wont forget about getting nailed down costs next time round.

There are a lot of accountants around who specialise in your kind of requirement, ask around within your industry or look at trade press.

If they aren’t specialists at what you have asked them to do and you haven’t clearly defined a job specification or list of tasks, never mind a price, you have made things a bit difficult for yourself.

Ask around for standard rates for what they have already done and what they will need to do on a yearly basis, find out if you feel ripped off, ask them to reconsider the bill.

If they’ve provided no useful advice to avoid tax and you find somebody who can show you a saving then I wouldn’t pay the full whack.

I am by no means anywhere near London, a small midlands rural town!
I have a meeting on friday in which I intend to see if they will reconsider the charges as I feel they are unjust.

What gripes me the most is that this little lot would of take approximately 3/4 hours to compile according to other accountants I have spoken with and the office junior would have been tasked with the job!!

So for some poor lad/girl on minimum wage this comapny is receiving the best part of £450 per hour.Think I’m in the wrong game!!

As daft as it sounds I would much rather give HMRC the money than be ripped off so have a good mind to tell him there is no money in the company, pay my tax bill and he can whistle!!

Still never mind lessons learnt and all that 😀

Defo sound like they are trying it on.
Missus is a contracter and pays a few hundred quid (Mates rates admittedly) for what sound like same thing – we send off spreadsheet.
Ask for a breakdown of work done – hours etc..
J.

Thanks Jerome,

As mentioned by others it is easy to say just bite the bullet but a few hundred quid to some means more than a few hundred to others.
The way I see it is they have overcharged me by the best part of a £1000.
And I cant afford to give that away just to teach myself a lesson!!

Its not that bad if they do a good job. Mine are about £1200 + VAT I think. This if for company accounts, VAT, PAYE and my tax return etc.

Try and negotiate, but if it’s clear you are moving on they are unlikely to budge.

At the end of the day you are a business man now. You got a quote and accepted it they did the work now you should pay.

How would you feel if one of your clients did the same to you ?

Not trying to be harsh but you are running a business !!!

so have a good mind to tell him there is no money in the company, pay my tax bill and he can whistle!!

He is your accountant right, and he’s done your company accounts?

I think I spot a flaw in that plan 🙂

At the end of the day you are a business man now. You got a quote and accepted it they did the work now you should pay.

How would you feel if one of your clients did the same to you ?

Not trying to be harsh but you are running a business !!!

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