How do you chose accountant

st1979

Was wondering do many people move accountant and if/when you do what do you consider when moving. How easy/difficult is it to move. I remember my father years ago moved accountant and it was very difficult to get all his paperwork from previous.
And how do you rate ifac as against smaller local guys

lakill Farm

Hi st1979,

As an accountant who tries to persuade farmers to move to my company to provide accounts, tax and other services i find that younger farmers are more willing to move. a list of reasons they move

Fee price
accountants not offering a good service
accountant office hours been fixed to 9-530pm office hours

So when i started up 5 years ago i tried to change it, and it does take time and im no way perfect. Im like everyone things happen, deaths sickness, accidents etc.

How easy is it to change. 1 form to be signed and a quick letter to the old accountant/agent.

st1979 wrote: »

Was wondering do many people move accountant and if/when you do what do you consider when moving. How easy/difficult is it to move. I remember my father years ago moved accountant and it was very difficult to get all his paperwork from previous.
And how do you rate ifac as against smaller local guys

bob charles

who can provide me whit the smallest tax bill give my profit (sorry loss) figure. so whoever is best at tax avoidance. I was always told to have 2 accountants do the same years figures to see the difference a good accountant can make.

lakill Farm

If its a farm loss you get to offset it against your other income for 4years in a row.

2 sets of accounts? how do you decide who to go with? do you pay both of them at approx €40 plus vat an hour :eek:

bob charles wrote: »

who can provide me whit the smallest tax bill give my profit (sorry loss) figure. so whoever is best at tax avoidance. I was always told to have 2 accountants do the same years figures to see the difference a good accountant can make.

lakill Farm

In all honesty most farmers accounts can be done in 10-14 hours (2 days) thats tax, correspondence etc. The fee should be max €500 all in even including an easi pay plan :rolleyes:.

The contractor will set you back €35-45 an hour or for 2 days € 490/€630

razor8

i put all my invoices onto a pdf and i also do a quick summary of final year accounts for accountant to base his on. with the majority of the work done in this case, how much should i expect to pay lakill? my accountant said in many cases all paperwork arrives in a mail bag and he has to sort through it

lakill Farm

Razor, its hard to say and depends on the following,

How accurate your information is. (nothing worse having to double check every line item and then edit it)
Have you the bank rec and all cheque payments, DD payments and sales classified
How many line items you have.
How much work is required on your tax side

Rought €250-350 plus vat

razor8 wrote: »

i put all my invoices onto a pdf and i also do a quick summary of final year accounts for accountant to base his on. with the majority of the work done in this case, how much should i expect to pay lakill? my accountant said in many cases all paperwork arrives in a mail bag and he has to sort through it

Username John

razor8 wrote: »

i put all my invoices onto a pdf and i also do a quick summary of final year accounts for accountant to base his on. with the majority of the work done in this case, how much should i expect to pay lakill? my accountant said in many cases all paperwork arrives in a mail bag and he has to sort through it

Hi Razor8,

For the last accounts I did, so 2010

I sent
- excel sheet detailing all income + expenses + stock valuations
- scans of income (Dept payments + mart)
- P60
- scan of bank statements

From what I recall the cost was around 470 + VAT, so 570euro.

Was all done over email, so it suited me.

lakill Farm

If you as a farmer were offered a no T & C discount of 50% on your accountancy fee and told the fee would stay at the discounted rate for 3 years would you move accountants?

and same case but in year 4 it would increase 15% . (Ie) back to 65% of the orginl fee? and that it would stay there indefinitely once farm size stayed fairly similar

Username John

lakill Farm wrote: »

If you as a farmer were offered a no T & C discount of 50% on your accountancy fee and told the fee would stay at the discounted rate for 3 years would you move accountants?

and same case but in year 4 it would increase 15% . (Ie) back to 65% of the orginl fee? and that it would stay there indefinitely once farm size stayed fairly similar

It that Q for me Lakill, or just in general?

If I could validate the accountant, make sure they are trustworthy & good then I don't see why I wouldn't take it.
But, for me anyways - I would have to get some good recommendations, from people I know, before I would change...

lakill Farm

Not at all but appreciate your feedback.. Time to get some marketing going

Username John wrote: »

It that Q for me Lakill, or just in general?

If I could validate the accountant, make sure they are trustworthy & good then I don't see why I wouldn't take it.
But, for me anyways - I would have to get some good recommendations, from people I know, before I would change...