ISME ~VS~ You Lot!

cormie

I got a phone call from somebody from the ISME yesterday, had never heard of them before, but basically for €300+ VAT a year I can get membership and they say they can save me money on my expenses through the year, this I'm not so concerned about as I'm very thrifty when it comes to what I spend, but the other thing is they have a 24/7 advice hotline and I'm thinking this could be where I'd be getting my money's worth as I'd have a lot of questions in general, most of which get posted on boards and I get very helpful answers to, thanks to everyone Sometimes some questions don't get much feedback though, like this recent accountancy query I had: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057420600 and if I could get answers to questions like that without needing to arrange meetings with accountant or solicitor it could be well worth it. I'm planning to make a few changes in the next year and it could be well worth €300 to have help at the end of the line to give advice.

If anyone has any feedback, please share!

adrianw

I suppose the main difference would be Boards offers opinions and while most of the info would be correct, if you are acting upon it (charging VAT) and it ends up that in a few years time that Revenue disagrees with the interpretation and sends you a bill for unpaid VAT, telling them that someone on boards told me i was correct won't help you.
Whereas I would assume the info provided by ISME will be provided by someone qualified to provide it.

cormie

That's a good point alright. I'll probably go for it anyway, would be worth it if I can chew their ears off with loads of questions as long as the answers are helpful and comprehensive.

Gloomtastic!

Looking at their website, it does look like the advice given is pretty comprehensive and could save you a couple of hours of your solicitors/accountants time which would pay for the membership by itself.

Plus because Boards is voluntary, like most things you get for nothing, you are not always guaranteed an answer or in the time required.

Good luck!

cormie

Boards has been invaluable to me with my business but this could be a pretty good resource too, worth the price of a few hours in accountant/solicitor fees to find out I guess as I may end up getting way more than that

Actually the website kinda threw me off as it looks like one of them "download our ebook to find out how to lose 10kg in 2 weeks!" sites

pedroeibar1

Like all trade associations each varies under the prevailing influence of the current chair/council and prominent members. Ask to attend a lunch/meeting and if you like what you see join up. The danger with many of these groups is that they become ‘service heavy’ with too many bankers/brokers/shippers/lawyers /accountants joining to flog their wares and the main object is defeated.

This forum can be problematic as it is anonymous and no credentials are visible – some of the responses you could pay a lot of money for (fees or research time) and others are either ignorant at best or so dangerous they should carry a health warning.

IBEC is the main ‘industries’ group, and is made up of various sub-groups, one of them the Small Firms Association. About 20 yrs ago part of the latter were unhappy with its activities/representation, ‘revolted’ and went off on its own and set up ISME. A former chair of one is a regular and respected poster here, another also posts but less regularly. There might be more, but I recognize two.;)

cormie

Thanks for that. I'll probably just go with it for now. I'm not really interested in the promotional/networking side of things and I believe I've been very thrifty when it comes to saving money in my business so it's mainly just the advice line I'd be interested in. I don't want to be reading newsletters or can't see myself going to seminars or anything like that