Good evening all,
After much soul searching and deliberation I have made the decision to make a change to my current working life. I am finally brave enough to make the decision to quit my current job and set up my own company, with my notice going in by the end of this week. I work in the domestic gas heating industry (30 years) and have been thinking about this for a good while and the time is now... or never!
There will initially be two of us partners, with a view to train two apprentices (sons)... there is plenty to do but I am on a 3 month notice period so there is some time to get things in place.
My question is around Accountants and fees, what would be a reasonable cost for an accountant to help get a limited company up and running and monthly fees for services for a small business... and are there any services I should absolutely take... or avoid? I will be arranging appointments with some locals but would like to go with a bit of an idea.
I know I can set the company up myself and may well do that if the costs are disproportionate
Any advice would be gratefully received
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Any accountant can get you a company ‘off the shelf’ for less than £200.
There are online accounting solutions that allow you to do a lot of the work yourself without spending your weekend on it, and save on monthly fees, plus supply the data for end of year in a format that the accountant can use straight away.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
What the previous poster said is exactly the advice I’d have given.
I’d also ask your accountant for a steer which accounts package to use, and the more you do through the year will save you accountancy at the year end. Have a look at Xero.
As a very ball park figure I paid around £900 per year when I was a small sole trader, with all my accounts on Sage, bank accounts reconciled etc etc. As a Ltd Co expect to pay maybe £1200 ish, and these fees will rise as the company grows.
Company set up < £100. About £1,000 per year for company accounts, corp tax, annual return, personal tax, payroll (just me). Do VAT myself on flat rate scheme.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks... sound advice
I am happy to do what I can do to reduce the costs but I am also conscious that I don’t want to spend any and all spare time ‘doing the books’ or spend time on that when I could be working, earning more than I would pay someone else to do that for me.
I will take a look at Xero...
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Demonloops figures are around the mark I'd say.
Take your time finding one though, and go on recommendations.
A bad accountant can be a VERY expensive cost, a good one can pay for themselves.
Even if you don’t do the accounts, you will still likely need to be doing the book-keeping - as someone needs to fill the gap between estimates/quotes, purchases, work, and invoicing - oh and chasing debtors!
It's just a matter of time...
I started my own company last December and I pay £120 a month for full accountancy services. They do everything including the personal accounts of all directors. For me personally, my priority is to have the accountancy/tax work and burden removed to free up personal time as this is far more important to me than a few hundred pounds.
Last edited by Skier; 10th June 2018 at 09:32.
You all seem to have quite cheap accountants!
I would say more like £2k for accounts, ct600, confirmation statement and 2 director’s personal tax returns. Payroll and dividend paperwork probably another £350
I pay ~£100 per month for everything as a single director Ltd company. My accountant is excellent and I wouldn’t be without her
That is expensive - you should have a shop around!Originally Posted by jimyu
Another recommendation for Xero here.
£1k a year is about right for accountant. Allow more for bespoke shareholder agreement and other legals.
Also look at integrated expenses solutions for xero, like receipt bank as will save you a lot of time.
Best of luck with it.
I’m an acccountant haha. You do tend to get what you pay for
Of course it depends where you are.. London/Surrey will always carry some premium
I’m in the Northamptonshire area... so if anyone has recommendations??
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I pay my accountant £98 per month incl VAT (LTD vat registered company)
They were a recommendation and are actually based about 100 miles from me but we correspond via email mainly and I always get a response to emails within 1 hour from the director of the company/head accountant.
We use Xero for our accounts so everything is reconciled on a weekly basis and is very easy. They have a few members of staff who then take care of that and VAT returns.
They will also let your LTD co up free of charge if I remember correctly.
I have been with them three years now without a problem.
If you would like there info feel free to PM me.
Wow. Well thank the lord I’m in Herts 😉I’m an acccountant haha. You do tend to get what you pay for
Of course it depends where you are.. London/Surrey will always carry some premium
Contractor to my own Ltd company also employ my wife, vat registered. I pay £124 inc vat a month. Just fill in their own online books at the end of each month.
£100 a month here, LTD company. Accountant does my VAT (well enters it) and does my corporation tax.
Thanks all, great advice and gave me a good idea of what I was looking for and allowed me to go in with the right questions
We now have our accountant, have the company registered and incorporated now so we can really get cracking.
Much appreciated
Greg
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Well done and best wishes for a successful venture.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Is it? Can’t see how you can say that as it all depends on what exactly you get - how complex someone’s accounts are and more to the point how good the Accountant is. I’ve loads of clients using different Accountants so see lots of examples of differing levels. It’s not always ‘you get what you pay for’ but very often that’s the case.
Indeed, my statement was a little on the ‘sweeping’ side and I apologise for that. Services levels will always differ and I guess my little venture is pretty straight forward compared to many.
However ‘you get what you pay for’ certainly isn’t always true. My first accountant was terrible - errors, poor communication etc. And I was paying 50% more than I do now for the pleasure.
Anyway, best wishes to the OP with the business!
£1k a year? Mine charges under £200 (no payroll) for everything (Ltd company) and I usually get a rebate of about £2k
And at c£50+ per hour you'll be getting 2-4hrs max. If that's enough then happy days however good advice is something people are often only happy to pay for with hindsight. There are good accountants who are cheaper then others but in my experience there are more poor cheap accountants than there are bad expensive ones.
You get what you pay for is rarely untrue.
Exactly. A cheap accountant can run your books and keep you on the right side of the law in a few hours.
A good accountant that costs a bit more can give you excellent business advice, and in the process of getting to know you and your business will (legally) minimise your tax liabilities.
A good accountant should be a partner in your venture, not just a number cruncher.
I pay mine 1% of turnover to file company and personal returns and there at the end of the phone to provide advise theoughout
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote