Small Business - Accountant Charges?

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MercFanUk

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Hi all :) I'm in the middle of planning a small business. Ltd company - just myself as a director to start with, no secretary. I'm trying to plan what outgoings I would have to begin with...

I'm planning on using one of the online services to create the company (Keeps things simple for me :D )

I live in South Yorkshire (Incase there are regional variations on accountant rates). Cash flow wise, mostly lots of small incomes, with the odd larger outgoing.

Any idea what I could expect to be charged for an accountant to sort end of year stuff out, help with dividends if I get that far, etc...?

I'd plan on doing the book keeping myself for now, as I don't forsee the amount of transactions being un-managable for at least the first year, if not longer.

Can anyone elighten me? Surely on a Mercedes forum we must have a few accountants here :D
 
Hi all :) I'm in the middle of planning a small business. Ltd company - just myself as a director to start with, no secretary. I'm trying to plan what outgoings I would have to begin with...

I'm planning on using one of the online services to create the company (Keeps things simple for me :D )

I live in South Yorkshire (Incase there are regional variations on accountant rates). Cash flow wise, mostly lots of small incomes, with the odd larger outgoing.

Any idea what I could expect to be charged for an accountant to sort end of year stuff out, help with dividends if I get that far, etc...?

I'd plan on doing the book keeping myself for now, as I don't forsee the amount of transactions being un-managable for at least the first year, if not longer.

Can anyone elighten me? Surely on a Mercedes forum we must have a few accountants here :D

I can put you in touch with a really good accountant ;) I do our books and then they are checked by the accountant, he does the pay roll end of year stuff, companies house stuff, checks the VAT and manages the corporation tax bill his services <£1k per year. I reckon he saves us that a quarter alone :bannana:

Make sure you set up a limited comany and you definitely need a company secretary ;)

Give me a call if you want to discuss further or want his details, he is based in Sheffield.
 
Thanks :) Not quite ready to set up, still planning. Will give you a PM when I'm ready!

Anything under 1k doesn't sound bad - I was expecting people to come out with much bigger numbers than that!
 
Thanks :) Not quite ready to set up, still planning. Will give you a PM when I'm ready!

Anything under 1k doesn't sound bad - I was expecting people to come out with much bigger numbers than that!

Drop me a PM when ready and I'll help any way I can :thumb:
 
From my experience online places charge £50-100 +VAT per month.

I pay £105+VAT. It's at the top end I know, but I'm 100% satisfied with the service they offer. For this I get, book keeping, payroll, VAT, company year end, self-assessment for myself and wife if needed and as much telephone/email support that I need.

My friends in similar positions use a variety of online accountants and traditional high street accountants. My subjective conclusion is that the online places are better as they are much more focused to 1-man-band contractors such as yourself, so they have more automated tools to make their life easier and your life easier too. But I'm not dismissing all high street accountants, as I'm sure some are modern and focused to your needs too. but do your research.
 
Hi wemorgan, that sounds good, any chance of a name of who you use?
 
Hi wemorgan, that sounds good, any chance of a name of who you use?

Greggster, my accountant is actually in Surrey. I am paying £115 + VAT per month but self assessment is extra.
 
Even better! Mine is good but I pay about £1k a year plus extras like adhoc advice here and there. A fixed monthly fee with no other charges sounds great. Any names you can recommend!
 
But I'm not dismissing all high street accountants, as I'm sure some are modern and focused to your needs too. but do your research.

That's a bit unfair IME.

You'll find even smaller partnerships on the high street are using practice management systems and a range of software.

In part it's down to manpower/costs and in part down to keeping up with rules/regs and in part compliance.
 
Hi wemorgan, that sounds good, any chance of a name of who you use?

SJD Accountancy - Accountants for Contractors, Freelancers, Consultants and Small Businesses

Mention my name Will Morgan and I think I may even get a little cash back if you eventually sign up :)

They have various local offices around the country so should you wish to have face to face meetings that is possible too.

That's a bit unfair IME.

You'll find even smaller partnerships on the high street are using practice management systems and a range of software.

In part it's down to manpower/costs and in part down to keeping up with rules/regs and in part compliance.

Possibly so. But like I said I'm not saying they are all the same. But IME high street accountants are like GPs. A wide knowledge on many areas, but not necessarily experts. An online accountant who specialise on 1-man-bands is very geared towards their needs.
 
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How much are you going to put with the accountant? My business does around 500k per annum with 6 employees. The accountant does all our wages and visits once a quarter to go through our accounts. I do all the book keeping with a Sage package. Biggest expense is the end of year stuff, being a limited company we have to have minutes of meetings etc etc. Our annual fees are in the order of £3000, but, as directors we pay little or no tax, and very low NI. A good accountant can save you his fees:thumb: Good luck in your venture.
 
At the moment my goal is to just try and break even for the first year. Operating costs are a minimum, and most likely the income too. I shouldn't have tooo much trouble keeping afloat, I just need to get learning some advertising tricks now!
 
It will depend on your annual turnover, how much work they have to do in preparing the accounts, your own taxation affairs/returns etc. The more organised you are the less it will be.

My company turns over around £1,000,000 per year and our accountancy fees are around £6-£7,000 per year. Thats with two Directors and we also have a full time accounts clerk/office administrator who does a lot of the preparation work for them.

My advice is to make some appointments to see a few local accountancy firms in your area and get some quotes. You will need to be prepared when you go i.e. have all the relevant info to hand...

When you start trading pay yourself the minimum amount up to your personal tax allowance and then take dividends for the rest.
 
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Thanks all, some good advice and options to mull over :)

Out of interest, has anyone here used FreeAgent before? (Online Accounting Software: Small Business and Freelancers - FreeAgent)

It looks like it might be perfect for me regarding bookeeping etc.

[FONT=&quot]Yep, I use them and it is pretty good. One limitation at moment is that you cannot change the chart of accounts but that is likely to change soon.

Also check out Clearbooks and Xero before you sign up as they may be even more appropriate for your business going forward. Some accountants are affiliated (to one or the other cloud systems) and may be able to provide access to the accounting package at reduced rates if you sign-up with them.

When choosing an accountant don't be overly swayed by the cost - consider how you connect with them. I have just changed accountants as I didn't get on with my first choice. I did a beauty parade of likely candidates - went to see and talk to each of the new possibles in order to choose. Got a bit of free advice on the way, which may help you as well.[/FONT]
 
Mine's a small 1 man business, self & wife are directors. I do book keeping but all gets handed to accountant for end of year accounts, taxes, etc.
Annual charges are around £1000
 

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