Before we Start

When you choose an Accountant it is vitally important to remember that your Accountant works for you.  You are the boss. 

There are a wide variety of Accountants to choose from, and this article will guide you through how to get the best Accountant, and just as importantly, what you should expect to pay them.

Why do you need an Accountant?
If you are self-employed or a Director of a Limited Company (Ltd Co) then you have a lot of responsibilities to fulfill:

-You are legally obliged to tell HM Revenue and Customs about how much you earn each year.
-As a Director, you have an added obligation to file Annual Accounts at Companies House. 
-You also have to calculate how much tax you need to pay.
-If you have employees, you have to calculate their taxes too.
-Let’s not forget that if you are registered for VAT, you have to make quarterly declarations.
-You have to do all of this within very strict deadlines.

And all of that is before you have even thought about the various strategies of maximising your profits, reducing your tax liability, declaring dividends, controlling your costs, setting budgets and targets.

There is nothing stopping you from doing all of this yourself.  Apart from the fact that some of it is very complicated, and very time consuming. 

This is where an Accountant can be really useful.  They allow you to forget about the administrative, and concentrate on the difficult task of running the business and making money.

What to Pay
When you choose a new accountant you need to know what the expected cost will be.  As a very general guide, I would suggest that if you have a small Ltd Company, with a turnover of less than £200,000 per year, and your bookkeeping was in really good order, your annual accounts would cost no more than £2,000 (plus VAT).

If you have a bigger Ltd Company, with a turnover of more than £500,000, again with good bookkeeping, I would expect to pay no more than £3,000 (plus VAT).

The important rule is to shop around.  Get quotes from at least 4 different Accountants.  The easiest way is to use the tool below.

Of course price is such an important factor to consider, but please bear in mind these other factors when making your decision:
- do they have expertise in your type of business?
- can you trust the advice that the accountant will give you?
- what level of staff will be assigned to your work?
- what other services can they offer that you may need in the future?
- can you agree a fixed fee in advance, and pay by monthly Direct Debit?

The less work that your accountant has to do to get your records in order, the less your bill will be, the happier you will be, and the happier your Accountant will be.  Therefore, find yourself the best bookkeeper that you can, and keep your books as upto date as possible.  See our Guide to Bookkeeping here.

Changing to a New Accountant
If you already have an Accountant, and you think that it is time for a change, then it is really straightforward to change to a new one.  The only thing that you have to do is make sure that you have settled any outstanding bills. 
Your new Accountant will liaise with your old one, so you do not have to get involved at all.  Let them do all the work. 
The old Accountant has no choice but to co-operate.
It really is that easy!

And Finally...........
We would be delighted to hear from you if you use an Accountant that you think is brilliant, and you think that others would benefit from using,  Tell us why you think they are so good, and also a bit about the type of services that they provide.  Use the contact form on our Home Page.

Happy hunting for your new accountant.  There is such a big choice out there, that you should not accept anything but the best.