Are these reasonable accountants fees?

**wilsonf1** · 27-01-11

An old school friend is an accountant and I showed him what I do and how much I earn and his jaw dropped that I'm still a sole trader and NOT a ltd company yet.

He's shown me a side by side of how much tax you pay as a ltd company vs a sole trader and on 10 months alone I'd have over £2k more in my pocket.

He's outlined these fees, are they reasonable?:

Accounts (ltd): £450
Payrol £30 p/ quarter: £120
P35 (end of year payroll): £40
Directors Tax Return: £80

Cheers

**lethal0r** · 28-01-11

very cheap!

**MollyHunter** · 28-01-11

We pay about 1200 per year for small ltd company accounts and payroll and returns, so they look reasonable to me.

**Shane** · 31-01-11

very cheap

ours was £3.5k for ltd, vat, payroll and personal tax planning and advice.

I complained as we don't actually generate that much paper and I felt the fee was more means based than actually workload based (aka he felt we could afford it) so I complained and asked him to break down how much work he did on ours.

Should have kept quiet as he justified raising the fees to £4,800 per year

having said that he's very experienced, chartered, has staff and this includes coming up each month to the office to sort paperwork out.

when choosing an accountant, first one I saw was working from home, wearing a casio digital watch (before they were retro cool!!) and a shirt that was so faded I didn't know what colour it had started out at, with a clip on tie from poundland by the looks of it ... second guy was wearing a £15k gold watch and a £1k suit... I chose the third guy.. not so poor as to be running off with my credit card and bank details but not so rich that he's making a killing milking his clients.

so yep, yours is cheap by any standard really, any cheaper and I'd be worried it wasn't getting enough attention to be 100% thorough and something would be waiting to bite me in the ass at the first vat/hmrc audit

**Steve62** · 31-01-11

Originally Posted by Shane

very cheap

ours was £3.5k for ltd, vat, payroll and personal tax planning and advice.

I complained as we don't actually generate that much paper and I felt the fee was more means based than actually workload based (aka he felt we could afford it) so I complained and asked him to break down how much work he did on ours.

Should have kept quiet as he justified raising the fees to £4,800 per year

having said that he's very experienced, chartered, has staff and this includes coming up each month to the office to sort paperwork out.

when choosing an accountant, first one I saw was working from home, wearing a casio digital watch (before they were retro cool!!) and a shirt that was so faded I didn't know what colour it had started out at, with a clip on tie from poundland by the looks of it ... second guy was wearing a £15k gold watch and a £1k suit... I chose the third guy.. not so poor as to be running off with my credit card and bank details but not so rich that he's making a killing milking his clients.

so yep, yours is cheap by any standard really, any cheaper and I'd be worried it wasn't getting enough attention to be 100% thorough and something would be waiting to bite me in the ass at the first vat/hmrc audit

Shane

You want to give my accountant a try.

He's also a chartered accountant and based in offices in Rotherham. A thorough yet down to earth bloke who's very competitive as well.

PM me if you want his details for a brief chat.

Steve

**wilsonf1** · 09-02-11

Infinite Web UK Ltd is now setup, and my standing order will be £70 a month so pretty pleased. Should save a shed load on tax next year now, Sorry Mr Osbourne!