Accountants, are they worth it?

[HJ]

I am half way through filling out my tax return and am trying to decide whether it is worth getting an accountant, are they worth it?

 

[phil_hg_uk]

If they save you more than they cost you then they are worth it. Mine saves me around 3 - 4 times what he costs me.

 

[Night Train]

My one is, though I have to have one for a limited company. I get tax rebates each year that I wouldn't get otherwise and it is more then enough to cover his fee.

 

[accountantpete]

Depends as I have seen some examples of "own done " accounts which didn't claim sufficient expenses and others which claimed well over the odds in this area.

The bottom line is that HMRC can ask to look at your books and if not satisfied go back approx 7 or 8 years and look at those accounts.If you have made a consistent error which understates the tax liability each year you could be looking at a large bill for this unpaid tax,interest and penalties.

ps -you can submit your tax return on-line which I find is slightly easier than the paper return as the software guides you through the return.

 

[fossyant]

Tax returns aren't difficult...although I am an accountant......

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Tax returns aren't difficult

They're worse!!!

It was a glorious day when the tax office told me they weren't going to bother me with tax returns anymore after five years of hell. I can't even spell my name right on this sort of form let alone fill in all the money details right, well not without a lot of screaming and shouting...

 

[ChrisKH]

I don't think accountant's are worth it when you are talking about a simple tax return. Where they prove their worth is with complex tax situations, investigations, etc. Sometimes just having someone to face up to the Revenue is sufficient benefit. I recall taking over a complex limited company share ownership issue from a close friend who was getting nowhere with his enquiries with the Revenue. Through my knowledge (then) of CGT and shares I was able to turn a potential liability into a repayment of £15k.

 

[Mr Pig]

I have a friend who has his own copier business. He started off doing his own tax, then got an accountant, then got a better accountant. He was adamant that a good accountant is worth every penny and saves you far more than they cost.

 

[Dormouse]

I have been checking my second set of accounts today and, like last year, I cannot see where many of the figures for expenses come from. There seems little relation to the figures and receipts that I submitted although a few things I can match up. The numbers are not wildly wrong, it is just that I have to approve figures that do not match up to the actual expenditure.

So a question for any accountants out there, do you just make "reasonable" estimates for a lot of HMRC's categories rather than checking receipts or the figures your client has supplied? If so I will not worry any longer or try to get the accountant to come clean and just sign it off.

 

[cheadle hulme]

So a question for any accountants out there, do you just make "reasonable" estimates for a lot of HMRC's categories rather than checking receipts or the figures your client has supplied? If so I will not worry any longer or try to get the accountant to come clean and just sign it off.

The amounts submitted are based on fact (ie documentary evidence). Your accountant can sign accounts missing the required evidence provided the business volume supports the missing evidence.

 

[Norm]

I don't do personal accounts or tax, so my thoughts are little more than an observer, but I doubt any accountant would make estimates on behalf of a client without informing them.

Aside from anything else, the tax return requires you to declare whether the figures are actual or estimates so they'd might be accused of telling you to lie to HMRC, and their qualifications are worth more than the fees from a single client.

My guess is that they've adjusted the figures in a way (sorry if this sounds condescending) which is required but not obvious. So, you might have a group of invoices which you think make up one category but which need to be analysed differently for the tax return.

Ask the accountant what they have done... but be prepared to pay for their time in answering.

 

[Dormouse]

I asked my accountant last year how he arrived at the expense figures. He replied: what you see is what you get, you won't get anything else, most of my clients just sign the accounts! This led me to ditch the accountant and find another!

I am worried that if I ask my new accountant to explain what she has done I will get similar treatment and be charged for the privelege.

Accountant no. 1 did admit that office running expenses were simply an estimate. So there is no point in collecting utility bill etc., apparently, but HMRC's notes suggest otherwise.

 

[MacB]

I don't do personal accounts either but they will use estimates based on experience as well as hard evidence. They shouldmay even have a fill in the blanks style template that will crosscheck the various entries for anomolies. None of the work around the raw data is complicated, though some may wish it to appear so. What you're paying for is the up to date knowledge, and correct application, of tax allowances/regulations. That's complex but, even more importantly, is the most hideously boring tract of information known to humanity. This is why tax specialists are a breed apart and possibly not totally human.

 

[montage]

How do accountants get rid of constipation?



















they work it out with a pencil

 

[accountantpete]

Accountant no. 1 did admit that office running expenses were simply an estimate. So there is no point in collecting utility bill etc., apparently, but HMRC's notes suggest otherwise.

You are allowed to claim as a business expense an "estimate" for the costs of working from home usually called "Use Of Home As Office" - which is normally a calculated proportion of your gas,electricity costs.

There may also be a depreciation charge in the accounts where the cost of fixed assets is not charged all at once but rather written down over the life of the fixed asset (eg Motor Vehicles and Equipment).

You will not be able to match other costs exactly as I suspect the accountant has either deducted a percentage as private use (eg petrol used for private rather than business) or adjusted the amounts paid for opening and closing creditors/prepayments.

Personally I'd tell you exactly what accountant No 1 did - most clients sign trusting that the accountant knows what they are doing.