Limited Company Accounting Costs

patter

my partner operates a limited company with small turnover 50-100kpa 10-15 bank transactions p.m and keeps all records in a file for handing over to our accountant. I think he is paying over the odds for this service. Can anyone help with a guide price for this?

J.Ryan

1) is it a regulated business, Auctioneer or something else
2) Audit or Audit exempt
3) Are Debtors, Creditors, Bank, VAT, PAYE & Wages control accounts reconciled when you hand over
4) Does the accountant do your personal Tax returns (if so, is there any additional work - dividends, rents etc), Corporation Tax returns, Companies Office returns or indeed are things like CSO returns sent to him?
5) What is he charging (remember VAT is not a cost) and what do you consider to be a fair fee?


Answer those questions by PM and I'll reply with what I'd consider charging, first and foremost, talk to your accountant, perhaps they would consider a reduction in fee's.

Colts

You'd certainly need to provide more information before I could get any detailed reply. I assume it's audit exempt, but whether reconciliations are completed yourself or by your accountant is a big deal, as will be whether he's registered for CT/IT, RCT,PAYE & VAT., or in a regulated industry.

seco

I agree with J. Ryan. You need to provide more information about your requirements before comments made on cost of service. Even if books and records are kept very well, the accounting process for a limited company requires that the information is published in prescribed formats to standards set by law and the accountancy bodies - not a simple 2 page p&l account and balance sheet. Audit files also need to be prepared to an accepted standard which are monitored by the institutes. Even small companies have two different sets of accounts, one of which meets statutory requirements and the second is a set of abbreviated accounts which are filed as a matter of public record in the Companies Regn Office. Top that off with corporation tax returns which require care and expertise, CRO annual return and probably a personal tax return to be completed and now you have some inkling of what an Accountant has to do, even for small incorporated clients. They do take a fair amount of time to prepare!
If I can be of assistance, pm your details and I would also be pleased to quote.

smcgiff

seco wrote: »

Even small companies have two different sets of accounts'.

Okay, much of what you say is valid, but there's no need to over egg it - the abridged accounts take no extra work as they are pulled from the same information as the full accounts.

Also, paragraphs are your friend.