Accountant charges

JKM

I'm just wondering if anyone could give me a rough idea of what kind of charges you could expect from an accountant for end of year account preparation given the following information:

All the following are done by myself:

• accounts prepared to trial balance,
• depreciation schedule completed (subject to review),
• Mileage/Subsistence schedule completed,
• VAT Return on ROS,
• P35 Return on ROS
• etc etc

Essentially I do everything bar finalise the accounts and file income tax return on ROS.

I understand the accountant has to do a certain amount of work (i.e. asking me LOTS of questions!!) in order to satisfy themselves of the integrity of the information supplied, so I get that there is a certain amount involved there.
Does €2,500 (inc VAT) sound a bit high for this?

MBateson

Hi,

It depends, from your post it's hard to judge, it depends on a lot of factors.

Are you a sole trader or a company (if so, I presume an audit is not required)?

Are your records computerised, are your bank recs done correctly etc. Does the accountant have to make a lot of corrections?

What is the size of your business? If your turnover is circa 50K, then yes this is high but if it's circa 500K or over a million this could be considered fair or even low.

All of the above and more affect the quote.

<snip> Good advice, but keep it online.

kennyb3

And to add

1. Are they doing an audit?

2. Compare your draft TB to their final accounts and see how many adjustments are made.

3. Is there stock involved? and a stocktake check?

Just to give you an idea of whtas involved they still have to (and im guessing from what you left out above)

1. Prepare tax comp, CT1, Form 46G.
2. Perform testing in all areas.
3. Do the planning, financial ratios and assess going concern.
4. Prepare a letter of representation
5. Prepare the financial statements
6. Fill out a program

If its audit exempt I could possibly do it slightly lower but if its an audit, just over €2k ex (always look at ex vat as vat isnt a cost) vat is good value to say the least.

Regards,

Brian

JKM

Thanks for your replies.

To answer some of your questions:

1. We are sole traders and he completes unaudited accounts yearly. Therefore there is no testing etc involved.
2.My draft TB is virtually unchanged from the final draft. Small things like he might apportion a prepayment slightly different than I did.
3.Stock is involved but I produce the stock figure and no testing is done.
4.No planning, financial ratios, assessing going concern are done. Bar a meeting when accounts are just about to be lodged to discuss our performance for the year.
5.All my records are computerised. I use sreadsheets to reconcile our bank accounts on a daily basis, and these along with paper copies of bank statements are handed over. But the accountant doesn't have to do any work re bank accounts.
6.My trial balance is produced through Sage and every nominal account can be itemised down to the invoice/statement entry etc.
7.Also our turnover is just under €1million, but I didn't think this should effect the price, should it? Why I say this is we use an EPOS system and as such everything has to be set up according to Revenue standards and our sales figure is determined by this.

Just as a side note, i have asked on numerous occasions over the last while for fixed asset balances etc, so I could enter them correctly on Sage, he responded 'what do you need those for?'. I was a little taken aback and didn't know what to say, he is the professional after all. It was only by chance I got them before doing last years accounts as he sent me his depreciation schedule to fill in some details. He was supposed to give me a detailed trial balance after end of year accounts were lodged for 2009 but I haven't got it yet.

I think it's vital for our business that I can produce and on-demand and accurate (as I can) Balance Sheet, to assess our position at any given time. Especially given the current climate.

Thanks again.

smcgiff

The only thing you're not happy with is the workings around Fixed Assets and depreciation. That's something you could learn fairly easily.

If you're confident that what you are producing is accurate and with a little upskilling re Revenue returns then you possibly don't need an accountant at all.

From what you've said you don't seem to be getting much value for money at all, so may be time to be radical and do it yourself.

MrMatisse

Go with the one who you think is most competent even if they are a little more expensive, nothing is worse than a bad one!!

MBateson

Turnover is indicative of the number of transactions involved, obviously you could have one sale for 1m but this is unlikely and would indicate you have a relatively sizeable business.

To answer your initial question 2,500 doesn't sound too high but judging from the amount of work you do, you could certainly press for a reduction.

I'd also press for the FA items, there's nothing more annoying than accountants who don't put their changes through the client's system or explain what makes up a balance.

kennyb3

Hi JKM,

It seems like your accounts are in good order and its mainly the Form 11 and income tax side of things your accountant would have to mainly concern themselves with.

Most importantly it seeems you ve lost faith in your accountant which is not good. They should be trying to help you in everyway possible.

If you want to pm me or click on my username for details of my practice, perhaps we could be of assistance to you.

Regards,

Brian