Ltd Company Accountant

mcsean2163

It's coming up to tax return time.

We have a startup company with limited status that has never paid any wages and only been paid for one invoice.

My accountant wants to charge €1,700 including VAT. I got a shock when a self employed friend was only paying €250 for the year €1,700 a lot?

Immy

If you shop around you’ll probably get cheaper.

Dell2009

What part of the country are you in?

Stratvs

mcsean2163 wrote: »

My accountant wants to charge €1,700 including VAT. I got a shock when a self employed friend was only paying €250 for the year €1,700 a lot?

This comparison is meaningless unless both are for limited companies.

Despite the low level of activity unfortunately once you step into the Ltd arena you are facing more cost than similar activity via sole trader. It is not simply the case of sticking that one invoice into a program and spitting out a set of accounts with little or no actual work or time going into it. A full year end service for any Ltd would generally include :-

Preparation of statutory (unaudited where qualifying) financial statements.
Preparation of corporation tax computations.
Completion & filing of corporation tax return.
Completion (where relevant) of return of third party information.
Preparation of abridged financial statements for the CRO.
Completion & filing of CRO annual return.
Preparation of relevant minutes for director / shareholder meetings.
Updating statutory registers where relevant.

And this is assuming all bookkeeping, vat, payroll etc. has been done by the company itself.

Whether you have one or a thousand transactions these have to be done and each will be tailored to the circumstances of the particular company.

In addition this year the register of beneficial owners must also be completed.

You could ask your accountant if they could do any better on the basis of it being a start up and in anticipation of a profitable relationship for both of you.

dbran

Seems a bit steep. I would probably shop around. Is the company up to date with the CRO? Is an audit required? Are there other services bundled with the accounts of the company? Your comparison with a sole trader is not a valid one for the reasons previously described.

Best Regards

dbran

mcsean2163

All,

Thanks for the advice. I'm based in Dublin, I did the accounts previously myself in the UK but I've been advised that in Ireland once you have a limited company you must have an accountant.

It seems steep to me as I am doing the accounts again myself but hand them over to the accountant to signoff, essentially half a days work for €1,700. I'm in the wrong business!

silent_spark

From the scale of what you’re describing, surely you would only need an accountant if you need an audit? With one transaction you should come under the small company audit exemption. Was it a massive invoice?

Stratvs

mcsean2163 wrote: »

All,

Thanks for the advice. I'm based in Dublin, I did the accounts previously myself in the UK but I've been advised that in Ireland once you have a limited company you must have an accountant.

It seems steep to me as I am doing the accounts again myself but hand them over to the accountant to signoff, essentially half a days work for €1,700. I'm in the wrong business!

You don't need an accountant if they are audit exempt financial statements.
For audited financial statements you need a Registered Auditor.

I've yet to do all of the items in my earlier listing in half a day. I must be mighty slow

silent_spark

Stratvs wrote: »

You don't need an accountant if they are audit exempt financial statements.
For audited financial statements you need a Registered Auditor.

I've yet to do all of the items in my earlier listing in half a day. I must be mighty slow

For the one invoice the OP says is their entire transactions for the year, I think you probably would.