You’re looking for your first accountant, or for a new accountant, but how do you work out how much an accountant costs?
You’ve spoken to accountants, and heard experiences from your friends, and quite frankly it’s confusing, and you’re afraid of big bills and nasty surprises. But it doesn’t have to be this way! Together we’ll work out what you need and how we can support you, and then we’ll usually quote you a fixed fee, broken down into a monthly fee package to cover everything. If you need one off services or help, we’ll also quote for this upfront, so you know where you are all the time.
It’s so important that you’ve got the right level of service, and the right range of services to help you to manage and grow your business. You’ll hear from us regularly to make sure that we’re still meeting your expectations, and that you’re happy or whether we could do more. Sometimes this will involve a review of services and fees, because if you’re on the wrong package, or getting the wrong service for your needs, this could hold you back, and result in a less than happy experience.
You’re looking for an accountant who’s reliable, experienced, and has a good reputation. We’re happy to report that we’re multi-award winning, and recognised in our industry for our client care and innovation, so our fees reflect our high standards. You may find accountants who offer services at a lower fee than us, but this could reflect the quality of service and expertise you’ll be getting.
So let’s break it down into manageable chunks:
Accountancy fees
In order to quote for your accounts and tax returns, we’re looking at certain criteria, and these include:
- the size of your business
- your turnover level
- number of employees
- how tidy your records are
As an example, fees for a limited company accounts and tax return, with turnover between £200k and £400k would be £1,850 plus VAT, and between £1m and £2m will be £3,575 plus VAT (at time of writing)
Working with us gives you the reassurance that your numbers are correct and comply with tax and accounting rules. You won’t need to worry about any of your deadlines with Companies House and HMRC, because we’ll take care of these, giving you peace of mind, and freeing you up to work on your business.
You don’t have to worry about claiming all the expenses and tax allowances you can, as we’re doing this for you, so that we can keep your tax down.
“Thankyou for helping me with our Corporation Tax – wouldn’t know where to start!”
Quality of your records
Our fees are based on a tidy set of data and numbers in Xero.
We have a healthcheck process which scores the health of your Xero data, and we’re looking for a score of over 85%.
If your healthscore is below this, then our fees increase depending on how far below.
For example, if you healthscore is between 45% and 55%, we’ll increase your fee by 35%, because of the extra work required to tidy up your data, and correct any errors.
Having high quality data gives you reassurance that you’re making the best decisions, using the right numbers.
Business planning and setting goals
You’re ready to look ahead, and want to set a plan for the next 12 months or more. We’ll meet with you to discuss with you what you need, and at what level, and quote accordingly, but this usually starts at £1,500 plus VAT.
This includes working with you to identify personal and business goals, and then breaking those goals down into a manageable action plan, identifying who’s doing what, and by when.
We’ll also challenging you to dig deep, and find out who your ideal clients are, why they buy from you, and so that you can use this gold dust in your marketing.
You’ll usually meet with us twice, and spend up to 2 hours in each session. At the end of the course, you’ll have your own one page business plan!
We set goals recently with one of our clients, and she said afterwards:
“Thanks so much for today. I felt so empowered after our meeting. I’ve got so much done already”
Accountability
Once we’ve set your business plan and goals for the coming year, the most effective way to achieve your goals is to meet with us regularly, to keep you on track.
Together we’ll discus monthly or quarterly how you’re doing against your actions, what’s a challenge, and what’s gone well, and what you need to focus on. We have a client who actually met us in the store cupboard for one call, as their restaurant was so busy. We asked if they’d like to re-arrange, to which they responded:
“if we don’t keep meeting with you regularly, we won’t keep moving forward”. Their revenue is ahead of the plan by 50%, and their business profits are now 124% higher than we’d planned together!
Think of us as your accountability buddy.
Tax returns
You might think you can submit your own tax return, but we often find that clients wanting to do this either miss the deadline, or end up coming back to us to complete it.
This is because you’re putting your tax returns and tax calculations in the safe hands of our expert and qualified team. We make sure that we’re declaring your income and expenditure properly, while keeping your tax liability as low as legally possible. We’ll also help you to manage how much to pay, and when, and we’re keeping an eye on deadlines for you.
We’ve dealt with clients where their previous accountant had declared income incorrectly, so we’ve corrected this for them. We would encourage you to get it right the first time, using our team of experienced and qualified professionals.
Our basic fee for simple tax returns at £200 plus VAT, but this increases for extras such as property income, complex investments etc.
Payroll
This is generally priced per payslip processed per month, and we review this for you monthly.
Fees start at £15 plus VAT for one employee, and increase at £10 per employee after that.
Our payroll service includes calculating taxes and national insurance correctly, and advising you what to pay your employees and the tax office.
We’ll make one set of adjustments to your payslips, after sending these to you to check, but any further adjustments may incur extra charges.
If you’ve already approved your payroll for us to submit to HMRC, and send payslips to employees, and then make changes, this takes a heap of time to correct, so we’re going to charge you for this.
Employment and taxes can be a minefield, so we’re taking the pressure off you, leaving you safe in the knowledge that your people are being paid properly, and we’re keeping HMRC up to date. We’ll also manage statutory payments like maternity, paternity and sick pay.
VAT returns
Using software like Xero can lead you into the false sense of security that you just have to click a button to submit your return.
But this only works if the underlying numbers are correct. We had a client who recently submitted their own return with a £7k VAT bill, without claiming all that they could in VAT. The actual VAT due was about half this.
It’s crucial that you have the confidence that your VAT return is submitted correctly, so we run through a detailed HealthCheck before completing your return.
We have a thorough system of checks and reconciliations to make sure we’re submitting accurate information, and claiming everything we can on your behalf, to keep your VAT down.
If we have to tidy up your data and make corrections so that we can submit your return accurately, there may be an extra fee, because this takes time.
Our standard fee for VAT returns is £100 plus VAT per month.
Bookkeeping
We’d love to take over your bookkeeping, you didn’t go into business to be a bookkeeper, or do the admin, so why are you taking your focus away from your business to do this?
Let us take care of it, with our qualified and skilled team of bookkeepers.
We have a very thorough bookkeeping process, and carry out bookkeeping on a daily or weekly basis, and send you tasks once a week.
Bookkeeping fees start at £50 plus VAT per month, and are based on volume of transactions. We review this every 3 months.
Here’s what one of our lovely clients said, once we’d started managing their bookkeeping for them:
“We’re so happy you’re managing our bookkeeping. It feels like someone’s there holding our hand, and our numbers make more sense. Cashflow is better too!”
Start up support
When you decide to set up in business, there is a lot to think about, and we can help you here, from deciding what business structure you need, how you’ll be taxed and then getting you set up. this could include any of the following:
- registering your company with Companies House, starting at £450 plus VAT
- registering your business for VAT and/or PAYE, starting at £50 each plus VAT
- setting you up on Xero, Dext and any other technology solutions to help you run your business efficiently
- training you on Xero and Dext
I always admire business owners who get in touch when they set up their business, or even before they set up. It’s so much better to get the right advice at the outset, than leaving it til you’ve already been trading a year, or you’re up against deadlines. It gives you reassurance, confidence and the support to get started.
“Really grateful to have Kinder Pocock’s support and expert guidance as I began setting up start-up independent business in Hereford during the pandemic!
I am so grateful to be able to speak to Sharon via Zoom. She has been incredibly supportive and knowledgeable to help guide me as I wrote my business plan, set financial goals and opened Make-it Happen to begin trading. Thank you Kinder Pocock!”
Company secretarial services
We can set up your new limited company for you, with all the correct legal documents including share certificates and articles of association.
We also assist with the following:
- annual filings with Companies House
- change of directors
- share re-organisations
- closing your company
- managing your dormant company
Fees for these service depends on the amount of work involved, but closing your company starts at £250 plus VAT.
Buying and selling your business or shares
Whether you’re selling all of your business, or just a part of it, we can advise and support you.
We offer a business valuations service starting at £1,500 plus VAT, and can also advise on the most tax efficient way to sell your business or part of it.
We also have experience negotiating on your behalf for a fair offer.
Tax planning and extracting funds from your business
The last thing you want is a nasty surprise with days to pay your tax bill.
If you’re keen to keep your tax down, we will meet you before your year end after estimating your potential tax for the year, for your business and you personally.
Together we’ll look at the best options for the most tax efficient way to take cash out of your business, while looking at ways to reduce your tax.
We work closely with Kevin Morris of Fern Financials to provide a joined up approach to tax planning, and where we see an opportunity where he could support you, we’ll introduce you. For example pension and investment strategies to reduce tax and extract funds from the business.
Our tax planning service starts at £750 plus VAT for basic tax planning, and Kevin will quote you separately.
Tax investigation insurance
Every year we invite you to renew or sign up for our tax investigation service. This gives you peace of mind that if you have an HMRC investigation or enquiry, we’ve got you covered. The insurance will cover our fees to represent you, and our expertise to fight your corner.
Our insurance starts from £75 plus VAT per year for a personal tax client, and you can find out all about it here.
Xero HealthChecks
Before starting work with you, we run a thorough Xero HealthCheck to make sure that you data is accurate, and you’re using Xero well. This starts at £400 plus VAT, and if there’s any tidup up work, we’ll agree with you who’s doing it, and quote accordingly.
We’ve been using Xero for over 10 years, we’re Xero Gold Champion partners, Xero award winners, and recognised by them as pace-setters in our industry, so you’re in safe hands!
Xero Training and Support
You may decide that you want to manage your own Xero data, or have your own bookkeeper who needs a little support.
We run regular group training sessions on Xero. This is free of charge for clients, and £75 plus VAT if you’re not a client.
We’re always happy to answer quick questions on Xero, but if you need quite detailed support (for instance creating custom reports, or integrating Xero with other softwares) we will quote for this.
If you need a lot of regular support on Xero, we can arrange a fee for this, which would include a weekly or monthly zoom with you to answer your questions, and support in the background too.
“Thank you from me personally for pulling us into the digital age with Xero. This has help me and my business no end. So easy to use, very clear to understand and a breeze to navigate.
It has helped me grow my business no end and finally understand and clearly see my business finance . I’d recommend yourselves and Xero to any one out there”.
Software subscriptions
We include Xero and Dext in our monthly fee, but we’re passing on our discounts, which are between 25% and 50% of the price you would pay.
Where we’re also covering other software subscriptions specifically for you, we’ll charge those on. These could include Deputy, Chaser or Float, amongst others.
What else?
This list isn’t exhaustive by any means, and the fees are correct at the time of publishing (April 2022). We always tailor our fees based on your needs so this is only a guide.
Also have a look at our blog on why your accountancy fees might be going up.
Fancy working with us?
We’d love to hear from you. The first thing to do is complete our Get To Know You Form, so we can find out a little about you and your needs, then we will be in touch to arrange a Discovery Call. The purpose of this is to find out more about you, and see if you’d like to work with us, and if we’d like to work with you. Then we can move forward to a face to face or zoom meeting to dig deeper and agree our services and fees.
