Hi, would anyone mind letting me know (either publically in reply to this topic or via personal message) what they would charge for completing a tax return.
I don't do tax returns myself, so I have recently been making enquiries with local accountants to ask how much they would charge to do a tax return for me if I was to refer a client after I had done the bookkeeping.
One accountant has recently replied and says that they would normally charge £185 plus VAT for a basic tax return (personal info and self employment) but then charge an additional £40 + VAT for additional information such as income from property, shares etc.
To me this seems quite high. I have just signed up a client because their previous accountant was charging them over £330 for accounts prep and TR, and because of the downturn in work they couldn't afford this. So I explained I could get the accounts to TB for £120 but they would have to have an accountant to do the TR, or they do it themselves. At the moment she is going to do it herself, but I'm worried that future clients will be too complicated to do it themselves and so I want to be able to refer them at a reasonable price. If I was to refer her to this accountant then she would be paying more than if she stayed with the previous accountant.
But what is reasonable? Any guidelines would be appreciated.
It depends on your area as well. I know where I am from there is one guy where the going rate is anything from £99 for a basic 1 employment/self-employment SA, with £25 for each additional employment/SE/capital gain/rental property etc, and his year end accounts are from £200. Some other local accountants charge £450 plus VAT for a basic SA & P&L account, it really depends. City accountants charge more.
I know in this area people don't want to pay, if I went to work in the city I could double my rates, but that would mean hours of daily travel and going back to rat race I left when I had my kids, really don't want that life again, so I prefer to settle for a bit less.
It is a matter of working out what you need to live on, whilst not going too cheap or you will cheapen the profession. I have a set price tariff that I start from and I only go below it in exceptional circumstances (just did a couple of SA's there, a share fisherman, 2 years' returns, basically a 3 line return for each, hadn't the neck to charge him full whack), but it is exeptional that I charge less, if you are too cheap you run the risk of not being taken seriously.
It depends how you work as well, I have a set hourly fee for bookkeeping, charged every 20 minutes. I don't charge for quick phone calls providing the client doesn't take the piss, but then I am a homeworker so don't need to keep as tight a control as some who have more expenses with their rent and rates before they even think of paying anything else.
It is not only about researching your local area, but what kind of image you protray and you set your charges with that in mind. Being a homeworker, my clients tend to be SME's therefore I am a bit more laid back and like to be approachable. I do have an annexe to my home that is converted for business and is private for my clients, but it is not the same as going to a high end accountancy firm and this is reflected in my pricing. That is me and how I work though, it may not suit or please everyone. Some bigger practices have more of a professional setting with main street office space, wear suits every day, employ people to answer the calls, clean their premises and spend a fortune on advertising, all of which of course costs and that is reflected in their charges and at the end of it they may only be offering the same standard of services as the man down the street from a one room office up a back alley and charges £99, but like I say, a lot of it comes down to image and the kind of client you are trying to attract. I think the key is finding a balance with your image and pricing, and charge the max you think you can - at the end of the day, you are in this to make a profit.
-- Edited by mushroom on Friday 20th of May 2011 07:09:36 PM
-- Edited by mushroom on Friday 20th of May 2011 07:13:08 PM
My simplest self employed clients are a couple of building contractors on CIS. Some minimal expenses and usually a tax refund. I charge £150 to these guys, partly as they are mate.
As has been said it really does depend on the type of self employment, size of the business, the amount/ level of bookkeeping undertaken etc. etc. There are quite a few factors that come in to play when quoting for a job. The fact there has been a downturn in work should not affect the value of the job unless there is bookkeeping/ adjustments involved. I often find that a client that has turnover of £100k provides perfect records, whereas a £20k client could give me a complete mess - who should I charge more to!
It is inevitable clients don't see value. My answer, particularly to consultants and the like is how much do they charge for their product/ service.
__________________
Phil Hendy, The Accountancy Mentor
Are you thinking of setting up your own practice or have you set up and need some help?
If so a mentor may be the way forward - feel free to get in touch and see how I can assist you.
That's true, I used to have a farmer complain about my charges for his VAT returns, for some reason he seemed to think he was paying me too much. Then I pointed out that I had to spend about quarter of the time sorting out his cow-dung covered dockets before I even started the VAT return, and he was spending far more servicing his BMW than what I charged!
The same guy came to me to take over his VAT because his accountant, who had been charging him an arm and a leg for his services, had been giving his VAT to a trainiee who was obviously not being supervised properly which ended up with him having to pay HMRC over £6000 after a VAT inspection. There's a lot to be said for having the peace of mind when your books are being completed properly.
Don't be blackmailed, some people will chance their arm, as I said, charge what you are worth, pick a tariff and try not to go lower.
Hi All, Thanks very much for the replies. I guess the local accountant who got back to me is charging a fair fee then, just at the time it seemed expensive. They have agreed to knock off £35 if I was to refer a client, which is good. I'm also hoping to meet up with another accountant next week as well. I want to build a good relationship with one or two, so I can refer customers to them with confidence. Hopefully it could put more work my way in the future.
If say I was to refer a client to a firm of accountants so they could do the tax return, would the accountant normally bill the client for their fees, or would they invoice me, and then I would charge the client? I'm assuming its the first option.
How does it work if the accountant contacts me to do bookkeeping for one of their clients? Would I charge the client for the work, or would I charge the accountant?
