I have a new customer hopefully! Its a removals company and they have asked how much it would be to keep on top of their VAT. Past and ongoing.
Is it possible to keep track of VAT without doing their full accounts? I would have thought I'd have to do their full bookkeeping to keep track of VAT.
Does anyone have any tips for me? What to ask etc. This will be my first consultation so I'm nervous that I won't come across as professional. How much should I charge for say a VAT quarter?
If they need past VAT sorting out they won't have done a VAT return so do they have a deadline for this? I have done quarterly VAT returns where you have a month and a few days to get it submitted.
I have a few VAT clients where I just do the VAT returns and not the bookkeeping. I simply review the clients bookkeeping records and then calculate the VAT liability.
I would ask to see the bookkeeping records and gauge the quality. You can then estimate how long it will take to tidy up and complete the VAT return.
Try not to be too concerned about how you're perceived, not always easy I know. I always go into a meeting thinking at least I know more about bookkeeping than a client which helps my mindset.
Hope it goes well
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Stuart
Birmingham City FC - Blues is my religion St Andrews is my church
Well that was just awful! :( it went ok but I just didn't know what to say! He has asked me to go in on the last friday of every month to keep on top of the bookkeeping. I was thinking of charging by the hour for this say inbetween £11 - £14? He has 6 months worth of books that need catching up first so I was going to charge around £80 for this including giving him the VAT figures for his two missed VAT Returns. Does this sound about right?
I think at £11 - £14 an hour going to him is underselling yourself. What is 6 months of bookkeeping, how many transactions? My gut says £80 is too little, but it's hard to say without knowing what's involved.
It wasn't a very big pile considering it was for 6 months. My receipts envelope at work would have generated that much in around a week. I was thinking of charging £150 for a full years bookkeeping depending on how much paperwork there is so this halved was how I came to the £80 albeit a little extra added.
Please tell me this gets easier in time its been an absolute nightmare. I know we all have to start somewhere I suppose.
When I worked as a bookkeeper/payroll manager/general skivvy to horrible directors as an employee I was on £9 per hour. Is £15 a better figure for self employed? I know in my head how to do what I need to do but when I talk to people I sound very inexperienced and underqualified and this is why I try to aim my figures low as I want to build up the confidence to be able to go in, tell them what I can do, heres my figure and take it or leave it. They are usually the talkative person with little shy me looking like I'm on an interview for burger king.
Thanks everyone for your help and input, really appreciated! x
These things come with time. I remember my first client. I had 3 months of work to do and charged them £25. It ended up taking 6 hours, but it was a steep learning curve. It was a mistake I never repeated, and that's when I worked out an algorithm to determine prices. I was also tripping over my tongue at meetings for the first while. It gets better.
You seem to have come up against problems in your first clients that many people don't see, just unfortunately the way it can be. Don't be too disheartened, wipe yourself down, learn from your mistakes and make sure the next meeting is better than the last.
I sent an email stating my adjusted prices and they have accepted. My printer has packed up so I had no agreement to give them :( I just didn't mention it and hoped they wouldn't too. They asked how long it would take and I said 1-2 weeks depending on how much work I have with other companies.
He looked at me funny I'm not sure if he expected it back within a few days but obviously with the summer holidays and the kids only being back at school next week theres even less time. I feel like such a failure for some reason. I have so many questions myself so when I'm asked a question I have no set answer.
How long would you say 6 months worth of accounts would take? In my last place of work I could have a months spreadsheet finished within 1-3 days depending if any niggly problems arose.
6 months of accounts could take 2 hrs to 2 months, depends on how much paperwork there is. From what you say if it's only a small pile then probably the 2 Fridays you have quoted will be fine, as you'll be going slightly slower to start with while you get used to his paperwork etc.
Confidence comes with experience. Sounds to me that you're doing just fine. You've had a lot of enquiries for someone just starting, and as Kris says they've been some challenging ones, and you've survived and will come out the otherside with much more self confidence. You just have to remember that you can do something that they can't.
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Jenny
Responses are my opinion based on the information provided. All information should be thoroughly checked before being relied on.
