Someone approached me the other day and asked if I could take on his accounts. Good news for me, bad news for the other 'Bookkeeper' (I say this in invert commas as the previous one never told this client that working from home and travel expenses could be claimed off of the business ie. Petrol/mileage and heating costs etc)
So he's dead keen on me doing his books now, but this means that he will have to terminate things with the other bookeeper. Do i do this? does he write them a letter? what sort of things do I write in the letter to obtain previous records etc etc...?
Is there a guideline on what to do and what not to do? Any advise would be very helpful
Professional courtesy dictates that you should send a professional clearance letter to the current bookkeeper to ascertain if there are any professional reasons you should not accept the client. This is also a way to ask the outgoing bookkeeper for any information you may need from them. You wont always get all or any of what you ask for though, some bookkeepers and accountants are more professional than others.
http://www.ir35calc.co.uk/how_to_change_your_accountant.aspx has a sample of this letter, though you may not be asking for all the information included.
