Ideally, it would be helpful to bring last year’s accounts, tax returns, and any current letters you may have received from HMRC that are troubling you. In addition, we require sight of an original photo ID, for example, a passport or photocard driving licence and an original current utility bill (not more than three months old). Providing this information at the outset means we can act quickly on your behalf, although if you don’t have these details to hand, you can give them later.

Whilst we prefer to have meetings during office hours, we understand that your business is your priority, and this is not always possible. Since meeting face-to-face is so important, we will always try to organise a meeting time that suits you. Visits to clients’ premises for a cup of tea and a chat are standard and help us to get to know your business. Not only can many important issues pop up on these occasions, but it also allows us to see first-hand how your business is set up.

Your initial consultation meeting is free, however long it lasts, as it is important to us to take the time to get to know you and your affairs. It is just as vital that you also get to see the team here as we hope our relationship will be extended. Quite often, at this initial meeting, many topics come up, and where issues are relatively straightforward, we are happy to provide free advice and guidance to help. Our estimated annual costs are based on expected hourly rates and the time to deal with your affairs. They are made according to the expertise required in any given case; more than one person may contribute to producing your finished accounts. After all, you do not necessarily need a qualified senior accountant to process your bookkeeping, and consequently, we assign an appropriate team member to oversee different aspects of your work. We will always try to keep your bill as low as possible and complete the task as efficiently as possible. We will review all your records at our initial meeting and discuss your required services before giving you a fixed quoted fee. At the end of the year, we will review this and discuss if any guidance is needed to improve matters to keep our fee value for money. We usually encourage our clients to set up a monthly standing order towards their annual accountancy fee, which helps to spread the cost over the year.

Communication is vital so we know what is happening in your business and with you so we can help and advise accordingly. Your fixed quoted fee will include calls to chat about ongoing annual tasks and routine compliance issues, so you won’t be charged every time you ring up! If you require us to undertake any work during the year that has not already been agreed upon, we will discuss this with you and agree on an additional fee for the extra services. Quite often, a quick chat resolves matters without extra costs.

Bank statements for the entire period and records of bank transactions.

Sales and purchase invoices and credit notes for the period.

Petty cash records for the period.

Details of any correspondence or notices received from HMRC.

Rental incomes and related property expense receipts, etc., for the year to 5th April, if applicable.

P60 and P11D, if applicable.

Pension incomes received by you in the tax year, if applicable.

Investment incomes via dividends and interest, etc., if applicable.

Pension payments made, if applicable.

Details of any shares bought or sold.

There is a lot to remember, but don’t worry; we will contact you each year with a reminder, mainly if you are new to running a business.

In an ideal world, the sooner, the better, as starting your year-end accounts promptly means we will have plenty of time to look at any proactive tax savings. It also means that if you are due a tax refund, you will receive it sooner rather than later; after all, it’s better to be in your bank account than the Revenue’s! new to running a business.

This depends on the state of the records you have kept, but assuming everything is in order, your accounts can generally be prepared within 2-3 weeks. We will let you know if we can see ways to improve your record-keeping and speed up the process next time.