I am going to set up a limited company for me to do IT contracting.
I have had a couple of appointments with accountants and I want to ensure I go with the one that firstly seems most capable, but as importantly, is not charging me over the odds.
I am finding it difficult to get straight answers out of the two I have seen around the costs involved.
I am told that the costs "could" be between €1,500 to €2,000, depending on complexity, but there seems little information that breaks this down. There is also a daily rate that is chargeable, but they will answer ad-hoc questions over the phone / email.
I have spoken to people that say that it should be more like in the region of €1,000-€1,500.
Also, somebody else I know (in building) told me a story that he was paying around €2k per year, even when things got bad in the building industry. He recently threatened to go elsewhere and his accountant then dropped his price to €750.
How can I figure out where I am going to get the best deal?
Why not use the accountant that reduced his price to €750 then?
I would suggest meeting a few accountants, letting them know that you you are "interviewing" some for this assignment. See you like the most on the face to face meeting.
Its hard to say what the charge will be, because its based on taking your information and then placing it into a set of accounts, but it has to be reviewed first and changes made, Accruals, Prepayments and Depreciation are 3 of the most common things clients leave out, then more than likely CT and CRO returns need to be done, but again your nominal ledger postings will have to be reviewed (this all depends on the system you use and your level of accuracy on it) and currently as you have not started to trade, they have no idea how good your records will be.
Sorry, I though you were asking about year end accounts etc, a limited company can be set up through a formation agent for between €200.00 and €300.00, registering a company for tax, could be done yourself by completing a form TR2.
An accountant is not needed for these services, although, they can do them for you.
Yes, thats my plan, but it isnt as though there is a price list where I can pick and choose what services I want. Even if there were services that had a low, medium and high complexity at three different prices, that would be better than what I am finding. They just seem to be plucking figures from the air.
Bear in mind that the 'interview' will work both ways in that the accountant will also be silently assessing whether they want to take on the client and how far they are willing to go to recruit them. Any established accountant or firm will be wary of taking on a client if they suspect that they may be difficult to deal with, or if they feel that the client's expectations are unrealistic.I would suggest meeting a few accountants, letting them know that you you are "interviewing" some for this assignment.
Location wasnt suitable, I want somebody nearby,
.
Shopping around solely on the basis of price is not recommended. Nor is tying an accountant or similar professional to an immutable fixed price as this may merely incentivise them to cut corners or restrict the range of issues that they bring to your attention.
If money is that tight, don't form a company at all, and/or get a bookkeeper to help you cover the most basic requirements.
Otherwise my advice in sourcing an accountant is to seek recommendations from trusted friends and colleagues.
Beware of the accountant whose promises sound too good to be true or who doesn't tell you at least one thing that you don't want to hear. There are far too many 'no problem' merchants out there but in the long run the chickens always come home to roost.
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