Choosing a small business accountant

The most daunting thing when freelancing or running your own business can be getting an accountant. At first glance it’s easy; you go down to your local high street accountant who quotes you anything from £250 - £600 plus VAT to do your end of year accounts for you and your covered.

However, throughout the year you may have accountancy and tax related queries and questions for your accountant - you may need to call them for some bespoke advice. Each time you call your accountant, you're likely to be charged, so by the end of the year you could be looking at a bill exceeding £1,800. It's no surprise then that most freelancers and small business owners soon stop calling their accountant and push their tax returns to the back of the drawer.

So whether you choose to set up a limited company or to operate as a sole trader, it makes sound business sense to appoint a good accountant who is right for you. Not only will they be able to help with initial set-up issues such as registering your limited company, if you decide to - they will also be able to advise you on a myriad of complex financial issues, and ultimately to make sure that you keep as much of your hard earned turnover as you can. You’ll have enough on your plate with running your business, and the last thing you need to worry about is missing a tax deadline, making sure that your tax submission is accurate, or missing out on any opportunity to maximise your tax allowances.

Factors to consider
It might sound obvious now, but in the excitement of setting up your business you may forget about appointing an accountant and then rush into it later, only to regret that decision in the long run. So making the right choice when you first set up in business will save you both time and money.

Small fish big pond
You could be forgiven for thinking that it doesn't really matter which accountant you choose as they are all the same, providing that they are qualified. But this is definitely not the case. For example, it makes no sense to choose an accountancy firm who predominantly provides services to larger businesses, and may consequently not understand the needs of smaller companies such as yours, or even have much time for you. In this situation you may well find yourself being a very small fish in a very big pond.

No dedicated accountant
Another aspect to consider is customer service. Some firms operate a system where you don’t get your own accountant, which means that you speak to a different person every time and no-one ever really gets a clear understanding of your business and its individual issues. You will also probably find yourself repeating things over and over if you have to call back multiple times. This option might be cheaper on the face of it - but at an overall level, when you consider the extra time which you will have to take, it could work out more expensive.

The UK tax system is complicated. To give you an idea, the HM Revenue and Customs Expenses Policy booklet is over 100 pages long, so just imagine what the corporation tax laws look like! With this in mind, it makes sense to have a dedicated accountant who you can pick up the phone to, or email, when you need an answer to a question – without worrying that they are charging you for every minute, or that you are wasting their time asking what might appear, to them, to be ‘simple questions’. This will give you a certain level of comfort and reassurance to know that if you don't understand something, or if you have any concerns, you can talk to ‘your’ accountant anytime you like. After all it's you and your company, not them, that will be personally liable if anything goes wrong!

All inclusive fixed fees
As mentioned above, most people today want to know how much their accountancy fees are going to be for the coming year and don’t want to be hit with additional charges - So make sure you ask up front if there are any additional fees or even worse entry or exit fees.

What about Easy Accountancy?
Easy are the UK’s only national specialist accountancy firm for freelancers and self employed people, whether you choose to operate as a sole trader or through a limited company. We offer all our clients unlimited telephone and email access to their own dedicated accountant, and we don’t have any call centres, so we’ll never ask you to press 'one for this or two for that'.

Our all-inclusive basic sole trader package costs just £30 plus VAT per month, a fee which is one of, if not the lowest in the market. This gives you proactive, ongoing tax advice throughout the year, help in dealing with HMRC and free bookkeeping software, as well of course as completing your year-end accounts and dealing with your personal taxation issues. We also offer a money-back service guarantee that all of your telephone calls and emails will be answered on the same day, or we will refund your monthly fee. If you are limited, our all-inclusive limited company fees start at just £95 VAT per month, which is again a huge reduction of some other companies.

Rather than charging an annual fee and then adding unknown extra charges throughout the year, low-cost all-inclusive fixed monthly fee means that you'll never call your accountant for advice and then have to worry about receiving an unexpected bill for the privilege afterwards.

Our approach towards our clients is very simple. We remove the stress of managing your finances, leaving you to concentrate on making a success of your business. We understand that administrative responsibilities such as managing your business finances, or completing tax returns can be a real burden. Our services have been designed to make your life easier, by taking on those very tasks which can sometimes make the decision to 'go it alone' a difficult one.

We obviously hope you choose Easy when the time comes, but if you don't, we still hope you found this guide very useful. We'll be adding new guides, hints and tip weekly so be sure to check back regularly.

You may also find our other Free Business Guides useful:

• How to advertise your business
• How to market your company for (almost) free!
• Is freelancing for me?
• What will an accountant do for me? 
• How to be number one on Google
• Benefits of an Accountant 
• Do I need an accountant as a Freelancer?
• Top Tips to getting more Customers 
• Creating a website for your business
• Choosing and Registering a company name
• Do I need a business plan?

You may also find our Frequently asked questions pages on VAT, Payroll, tax returns, limited companies and being self employed useful.

If you'd like to chat with Easy Accountancy about your small business you can Ask us a question, call us on 0500 234 111 / 01442 275 767.