Finding accounting services for under £1000 can be difficult in today’s climate of high charge out rates and increased regulation for accountants. Both new and existing businesses which are typically short of financial resources in their early years find that compliance work carried out by an accountant requires them to spend a sum of money which they believe could be better suited to promoting their products and services.
The perception held by many businesses is that the work of an accountant is a necessary evil, made mandatory by statues based on the premise that the directors of a limited company or management of an unincorporated business are separate persons to the shareholders and owners.
The need to protect the interests of these people by insisting that accounting services are requisitioned is therefore an important part of corporate governance.
For most businesses £1000 is not a great deal to spend to comply with the law and also provide sufficient information for it to be able to compute its tax liability correctly. The pill is made slightly sweeter where a tax loss provides the owners with reliefs which they can use against their savings and investment income.
With quotations from accountants for first year financial statements reach in the several thousands, the rational of making new businesses suffer this burden becomes less clear.
In a society which prides itself with producing some of the greatest inventions of all times and promotes several of its larger cities as being premier commercial centres, the costs of doing business should be low. Allowing those with little or no financial backing to start a business and successfully navigate the initial years of trading is a must if the UK is to retain its standing.
To add some context, for just a moment, fees associated with accounting services can not be singularly held responsible for stifling new business, there are many other attributes which have a part to play.
Lack of regulation and control among the amounts banks are able to charge customers especially those in business is another area where enterprise is largely defenceless.
Similar to other products, shopping around can produce good results in the quest for finding accounting services below the £1000 mark. Regulation, thankfully, now ensures that all accountants maintain appropriate levels of knowledge and skill and consistently apply them to all assignments that they undertake.
Accountants, like any other business have costs, a desired profit margin and a resultant price. Unlike many other commercial ventures however, costs reductions do not appear to have been savagely introduced in to accountancy practices in the same manner that they would be in other entities.
The idea of having businesses as a largely captive market and believing that some of these will, simply be the law of averages end up with a particular firm, does not perhaps provide a strong enough impetus to reduce costs and provide and cheaper solution.
There are signs that things are changing for the better as I witnessed recently when researching accountants to carryout the required compliance duties for my new business.
A hand full of accountancy practices have started providing special fixed fee business start-up packages which as well as the usual end of year account actual include several useful features. Registering and calculating VAT, payroll enrolment and quarterly management accounts delivered at a time when they are relevant are some of the attributes which modernised accounting companies are providing and all for under £1000.
The moral of the story is to always consider what is best for your business and not just accept that what everyone else does is the correct course of action for you. The world is changing slowly.