Accountant Fees

rabbit said:
Stand your ground + pay him his original quote. A lot of accountants seem to charge more than they quote. Foreign accountants are amazed at what some accountants here charge and get away with....all part of rip off Ireland is the kindest explanation.
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Same goes for foreign
dentists -v- irish dentists
car prices -v- irish
etc. etc.
On radio today it seems home improvement costs, getting a plumber , electrician etc. is, in some cases 1/2 that it was a couple years ago. There are more than just accountants out there whos prices are different to other countries.
 
rabbit said:
Stand your ground + pay him his original quote. A lot of accountants seem to charge more than they quote. Foreign accountants are amazed at what some accountants here charge and get away with....all part of rip off Ireland is the kindest explanation.
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From where!?!
 
daff72 said:
It was explained to him what was involved before he took the job on. Due to delays out of his control it was a while before it all got resolved. We did end up getting a decent sum out of revenue which was good.
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Who was responsible for the delays. If it was you - pay up!
 
A person I know recently got a quote for piling for foundations. The company doing the work got all the plans dimensions etc. and gave their quote. When the work was done they said, words to the effect " it took a bit more than we thought so it's €2,000 more". The customer said, "hang on you had the plans etc. you knew what was to be done I'm not paying any more". The contractor said....you'll love this..." well you can't blame a guy for trying, never mind".

The core problem here is the serivce. People do not attach the same value to time and a few bits of paper as they do to physical goods. People have no problem paying €2,000 of a plasma TV. But €2,000 for 14 pages of company accounts in a little folder does not sometimes look like it took that much work to do. I have found this across many services.
 
OP if you were given a price for the work then that should be it, but if the job turned out not to have been what you outlined to the accountant, and you did mention things outside his control which led to more work than maybe he should be paid for this. Was the original price to include everything, did he say if there are some problems I will have to charge you extra? Also what are the reasons for the extra work. Did part of the bill include things that did not include his fee. In relation to VAT I don't get your point you should always ask if it includes VAT or not, this is to both tradesmen or professionals. I too think the price you paid seems very reasonable.
 
leghorn said:
You should maybe investigate accounts production software. This should reduce the time to produce company accounts significantly.
http://www.relate-software.com/
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I have no problem with the time or skill needed to produce ( to IAASA standards ) statutory financial statements for limited companies. My point is that when a client gets that little booklet of financial statements it may not sometimes look like it is worth the money paid for it.
 
I'm with Graham on this one. People look at a set of documents and don't see the work and preparation that goes into preparing the numbers behind it.
 
well i'm an accountant as well graham lol. but if you give me 25% discount on mine, i'll gladly give you 10% on yours.. :D
 
billythefish said:
well i'm an accountant as well graham lol. but if you give me 25% discount on mine, i'll gladly give you 10% on yours.. :D
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Hmmm if I were a Government Department head or a HSE spindoctor I'd probably think thats a really really good deal. :rolleyes:
 
billythefish said:
I'm with Graham on this one. People look at a set of documents and don't see the work and preparation that goes into preparing the numbers behind it.
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You are quite right. I know of one accountant for example who does the annual books for one limited company. The limited company does not trade or carry on any business. The accountant charges a four figure sum each year just to keep the accounts up to date + do any returns to the companies office. As you say, people look at a set of documents and don't see the work and preparation that goes into preparing the numbers behind it. The poor accountant.
 
rabbit said:
You are quite right. I know of one accountant for example who does the annual books for one limited company. The limited company does not trade or carry on any business. The accountant charges a four figure sum each year just to keep the accounts up to date + do any returns to the companies office. As you say, people look at a set of documents and don't see the work and preparation that goes into preparing the numbers behind it. The poor accountant.
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And if the client does not query the fee and is "mugged" like that then you know the saying.... "a fool and his money should never have been put together in the first place".
 
rabbit said:
You are quite right. I know of one accountant for example who does the annual books for one limited company. The limited company does not trade or carry on any business. The accountant charges a four figure sum each year just to keep the accounts up to date + do any returns to the companies office.
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hmmmmm... sarcasm....

a four figure fee for dormant accounts is, in my opinion, a complete and utter rip. personally i think about €400 + vat is about right and that should include a nil corporation tax return if the company is still CT registered.

although, this limited company you refer to could be ringing the "poor accountant" every other week with a query on this and that. if so, clients are very quick to forget all the times they rang with sundry queries and whinge about paying them. makes me angry.... grrrrr.....
 
billythefish said:
hmmmmm... sarcasm....

a four figure fee for dormant accounts is, in my opinion, a complete and utter rip. personally i think about €400 + vat is about right and that should include a nil corporation tax return if the company is still CT registered.
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400 euro plus vat is 486 euro. How could a poor accountant survive if he / she only got that amount of money each and every year just to keep the accounts up to date + do any returns to the companies office for a non-trading company ?

billythefish said:
although, this limited company you refer to could be ringing the "poor accountant" every other week with a query on this and that. if so, clients are very quick to forget all the times they rang with sundry queries and whinge about paying them. makes me angry.... grrrrr.....
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No,the limited company does not trade or carry on any business...perhaps the accountant would charge double that if he / she had to answer a query once or twice during the year ? It would be only fair, double the work, double the fee.
 
Graham_07 said:
And if the client does not query the fee and is "mugged" like that then you know the saying.... "a fool and his money should never have been put together in the first place".
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As "billythefish" says, that would only make him "angry.....grrrr......" He did query the fee or "whinge" ( billythefishes word, not mine ) once, but was that was what professional fees were. The explanation was not a million miles different - but not the exact same as - your explanation " The core problem here is the serivce. People do not attach the same value to time and a few bits of paper as they do to physical goods. People have no problem paying €2,000 of a plasma TV. But €2,000 for 14 pages of company accounts in a little folder does not sometimes look like it took that much work to do. I have found this across many services."

Poor accountants should charge as much as they can get away with. After all, many people they deal with are "fools". ( your word , not mine ). They may be elderly, they may not know very much about taxation, they may have inherited the limited company, they may be this or that, they may be timid when dealing with a professional in a suit, but they are still "fools". As you rightly say, "a fool and his money should never have been put together in the first place".
 
rabbit said:
Stand your ground + pay him his original quote. A lot of accountants seem to charge more than they quote. Foreign accountants are amazed at what some accountants here charge and get away with....all part of rip off Ireland is the kindest explanation.
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I don't know which foreign country you are refering to but I think Irish accountants are quite cheap. But as in all cases one should shop around.
 
Bronte said:
I don't know which foreign country you are refering to .
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only a few other first world countries like the U.S, Germany and Australia


Bronte said:
I think Irish accountants are quite cheap..
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Course they are. Where else would you only get a four figure fee for dormant accounts.

Bronte said:
as in all cases one should shop around.
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For most peoples accountancy requirements not always easy to get a quote though. Do not forget "when a client gets that little booklet of financial statements it may not sometimes look like it is worth the money paid for it." ....a lot of time and skill is needed to produce financial statements. I am sure it must be often difficult to estimate how much time in advance a client will take as well. Clients are often fearful of "shopping" around for financial statements...one of the arguments accounts often use is that it will take someone else longer to get accustomed to the accounts / client. Another excuse is increased risk of revenue audit through chopping / changing....probably not true but "fools" who know little of accountancy or taxation can be told anything...that is why they go to experts...

"a fool and his money should never have been put together in the first place".
 
someone wake me up when rabbit's done.... well.... rabbiting.....

"As "billythefish" says, that would only make him "angry.....grrrr......" "

...btw you've actually taken that comment completely out of context. maybe go back and have another read :)
 
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