Accountant's Fees
- Thread starter BobMax
- Start date
BobMax said:
This element of your fees appears excessive. I presume you mean that this is the fee that your accountant charges you for filing your B1 annually with the companies office. If your company is quite small (as appears from your original post), then there should not be too much work in the completion of a B1. A standard B1 for a small 1 or 2 director company should take no more that 15 minutes to complete, as it only runs to 4 pages. Indeed, after the first B1 is filed and there is no change in the shareholder(s) each subsequent B1 should be exactly the same as the previous one (apart from the dates).
ivorystraws
Registered User
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It does seem extortionate if it is for simply filing a B1. What can be done in such a case where it is felt that a specific Accountant's charges are exaggerated?
E
eddie.hobbs
Guest
In response to the above post:
(1) €1,350 + vat for a small company with circa 50k turnover is definitely way overpriced. I work in an accountants and if we were approached with a case like that we would charge €750 + vat (as long as the company was audit exempt which in your case it should be)
(2) In regards to the b1 there is a bit of confusion been caused by a number of the above responses. For the fee of €550 + vat the accountant will file the B1 form with the companies registration office (this is quite simple and straighforward - the filing fee is €40 per b1 return)
On top of this the accountant has to submit a set of Abridged Accounts for the company for the appropriate period. These accounts are lodged with the CRO together with the B1.
the abridged accounts are different from the normal accounts that the accountant will prepare for you. (ie for the original qoute for work done totalling €1,350 + vat).
as stated the accountant then has to prepare abridged accounts which are a altered form of accounts compared to the original. they are shortened and contain less information than the originals as there is only a certain amount of information that must be lodged with the cro. therefore we like to provide exactly is what required (no more no less)
as i said this is standard procedure and the idea that the accountant would charge €550 + vat for just a b1 is been unfair to the accountant. He will infact also prepare abridged accounts. although saying that i still believe quote of €350 + vat + filing fee would be more than adequate for this job.
In summary for the total job i would give the following deal (€1,000 + vat + filing fee) as opposed to the current qoute of €1,900 + vat) the old caveat emptor comes into play SHOP AROUND for the best price!
BTW i am not the real Eddie Hobbs!
(1) €1,350 + vat for a small company with circa 50k turnover is definitely way overpriced. I work in an accountants and if we were approached with a case like that we would charge €750 + vat (as long as the company was audit exempt which in your case it should be)
(2) In regards to the b1 there is a bit of confusion been caused by a number of the above responses. For the fee of €550 + vat the accountant will file the B1 form with the companies registration office (this is quite simple and straighforward - the filing fee is €40 per b1 return)
On top of this the accountant has to submit a set of Abridged Accounts for the company for the appropriate period. These accounts are lodged with the CRO together with the B1.
the abridged accounts are different from the normal accounts that the accountant will prepare for you. (ie for the original qoute for work done totalling €1,350 + vat).
as stated the accountant then has to prepare abridged accounts which are a altered form of accounts compared to the original. they are shortened and contain less information than the originals as there is only a certain amount of information that must be lodged with the cro. therefore we like to provide exactly is what required (no more no less)
as i said this is standard procedure and the idea that the accountant would charge €550 + vat for just a b1 is been unfair to the accountant. He will infact also prepare abridged accounts. although saying that i still believe quote of €350 + vat + filing fee would be more than adequate for this job.
In summary for the total job i would give the following deal (€1,000 + vat + filing fee) as opposed to the current qoute of €1,900 + vat) the old caveat emptor comes into play SHOP AROUND for the best price!
BTW i am not the real Eddie Hobbs!
I don't think the overall fee is excessive, as long as the accountant is keeping you right as regards all tax compliance, ie corporation tax, pay/prsi if applicable and vat, then it's reasonable.
The same duty of care must be applied to anything he puts his name to, as revenue keep a record of which tax advisers are compliant/less likely to take liberties. In addition, whilst your accounts will not be actually audited, banks etc will want to see they've been prepared by a reputable accountant, thus his reputation is on the line - the issue is probably the amount of compliance/beauaucracy required for such small firms, although, chances are, for a company with a turnover as small as yours, you would have been better advised to set up as a sole trader.
The same duty of care must be applied to anything he puts his name to, as revenue keep a record of which tax advisers are compliant/less likely to take liberties. In addition, whilst your accounts will not be actually audited, banks etc will want to see they've been prepared by a reputable accountant, thus his reputation is on the line - the issue is probably the amount of compliance/beauaucracy required for such small firms, although, chances are, for a company with a turnover as small as yours, you would have been better advised to set up as a sole trader.