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You will be aware that in recent years there has been a huge increase in the rules and regulations surrounding taxation and accountancy. In fact there are some 33,000 pages of statute covering the taxation and accountancy obligations of small companies and the self- employed, and that is before you start looking at the requirements of Employment Law and Health and Safety. Sadly for Health and Safety we can not be of any help, but for Accountancy, Taxation and Employment Law we have products or services which are designed to ensure that you are able to fulfil your obligations in a timely manner.
It is, perhaps, important to start by saying what we will not be doing; we do not offer special avoidance schemes of the quick fix pay little or no tax at all variety. In our experience if such schemes work they will be shut down within six months, and if they do not - then you did not want to get involved in the first place. If you enjoy the excitement of trying to keep one step ahead of the Revenue and desperately trying to “dodge the bullet” may we suggest that there may be other firms out there which will be better suited to your needs. Our aim is to ensure that your affairs are set up such that you pay as little tax as is reasonable, subject to your particular circumstances, with the emphasis on sustainability. We want our clients to be able to concentrate on the process of earning the money without having to be constantly looking over their shoulder worrying about whether they have the Revenue or Companies House bearing down upon them.
Our aim is your peace of mind, which not only means that we try to ensure that you comply with all the rules as to what has to be completed, filed or prepared and to do so on time, but it also means that you should have as few nasty surprises as possible. If you are determined to leave the preparation of your accounts and tax returns to last possible minute there is little we can do to protect you from the shock of discovering that the tax bill that has now become payable is a lot higher than you were expecting, but we are set up to try and ensure that you will have the maximum notice of all the bills that you will have to face.
One of those “nasty surprises” can often be the accountants’ bill itself, we pride ourselves that we have some of the most reasonable fees around and we almost never put up fees by more than the rate of inflation unless there has been a change in what we have to do. If you want to use the traditional system of sending us your books a couple of months before they are due to be filed and then paying for the resulting accounts and returns thirty days after we have completed the work, then we will be quite happy for you to continue to do so, but our preference is to sit down with our clients at the beginning and agree exactly what work you are going to want us to do for you and how much this is going to cost, divide the answer by twelve and arrange a Direct Debit. This ensures that you know exactly what you are going to pay, therefore no “nasty surprises” and means that there is nothing to be gained by leaving everything to the last minute, and we all benefit from getting the work done as soon as possible. Thus you get the maximum notice possible of what you are going to have to pay and when you are going to need to pay it (with no risk of late filing penalties); it does not make the tax any easier to pay, but at least you will have longer to save up!
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