Are they any clients you would not take on?

Are they any clients you would not take on?

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Having been in practice for three years now (one of them wasted with a franchisor). Am I right to come to the following conclusion: I would not take on clints from the following industries:

  • Construction - queries around VAT tend to be time consuming and complex. Plus experience has shown they tend to ask - can they get away by being dodgy in a particular area.
  • Resturant/food - Tend to be very poor at record keeping
  • Taxi/Cab - Fees are just too low. Very likey to be visited by HMRC inspector

Following sectors I have found are very easy to deal with

  • Established letting agents
  • Professionals eg Consultants, Graphic designers/
  • Interior designers
  • Serious start ups (I can mould them!)

All the above pay good fees.

Am I being too fussy? Can you extend my lists?

Replies (15)

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By Coates Franklin Ltd
24th Nov 2010 10:09

Horses for courses

I think each sector has its merits if you are prepared to get to know the issues inside out.  I would also say there are good and bad clients in all sectors.  Generally, profitable businesses are more able and willing to pay decent fees whilst struggling businesses will be a lot more price sensitive.

However, if you have the luxury of being able to chose which types of clients/sectors you take on then I am inclined to agree with you.

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By Roland195
24th Nov 2010 10:30

Yes but not in the same way

There are clients I will not take on but not based on their general industry (or race/gender or orientation before that is suggested).

I can broadly define them as individuals with some experience, some accounting/tax knowledge (at least in their own minds), a deluded sense of their own importance which is usually exemplified by multiple companies, most dormant and who are sensitive to the level of fees.

After many years of unfortunate experience, I can tell from within 5 minutes of meeting such a person that my life will be a misery if I undertake this work with no compensation in the way of fees.

 

 

 

 

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By ShirleyM
24th Nov 2010 10:39

Me too

We base our decision on our impressions of the potential client. We make it clear at the initial meeting that we are only interested in clients that like to do things 'right', and in a timely fashion.

If their business or tax affairs are very overdue we listen to their explanation (which is usually the previous accountants fault) but we take it all with a pinch of salt. We have taken on a few of these clients where they seemed genuine, and most have worked out OK.

We get rid of any clients who don't cooperate as this results in less profitable work and a whole lot of frustration.

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David Winch
By David Winch
24th Nov 2010 10:40

I take a perverse delight . . .

FirstTab

I admit I take a perverse delight in dealing with occasional phone calls from members of the public who are looking for a general practice accountant and have called me without checking what I do.

The calls go something like this:

Member of the public:  "Hello, I'm looking for an accountant."

Me: "Are you a drug dealer or money launderer?  Perhaps a benefit fraudster?"

MotP: "No."

Me: "Are you in prison or in trouble with the police at all?"

MotP: "Absolutely not!"

Me: "Then I'm sorry I can't help you, goodbye."

David

www.AccountingEvidence.com

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By mm01
24th Nov 2010 10:48

Used car dealers!

As mentioned above, there are good and bad clients in every sector and business type but one I wouldnt touch with a barge pole is used car dealers! 

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Red Leader
By Red Leader
24th Nov 2010 11:01

I agree

I broadly agree with most of the comments here. You don't have to be extremely picky, just excluding the "outliers" will make your practice run much more smoothly and profitably and less stressfully. I'm fortunate in being based in an affluent area, so I can exclude lower income prospects who may struggle with my fee, but I still have enough clients.

I deliberately don't do audits or deal with industries that require special accounting, such as charities or solicitors.

Regarding industries, I tend to exclude heavily cash-based businesses like newsagents. Also I exclude CIS jobs. Professional partnerships can be surprisingly time-consuming (assuming it's not just husband and wife). Each partner will look very closely at the drawings figure you come up with for his current account. You also tend to get tax and accounting queries coming from each partner individually rather than being coordinated by a lead partner. Construction can be a problem too - boom and bust; owner wanting to claim PPR but has he really lived there?; big VAT £££ errors if your advice is wrong; etc.

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Stewie
By Stewie Griffin
24th Nov 2010 11:57

Not industry specific

We don't exclude based on industry.

 What we do is get each prospect to "pass" a number of tests before we take them on.  This we do by asking particular questions during the initial meeting.  If they don't pass all the tests - we don't act...

The questions are all around attitude, responsibility, aims for the business etc, so it weeds out all the fee chasers/ dodgy ones etc right from the word go!

 

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By timpearce
24th Nov 2010 13:07

Dont judge a book by its cover!

I think it is too easy to bundle all of the same type of client under the same heading - all clients are different. 

For example you say that Restaurants/food businesses are not good at keeping records. This may be true for some but it will also be true for some retail businesses, accountants, solicitors or any other business for that matter. Additionally do you not see an opportunity here to work with the poor record keepers and cross sell your firms bookkeeping service, or if you want to stay away from this (perceived) lower level work you could work with and recommend an external bookkeeper?

Also you say that Taxi fees are too low. Again this could be said about many other industries. However are you not missing the bigger picture here - you could become the local 'expert' on taxi firms (you can equally substitute taxi firms for any other business you know lots about) and gain 10, 15 or 20 clients in this field. Yes potentially low value on their own but as a combined addition to your fees (the work being completed in a systemised and efficient way) I would have thought a welcome boost for any practice.

I personally don't discount any industry type or person as a potential client - after all you don’t know what lies beneath the surface - For example a taxi driver or a subcontractor could have a portfolio of rental properties?  

My approach is to talk to the potential client whatever industry that they are in and if after you have discussed things you don’t want to act for them they use price as a tool to ‘loose’ prospect.

This said I do have one type of client I won’t work with. People that are rude to me or my staff and on one occasion I did ask a potential client to leave my office for this reason.    

 

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FT
By FirstTab
24th Nov 2010 15:09

Thanks a great response. David, your response made me laugh!

 

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By cymraeg_draig
24th Nov 2010 18:59

An Accountant as a client ?

I wouldnt group all taxi drivers etc together and dismiss them.

Would you do accounts for another accountant?  Would you expect perfect records?  Balanced books?  For the first few years I hadnt got a clue what I made - I was too busy earning money to bother about keeping my own books. I still recall looking at piles of receipts shoved into a desk draw, and thinking "sod it" as I put it off yet again.   Would that make me a bad client?   Or just a client who is too busy?

To be perfectly honest I'm still rubbish at dealing with my own accounts and still chuck receipts into a drawer until "the office dragon" whisks them off.

And yes, I admit that while I was shoving receipts into a drawer I was lecturing clients about keeping proper records - hows that for hypocrisy ?

You have to accept clients based on your "feeling". As others have said, after a short chat you usually get a feeling as to the kind of client they are likely to be. If we think a new client might be trouble we simply quote double the usual fee. That way they either clear off, or, at least we are getting paid for the grief of dealing with them.

I will certainly upset some posters, but the ones I try to avoid like the plague are the terribly correct eco friendly types who want to have a "green" or an "ethical" businesses. You just know that they are going to be trouble, and probably end up bankrupt. Mind you, when they walk into our reception and see my old racing motorbike mounted there, and some of the gas guzzlers parked outside (one of our staff drives a V8 Chevie which measures in gallons per mile, not miles per gallon) they tend to get the message that we are, perhaps, not that "green" :)

 

 

 

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By petestar1969
01st Dec 2010 14:03

We don't bother anymore...

...with cab drivers or any other scummy cash-based businesses.

Its just too much aggro dealing with HMRC.

 

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Sarah Douglas - HouseTree Business Ltd
By sarah douglas
01st Dec 2010 14:57

All cash Business are not scummy

Hi 

There are plenty of well respected businesses that use cash, and they are not all scummy.  Most shops , established restaurants and Tea and Coffee shops and even high street shops take cash.   I come from a family who owned a shop for a number of years, and invested everything to keep us in education so we could all go to college, believe me it is hard work and a lot of dedication .  People paid for their goods with cash and so  do plenty of other businesses.   I find this an extraordinary judgemental comment to make.

 I can understand you may not like dealing with cash based companies, but with good controls and procedures and a good Director it should not be a problem .  That does not make them scummy. ( you may have been joking)

 

-- Kind Regards Sarah@ Douglas Accountancy & Bookkeeping Services, Glasgow

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By cymraeg_draig
01st Dec 2010 15:08

Oh dear
We don't bother anymore......with cab drivers or any other scummy cash-based businesses.

Its just too much aggro dealing with HMRC.

 

Posted by petestar1969 on Wed, 01/12/2010 - 14:03

 

Whats wrong with cash based businesses?  Pubs, shops, market traders, are all cash based businesses - are they "scummy busineses" you wont deal with too?  I presume you don't bother with sub contractors (usually paid in cash), plumbers, bricklayers, electricians, etc either ?

 

 

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By Jason Dormer
01st Dec 2010 18:37

Scummy cash businesses

I read that as sarcasm????

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Russell Steedman Edinburgh Accountants Photo
By russellsteedman
21st Oct 2011 04:26

Thanks - from a graphic designer

Hi I am a graphic designer and find this post very complimentary!

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