Interesting job coming up I think...

Interesting job coming up I think...

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I have a prospect to see later in the week who says his accounts 'haven't been done for around 5 years' - apparently he used to be in partnership with someone but it was never registered as a partnership, the turnover is high but profit low, AND it's a franchise...

If you heard this from a prospect would you still consider doing the job?  I guess it all depends on the state of the book-keeping, that sort of thing, but I think a payment upfront might be in order if I take it on?

What's everyone's experiences of this sort of job?

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By User deleted
13th Jun 2012 07:54

In cases like this I would expect bookkeeping to be poor, a classic case of incomplete records.

I get one of these on an annual basis where they are several years behind with tax returns etc. It always amazes me how they get away with it for so long.  I'm currently dealing with a chap with a reasonably large haulage business, again high turnover low profit margins but hasn't filed a return since 2009.  He claims HMRC have never sent him a late filing penalty or determination despite him being self employed for years and filing returns up to 2008 !!

Yes I would meet the prospect because once up to date this could be a very good client going forward.  My approach would be to quote high with half in advance and then the balance before tax returns submitted to HMRC.  Also make sure that this is clearly stated in your engagement letter.  

In short you need to make the fee worth the effort you will have to put in to resolving this mess.

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By zarathustra
13th Jun 2012 09:48

Definitely do it

If you decide you woulld normally charge say £800 per year, and there are 5 yrs to do then £4000 in fees covers a fair bit of faffing about in my opinion.

You should recover pretty well.

Make sure you get a decent chunk up front.

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