I would appreciate if anyone can help me out here!
As my new way going forward and be more proactive, I want to start sending pre year-end letter to clients say 2-3 months before their year end if they require any meeting to do a bit of tax planning exercise etc but I don't want to come across as been pushy.
If anyone of you have a sample letter that you will like to share with me, it will be much appreciated.
Thanks
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Why not...
Why not post what you're thinking about including and then people can say yay or nay and make suggestions? Otherwise it just looks like you're asking for someone to do the hard work for you...
here it is
Here is my proposed letter
Dear Mr Client
Your company's financial year ends on 31/5/2014. To minimise your corporation tax liability you may want to consider lowering your profits. Alternatively you may wish to maximise your profits to enhance the value of the business.
please telephone me if you would like to arrange a meeting to discuss either of these options.
Yours sincerely
Mr Accountant
Just wondering !!
OP..im unable to figure out what sort of tax planning exercise you are referring to in order to either increase or decrease taxable income of your clients for obvious reasons in just 2-3 months towards end of year???
You may or may not agree but to me tax planning is a continuous process as things can not be undone towards end of tax year according to your suitability.
Having said this,i do like your idea of being proactive and offering your clients better service but may be worth consideration i.e offering pre-assessment of tax liaiblity or financial health check etc rather than just saying openly +/- profits.
Hope this helps.
What's your practice called ...
... Arfer Daley & Co!
As you can't possiibly know if you can do either option before such a meeting - if I were a tax inspector and saw that proposed letter I would systematically start an enquiry on all your clients.
A less cowboy sounding letter would be:
"Your company's financial year ends on 31/5/2014. It would be a good idea to have a meeting before then to ensure no tax planning opportunities are lost.
If you would like to do this please telephone me to arrange a mutually convenient date. "
That said, a far better way is to telephone the client, which as mentioned above you should do regularly anyway, at least quarterly - your competitors probably are!
It is called pro-active CRM and is probably the best value marketing you can do, a client who feels they have a caring pro-active accountant is more like to refer you!
Well ........
This is why I posted my thought for some advice and criticism. I appreciate that tax planning need to be done on a regular basis which we currently do for few of our bigger clients. The letter or proposed letter is aimed that our small limited clients (mainly one man band). In the past, we have come across scenarios where a client's year end is 31/03 and then decided to buy a new van in April! believe me this seems to be a regular occurrence!
As mentioned in my original post, I don't want the letter to sounds or looks more like " oh here we go" they want more money!
@ OG I agree your version definitely sound a lot better than mine!
Phone
So much more personal than banging out a letter that's likely to end up in the recycling.
Edit - only just read OGA's comments
Specifics
I was assuming your letter was going to include a few specific ideas (like buying a van before year-end) that they could think about and that might prompt them to get in touch. Your current version sounds so vague (in my opinion) that if I was a client I'd be wondering if you knew your stuff and would definitely think that you were looking for more dosh.
Phone
So much more personal than banging out a letter that's likely to end up in the recycling.
@ Platform ........ the letter was going to be emailed and followed up by phone call.
@FG, yes we plan to make few list of possible items., van, unused partner's personal allowance, pension, Equipments, Loan Account etc
Do not knock the idea
It is actually a useful practice.
I have found that a polite request after their health, with a polite reminder, perhaps noting or adding an aide memoir listing the information you will need, is always acceptable.
It will regularly elicit information that you might not have thought of.
Further I have noted that many of the letters we write, are written for the purpose of putting stuff on record.
In this matter that group of clients, who I suspect we all have, who persist in not understanding that turning up with a "Plastic bag" a couple of days before filing day is not constructive , may not then claim "Why did you not remind me?".
one other thing to look out for
In my experience, clients ignore almost all letters, but certainly for certain ones a pre year end meeting is essential so we email then telephone.
As we deal mostly with small ltd companies, the biggest concern for me is that they either maximise or restrict their drawings from the company to keep within the higher rate band and ensure that liabilities are provided for.
Wow
NH you are fortunate in that you have clients who, in the current financial climate, have a choice of how much they are able to withdraw (to meet their personal needs) from their businesses.
Offer planning meeting for free
Offer the pre year end tax planning meeting for free so the client doesn't feel like they are on the clock. It's amazing what they then start talking to you about, then you can spot the real opportunities for either saving you a problem later or gaining extra fees through added value work.