Things clients hate most about the way accountants operate

Things clients hate most about the way...

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What do you think are the things clients hate most about the way accountants operate?

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By MissAccounting
12th Jan 2016 09:05

Judging by the way this place is going I can only assume that clients hate the fact that we actually charge for our service!

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By Tim Vane
12th Jan 2016 09:05

Surgeons operate. Accountants just do bookkeeping, accounts, tax returns and other mundane stuff.

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By cheekychappy
12th Jan 2016 09:07

That we give them advice contrary to the advice they’ve been given from Dave the plumber in the local.

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By Robert Lovell
12th Jan 2016 09:14

Surprise bills?

How about receiving bills where either their existence or magnitude is not known to the client until after the event

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Replying to FayeBK:
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By adam.arca
13th Jan 2016 10:38

No such thing as surprise billing

robertlovell wrote:

How about receiving bills where either their existence or magnitude is not known to the client until after the event

I've never really bought into that as a client fear. IMHO it's a fear placed into their minds as a prompt by surveys and then they're obviously going to say 'yes,' aren't they? It would also be an issue where the accountant has done a lot of extra work and only bills once a year, but who works like that these days?

If you bill by event (even if time-based), then the client knows perfectly well you've been undertaking work and they are expecting a bill even if they say they aren't. They may also say they don't like the size of it but, in reality, they've always got a pretty good idea of what it's going to be, give or take.

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By Tim Vane
12th Jan 2016 09:17

@robertlovell - I don't think too many accountants work like that anymore. We always agree fees up front, and as far as I am aware most of our local competition do the same.

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Stepurhan
By stepurhan
12th Jan 2016 09:21

Asking wrong people

Accountants will generally want to keep clients. As a result, they will try to avoid things that make clients hate them. People who hate you tend to go elsewhere.

So you're either going to get meaningless answers (telling them they have to pay tax. A lot of people seem to hate doing that) or you're going to have to make stuff up (like your surprise bill point).

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By Duhamel
12th Jan 2016 09:27

complex answers to 'simple' questions, I imagine. Possibly also assuming that the clients know the basics.

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By claudialowe
12th Jan 2016 09:29

The fact that.....

.....we are not sitting there twiddling our thumbs waiting for them to drop their books off on the 20-something of January.  They hate the fact that we might not be able to complete their tax returns in time!

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ghm
By TaxTeddy
12th Jan 2016 09:51

Agreed claudialowe

Why do all my clients think they are my ONLY client?

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By ShirleyM
12th Jan 2016 09:55

Clients hate us for ...

... not accepting the blame for their misdeeds.

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By Angelag123
12th Jan 2016 09:59

Not understanding accountancy Jargon, the bill, not allowing/advising them to break the rules, not getting their accounts to them within a week of them dropping the records in.

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RLI
By lionofludesch
12th Jan 2016 10:03

January

Clients hate the way we don't do all our work in the last two hours of January 31st.

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Jane
By Jane Evans
12th Jan 2016 11:13

Not providing replies until close to the statutory deadlines

I am frequently told by people that they have provided their information in plenty of time eg SA info in July and the accountant does not get back to them until January.

I think one reason is the penalties levied by HMRC.  Every month an accountancy practice has a whole series of pieces of work that have to be filed by that month end so that there no penalties are levied.  This work takes priority over everything else.  This goes on every month and eventually the SA tax return becomes the most urgent and gets dealt with.  However it can be several months after some clients have provided their papers.

I did a quick calculation and reckoned that if I failed to meet the HMRC deadlines for my clients and all the penalties were charged then the penalties would be greater than my turnover.  Scary thought.

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Replying to DJKL:
By cheekychappy
12th Jan 2016 11:18

Penalties

Jane Evans wrote:

 

I did a quick calculation and reckoned that if I failed to meet the HMRC deadlines for my clients and all the penalties were charged then the penalties would be greater than my turnover.  Scary thought.

 

You are obviously charging nowhere near enough or your quick calculation was wrong.

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By lesley.barnes
12th Jan 2016 11:25

Not giving them the answer they want to hear.

Clients don't like it when the answer to a question is the correct one based on tax law but it isn't the one they want to hear. The client argues that they are paying us but accountants are really working for HMRC and not them.

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By NYB
12th Jan 2016 12:32

Availability
The hate it if they walk in and you are not available, or you are not at you desk at 6.00am nor 22.00 at night or weekends.

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PJ
By paulgrca.net
12th Jan 2016 13:03

New client

when you tell them the IRHP redress they have rec'd of £500k is taxable income and they have just spent the money buying a new property.

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By SteveHa
12th Jan 2016 13:17

Nothing. Our clients love me.

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By mwngiol
12th Jan 2016 14:00

Clients

They hate it when you don't tell them in advance that expenses you didn't know about until 8 months after the year end aren't allowable.

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Red Leader
By Red Leader
12th Jan 2016 15:48

client's perspective

The question did make me try and see things from the client's point of view. It then occurred to me where some confusion might arise.

Capital allowances - nothing to do with capital gains

Revenue expenses - are nothing to do with sales

Tax credits - are not a deduction from your tax bill

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By Maslins
12th Jan 2016 16:59

Unsure how seriously to take this thread.  One that springs to mind is:

The fact we don't pre-empt what they might be thinking about doing (but haven't told us) and recommend a certain way to do it.  Instead we wait until they tell us that they've already done it, at which point we explain why that wasn't ideal and unfortunately it's too late to do it a better way.  Yup, useless accountants.

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By Moonbeam
12th Jan 2016 17:05

The Tax we calculate is TOO HIGH

We are considered by quite a few people as incompetent if we calculate a tax bill that's much higher than client was expecting. They aren't interested in the rules we have to follow.

And payments on account, although forewarned in the previous year come as a tremendous shock to some, who then feel obliged to ask their 18 year old daughter's friend's mother/father/livein lover if this can really be correct.

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Kieran Phelan
By KPEM online
12th Jan 2016 20:34

two angles....
A proper response would include time based billing, not being proactive enough, not seeming to care enough......although expectation management is a key element of course.

In reality though, clients only seemingly dislike our ways cos they dont truly understand (or want to understand) how we need them to work in order to ensure we really can make a difference to their business etc.

Prime example.......i got an email from client last night at 11.40 pm.......he has sold his 100% owned company for mixture of cash/shares/directors loan......contract being signed today..........so can i get back to him before 11 am on how to ensure he pays little or no tax.........

Yeah..........no probs! Plus its January so not doing much!

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By JimH
12th Jan 2016 23:16

When 'just a quick question?'
Results in:

- an answer that is not quick or

- an answer that requires them to make a choice or

- an answer that will cost them additional fees for a researched response

But then these are not the best clients; the good ones do understand and appreciate.

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By The Innkeeper
13th Jan 2016 07:46

When you want to charge

for an extra that is well and truly outside the fixed price for accounts and tax returns

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By Fenella
13th Jan 2016 11:18

Speaking as a client

The reason we left our old accountant was the fact they would take several months to do our accounts (having to be chased repeatedly for them), then started chasing their bill within seconds of it falling due....surprise bills are always a bugbear from anyone, we have had that too, and it came right at the end of the year as well (months after the work was actually done).

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By v.knazevs
13th Jan 2016 11:27

Have a look on TR?
Found the client not being happy when I quoted a full price of accounts preparation & TR for their cheeky offer “just to cast an eye over the tax return making sure it`s correct” before they submit it. They expected a charge of 0.5 hr max.

I also got “a look” when did not appreciate their argument that: “I have just finished bookkeeping course and my lecturer praised me, so I could do TR myself ”.

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By happy
13th Jan 2016 11:39

Nothing!

Nothing my clients love me ;) :)

 

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By happy
13th Jan 2016 11:46

Seriously

OK seriously all the same things that I hate about poor service including - 

- making me feel I am not important

- not answering my emails and phone calls promptly

- failing to stick to promises

- giving new customers discounts and not rewarding loyalty

- unexpected charges

- large increases in charges

 

 

 

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Replying to Wanderer:
By cheekychappy
13th Jan 2016 12:00

Sage

happy wrote:

OK seriously all the same things that I hate about poor service including - 

- making me feel I am not important

- not answering my emails and phone calls promptly

- failing to stick to promises

- giving new customers discounts and not rewarding loyalty

- unexpected charges

- large increases in charges

 

 

 

That sounds like a to do list at Sage.

 

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By richard.snape
13th Jan 2016 12:36

Also speaking as a client

One thing that I hated as a client of my ex-accountant was that in addition to his fee, he added an item to his invoice for copying etc. of £2.  It wasn't the amount that bothered me, it was the separation of this trivial sum.  It caused extra complication for me to enter it back into my Quickbooks accounting system. Because the company's share capital also happened to be £2 it always seemed to catch me out when I did my own check balance sheet the following year to see how much I could pay in dividends before the year end.

But like Fenella, the reason I left was the delay.  Each year I gave them a pristine Quickbooks file of my very simple accounts often only a month or so after the company year end once  the bank statements had arrived to allow me to reconcile the final transactions.  I had already calculated the corporation tax with a spreadsheet so I could pay the correct dividends and at that stage I had all the figures in my head.  It was then usually months before I got the accounts back, by which time I had forgotten all the detail and it took me ages to remind myself so I could sign them off.

So once the online tax return system arrived I thought; what's the point.  Now my Corporation Tax return is completed within two months of the company year end and it's a lot less hassle, though the deferred taxation always makes me think twice.

But I guess as an Accounting Web follower I am not a typical client.

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Replying to Hugo Fair:
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By thomas34
13th Jan 2016 17:04

Easy Mistake to Make

richard.snape wrote:

One thing that I hated as a client of my ex-accountant was that in addition to his fee, he added an item to his invoice for copying etc. of £2.  It wasn't the amount that bothered me, it was the separation of this trivial sum.  It caused extra complication for me to enter it back into my Quickbooks accounting system. Because the company's share capital also happened to be £2 it always seemed to catch me out when I did my own check balance sheet the following year to see how much I could pay in dividends before the year end.

But like Fenella, the reason I left was the delay.  Each year I gave them a pristine Quickbooks file of my very simple accounts often only a month or so after the company year end once  the bank statements had arrived to allow me to reconcile the final transactions.  I had already calculated the corporation tax with a spreadsheet so I could pay the correct dividends and at that stage I had all the figures in my head.  It was then usually months before I got the accounts back, by which time I had forgotten all the detail and it took me ages to remind myself so I could sign them off.

So once the online tax return system arrived I thought; what's the point.  Now my Corporation Tax return is completed within two months of the company year end and it's a lot less hassle, though the deferred taxation always makes me think twice.

But I guess as an Accounting Web follower I am not a typical client.

confusing the share capital with the £2 copying bill. And you're right - the £2 copying bill would not be available to distribute since profits would have been reduced by that amount. 

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By sally1964
13th Jan 2016 13:19

Pub advice

Clients seem to dislike that my advice often differs to that given by their mate down the pub!

 

Lastest complaint was that apparently if you are on maternity leave you don't have to pay tax on your rental income!

Obviously the income might be covered by personal allowances but client thinks it does not have to be declared!

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By NotAnAcctantJustReading
13th Jan 2016 13:39

Also Speaking as a Client

1. Prospective Accountant #1 -- I walked away because he was so awesome at telling me how great he was and all the ways he could save me taxes, and too many of them sounded dubious.  I'm looking for an accountant, not Max Clifford.

2. Prospective Accountant #2 -- didn't answer my emails or get back to me to arrange an appointment in a timely manner.  I could have waited for the appointment for a while if he was busy, but I would think if he wanted my business he would have at least gotten it scheduled.

3. Current Accountant

A. Didn't answer several emails.  He was ill.  An auto-reply on his email telling me who to contact would have been a good idea.  Definitely forgivable, though, but annoying until I found out the story.  Be professional about your absences as well as when you are around.

B. His assistant treated me like an idiot for asking a dumb question.  The only reason I engage you is because I don't know all the answers.  It's not been repeated, so again, forgivable.  Be professional when your clients are stupid.

C. I had a great idea to save some tax and he told me I couldn't do it.  He also said, "I'm sorry, you can't do that."  I didn't like that, either, but he was respectful to me in it and that's what I pay him to do.  If he hadn't told me that, it wouldn't have been forgivable.  Tell your client what he needs to hear, not what he wants to hear, but be respectful about it.

In general, I'm very happy with my accountant.  I want him to be reasonably available or have cover if he isn't, reasonably professional, patient with the peons who haven't been inducted into the secret brotherhood of accountancy, and knowledgeable.  I want him to listen to my questions and my ideas and provide his expertise on those things, and it helps if he's polite when I'm dumb.  If he ever comes to me and pays for my services, I won't act like he's dumb if he wants me to do what's impossible, I'll just explain why.

I want him to charge me a fair fee, but I want it to be fair for him, too.  I realise I am not just paying for his time, but also for the time and money he spent acquiring his knowledge / expertise.  If his fee is too high, he's ripping me off, and I'm not happy.  If it is too low, I doubt his professionalism / competency.  

If he violates any of those things, I'll look elsewhere -- there are a lot of accountants around.

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7om
By Tom 7000
13th Jan 2016 14:17

Easy

My Bentley convertible...

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By John Webb
13th Jan 2016 16:30

timely email.......

I have been chasing my client for his 31 March YE books since June (monthly)

In December I warn him of the fine/deadline

Last week he sends all the records with no details for payments from the bank xl download (500+ txs)

I then ask him to add the detail

Last night he emailed it all back with full details

4pm today he emails and says, is it all done shall I come over and sign the accounts

 I replied - no - I have the books and will do them next week in line with schedule/datebooks arrived.

He said that was a bit unfair as he "stayed up til midnight to get it to me quicker"

If the fee wasn't so good he would be an ex client!

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By The Innkeeper
13th Jan 2016 17:12

@richard.snape
Did you tell your accountant that you wanted the accounts within a specified time frame? Of the many fine qualities that we have mind reading is not one of them. If one of our clients asks for his accounts by a specified date we can normally accomodate .

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Replying to Tax Dragon:
Red Leader
By Red Leader
13th Jan 2016 17:40

timeliness

I do think that a lot of accountancy firms are bad at turning work round in a timely maner. It's not difficult, it just requires organisation. It's a hangover from the old days, I think. It's a simple "win". It's a lot easier to do than answer some of the more technical questions on here.

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By claudialowe
14th Jan 2016 09:26

Give a time frame

I try to give a time frame to clients as to when their accounts will be completed by.  Client brought in ltd co accounts mid November.  I explained that he wouldn't get them back until end of February - client was happy.  If I hadn't given a time frame, he might well be p*ssed off by now that I hadn't turned them around.  We all need to manage client expectations.

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