What's your minimum fee?

Another day, another moan

Didn't find your answer?

Good evening,

My lowest fee at the moment it £250 for a simple tax return but I'm finding dealing with a lot of low fee tax returns a ball ache, I guess it is much easier when you have a team of employees around you but I don't, I'm really tempted to ditch the lot and have a minimum fee of somewhere between £1,000 and £2,400. 

I figure there is always a minimum amount of work you must do for a client, invoicing, aml, admin, chasing up missing data etc and for £250 it isn't really worth it especially at this time when it is like pulling teeth. It always takes longer than you expect, then you have questions from the clients. I haven't worked out what the minimum time I could spend on a client for all the indirect work but as I don't have fancy accounting software I'll wager it is suprisingly large.

It will also smooth out my work load and improve my sanity. Perhaps it’s just me but I would lose all most all my pain in the [***] clients.

Replies (96)

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By Paul Crowley
17th Jan 2022 20:00

We start at the same price, but that is similarly up for reconsideration
100 such clients still only end up as £25,000
Just not worth the effort.
Better spending the time on better service to the bigger client

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Replying to Paul Crowley:
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By SouthCoastAcc
17th Jan 2022 20:08

Absolutely Paul I think something has clicked in me, when you say it like that 100 £250 clients really does seem like a complete nightmare scenario and they could quite easily take up almost all my time and I wouldn't even be earning min wage after costs.

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Replying to SouthCoastAcc:
Slim
By Slim
17th Jan 2022 21:14

I’m in the process of this transformation at the moment, you have to consider that most costs including wages are increasing at their highest rate in recent history and in my area it isn’t too hard for a qualified accountant with a few years PQE experience to earn £60k-£80k. I’m leaving all the cheap tax returns for firms who have taken the volume approach as I can’t compete.

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Replying to Slim:
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By SouthCoastAcc
17th Jan 2022 21:46

I don't think I'm geared up for high volume either.

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By HiddenAccountant
17th Jan 2022 23:23

Same as you £250 minimum for a simple tax return. (The days of £150 long gone).
I am a small part time practitioner but it has also crossed my mind to ditch the low fee clients, particularly those you have to keep chasing and the worst ones are where you ask for information, turns up after months and it's not even for the correct period.

Ideally would like to stick to vat registered clients and BTL property Companies. Of course all these also have their problems but generally are less frustrating. Perhaps the fee level makes it easier to bear.

Last point, for some time I've considered but not yet implemented to introduce a joining fee, hopefully puts off time wasters but not sure yet if it would also put off 'good' clients.
I was thinking something like £250 initial setup fee with an explanation that this relates to time onboarding them, AML etc.

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Replying to HiddenAccountant:
ALISK
By atleastisoundknowledgable...
17th Jan 2022 23:41

Personally, I think the jointing fee would be a hurdle most clients (good and bad) wouldn’t be able to overcome. I guess it depends on how busy you are and how picky you can afford to be.

Our min SATR fee is £150, which is what most pay for a file only service. Min Ltd £600, but there are a couple minute ones historically at c£300.

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Replying to atleastisoundknowledgable...:
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By SouthCoastAcc
17th Jan 2022 23:59

ALISK, where are you located? That seems very good value for money. Do you have staff you can pass the more straightforward work on to?

At the moment my cheapest ltd co client is £1,440 with most between £1,920 and £2,640.

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Replying to SouthCoastAcc:
ALISK
By atleastisoundknowledgable...
18th Jan 2022 07:30

Manchester, yes I have a few staff (I do virtually no accountancy work) & yes, I know we’re below average fee-wise, but most of my portfolio is (unfortunately) from competing in the race to the bottom nature of affiliate websites. My referral portfolio is much better fees & better (both from their side and my side) clients

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Replying to HiddenAccountant:
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By SouthCoastAcc
17th Jan 2022 23:57

HiddenAccountant. That's an interesting idea, the cost of set ups, aml, authorisations etc has to be paid somewhere. This is why I try to avoid one off clients as it just takes too much time.

Yep I'm also thinking I should be more picky, I like small companies where I do the lot, accounts, tax returns, vat returns, payroll (grr) etc. You get into a routine, all the information is to hand, the fees are better etc.

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Replying to SouthCoastAcc:
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By HiddenAccountant
17th Jan 2022 23:58

It's only going to get worse about the authorisation as I do think the post authorisation process will eventually disappear in favour of online and will require a lot of hand holding (only my opinion, not confirmed by HMRC).

As ALISK says it could be a hurdle which is why I haven't implemented it yet as I've never been sure about the idea but I do think it would be good to mention it to the client if it starts sounding like it's a one off or low fee client during the initial call or meeting.

ALISK I too have the odd low fee client. Whether its historical, family/friends.

I did a limited company today and client had already agreed £450 which is the historical low. But there was pretty much only bank charges and some DLA entries.
Felt sorry for the client and told him £300 would cover it.

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Replying to HiddenAccountant:
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By Rgab1947
19th Jan 2022 11:09

Interesting the comment on paper authorisation dissappearing. My experience with getting authorised online with HMRC is a ball ache. Correct info not recognised, two agent registration (for account and for MTD), MTD agent registration is a journey into fog with HMRC staff even more confused than I get at times.

Would love to charge an onboarding fee to overcome the above hassles but agree it would be a hurdle to far for many prospective clients.

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Replying to SouthCoastAcc:
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By Hugo Fair
18th Jan 2022 12:47

An alternative to a separate 'take-on' fee is to bundle it in with your 1st year fee ... and then offer a 'loyalty' discount in subsequent years.
This has the advantage of qualifying-out those who are purely price-sensitive ... and means you can set their discount in the light of what you've experienced from them!

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Replying to Hugo Fair:
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By SouthCoastAcc
18th Jan 2022 12:51

Damn that is genius!

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Replying to SouthCoastAcc:
By Paul D Utherone
19th Jan 2022 22:01

...or maybe a fee plus a standard add on for 'Administration costs', which I have seen used, though I suppose for small clients an extra x% if SFA is still SFA, so probably not worth the aggro

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By Winnie Wiggleroom
18th Jan 2022 07:09

£160, the initial setup is minimal these days if you have the right systems, what are you doing that takes you so long to onboard a client, presume we are talking high earning employee with P60 and P11D and maybe dividends or something here - how hard can it be?

Use something like AM for your LoEs, automated email reminders etc and you will have the time to make it worth your while

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Replying to Winnie Wiggleroom:
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By Jason Croke
18th Jan 2022 08:46

Agree, automation as much as possible is the way to keep the fee low/margin decent.

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Replying to Winnie Wiggleroom:
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By HiddenAccountant
18th Jan 2022 09:14

Thank you for that, perhaps something I need to consider a bit more than my current systems.
I currently use TaxCalc for the tax returns and I like it.
I didn't want a separate database so use it's practice management to manage client data and deadlines which isn't the best but perhaps I should implement some of the automation available from the software.

Talking about the high earner P60, p11d and dividend. Took on a new client few years ago and during the first meeting managed to collect some of the info. Client had mentioned they had a company car for part of the year and exchanged this for a higher salary.
When I got the p11d I noticed the car benefit was for the full year, and I can tell you that conversation dragged on for hours with the client and his employer HR department.

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Replying to Winnie Wiggleroom:
Slim
By Slim
18th Jan 2022 09:36

I aim for £100 per hour so for £160 I'd want everything done in 1.5 hours which is unlikely.

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Replying to Slim:
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By Winnie Wiggleroom
18th Jan 2022 09:54

Slim wrote:

I aim for £100 per hour so for £160 I'd want everything done in 1.5 hours which is unlikely.

an hour and a half to prepare an employment page, you're havin a larf! 20-30 mins max, lets be generous and say you have a chat with the client for 20 mins as well, plus you take 10 mins making a coffee, lets call it an hour total but even that is pushing it

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Replying to Winnie Wiggleroom:
RLI
By lionofludesch
18th Jan 2022 10:14

Winnie Wiggleroom wrote:

Slim wrote:

I aim for £100 per hour so for £160 I'd want everything done in 1.5 hours which is unlikely.

an hour and a half to prepare an employment page, you're havin a larf! 20-30 mins max, lets be generous and say you have a chat with the client for 20 mins as well, plus you take 10 mins making a coffee, lets call it an hour total but even that is pushing it

I agree. We're comparing different lengths of string here. What entries need to be made ? How good is the client at providing the information ? Is this a stand-alone client or is his company already a client ? Is the AML stuff already done ?

There are clients I've charged around £1000 for their returns. At the other end of the scale, there have been clients who I'd be embarrassed to charge more than £100.

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Replying to Winnie Wiggleroom:
Slim
By Slim
18th Jan 2022 10:40

Sometimes the actual return is the quickest part of the work

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Replying to Slim:
All Paul Accountants in Leeds
By paulinleeds
19th Jan 2022 17:58

Doing the actual return through software is the quickest part of the work.

It's the preparation, saving copies, sending copies, explaining the tax return, tax due etc etc and all the AML etc

Clients sometimes thing you just spend 10 minutes on the return (which I do) and nothing else.

The tax Return is like sandwich, plenty to do first and after and not much in between!

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By Michael Davies
18th Jan 2022 10:02

Our Solicitor just sent us a bill,which included a small amount for AML work required by them.

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By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
18th Jan 2022 10:34

Mine is supposed to be £250+VAT for recurring work and £500+VAT for one offs.

but we do have a couple I do for £150+VAT which are literally 3 lines and no hassle.
And I did a one off for £250+VAT (and regretted it) recently, for a 3 line return but it was a lot of extra hassle taking on talking to the client etc.

But overall its really a lot of bother for not a lot of cash, and once in a while one of the £250's ends up with a 5 hour saga for one reason or the other. Normally HMRC being dim.

The main reason we do small returns is they might turn into other work.
So almost a loss leader. Most of mine are £100k+ incomes who need to file a return but have no real entries, but they often end up going contracting or similar, plus a few old clients who still need a return and I used to act for years ago for their company.

I recently sole trader who I have charged a pittance for years suddenly got VAT registered and is looking for a company and I had to move from "mates rates" for adding up 20 invoices to a commercial basis to a 'proper business'.

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Replying to ireallyshouldknowthisbut:
Slim
By Slim
18th Jan 2022 10:40

Ah yes the 5 hour saga I know that well.

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RedFive
By RedFive
18th Jan 2022 11:07

The elephant in the room here is MTD for ITSA.

The days of the £200 annual tax return are fast diminishing.

I have 130 'monthly' clients bringing in £150k t/o and due to historic reasons still have 79 separate annual ITSA only clients bringing in £12k t/o.

You don't need to be an Accountant to see the mismatch of effort vs reward here.

By April 2024 that will be down to nil and either 4 x income from each or they've moved elsewhere. Quite happy to lose the lot to be honest as £150k is more than enough for me and Mrs RedFive.

Other than I'm soft and have had them for so long at crazy low fee that I'll probably say oh its fine I'll file 5 returns a year you just pay me what you can.

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Replying to RedFive:
By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
18th Jan 2022 11:23

@Redfive the mystery of course is who exactly will be servicing these clients..........

Computer geeks seem to think "software will do it"

Everyone who works in practice thinks otherwise.

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Replying to ireallyshouldknowthisbut:
Slim
By Slim
18th Jan 2022 11:28

Even if it does work crap in crap out

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By bluebaron
18th Jan 2022 11:18

Mine would be in the region of £250, I really can't get excited about £200 - £300 clients nowadays, although I have got a couple of longstanding clients who are worth c£225.

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Red Leader
By Red Leader
18th Jan 2022 11:42

Aren't you looking at this the wrong way? I think of it in terms of what is the minimum per hour I want to make.

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Replying to Red Leader:
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By SouthCoastAcc
18th Jan 2022 11:59

Absolutely but it's all linked. I don't think on my tod I can service a large number of clients but maybe I can't be arsed. If we go back to this 30min tax return well you may have to chase the client for the numbers, go back to them if something is missing, answer any questions they have which could be the standard "how come you want me to pay that much tax?! how does that work" Or it could be the mid year "I've got this great idea.." Add in the AML, EL, general admin, HMRC f ups, sending them tax payment details etc

There is also your monthly clients, the work is probably more likely to be spread out whereas you could have the annual clients leaving it until a few months before the deadline.

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By I'msorryIhaven'taclue
18th Jan 2022 12:10

Mine shell out £150(+VAT) for a basic return with (typically) Sch E income & P11d.

What I'm not clear on is whether those in this thread who are charging say £250 or more for a return would include a self employed section or rental property income section in that price. Mine pay typically £250 to £400 for a set of self-employed accounts (whether they want them or not - very old school of me, I know) and £75 to £150 for rental property accounts. So the £150 return I'm working on today has two rental properties @ £150 and very small self-employed accounts t/o <£10k @£250.

Clients take it or leave it - I refuse to simply work out the numbers on a spreadsheet and populate the return. It's the full monty, or not at all.

Do others supplement their £250 or so charges with such additional charges?

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Replying to I'msorryIhaven'taclue:
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By SouthCoastAcc
18th Jan 2022 12:39

I charge self employed from £350 to around £650 and 2x property income £350 /£400.

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Replying to SouthCoastAcc:
Slim
By Slim
18th Jan 2022 12:58

I’m in the same sort of price bracket as that, needless to say I don’t always get the clients. The local firms who have a few staff charge very similar to me which is £500 to £600 for a relatively straightforward self employment return.

I picked up one client who was being charged over 1k + vat for pension and one btl from a legal practice.

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Replying to I'msorryIhaven'taclue:
By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
18th Jan 2022 13:05

£250 is now (new client) base
Landlords £375 for one property and rising £75 or so per property. Husbands and wife's landlords £475+VAT for one assuming the spouse is just PAYE or something.
Sole traders from £300 (very simple service business) to £500-600 (proper business, albeit has to be a service business with no vans, shops or stock)

All fees get free questions in year, free mortgage references etc so very rarely any extras and I talk to every single one of 'em (well sometimes not the spouse)

Lots of people do it for less locally, but lots do it for a lot more.

I don't get excited if they have extra schedules such as some trust income etc so long as its just keyed in without too much fuss.

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Replying to ireallyshouldknowthisbut:
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By I'msorryIhaven'taclue
18th Jan 2022 13:31

Thanks SouthCoastAcc, Slim, & IRSKTB,
So for my today's £700 job (bare return + 2 sections/SE accounts/2 x Landlord accounts) you chaps would be billing perhaps £900 - £1k.

I appreciate the benchmarking - this is where Aweb works so well! The odd thing is I thiought my fees expensive, having recently been gaslighted by a mates-rate client (a tenuous mate, who used to cuckoo from someone else's office in my block) who tried to wear me down by telling me £550 is way too much for a bare return and a medium difficult and rather messy self-employed accounts prep (service co., t/o £45k, with SEISS this time round to boot).

The point is he'd shopped around and has been quoted the £250 or so fees you guys charge for a return, to include the s/e accounts prep. Added to which his previous accountant, some five years ago, used to charge £200 all in (accounts prep et all). See what I mean? You can easily be led to believe you're doing something fundamentally different to everyone else; the only one out of step.

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Replying to I'msorryIhaven'taclue:
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By SouthCoastAcc
18th Jan 2022 13:55

I'msorryIhaven'taclue yep I would be charging between £950 and £1,250 assuming the self employed was like IRSKTB described.

EDIT: Sorry just seen that it is a small <10k SE setup assuming I didn't think there would be any issues then agree around £900. At a 45k SE that's messy then £1,250+

I don't really have any other charges I add during the year, unless they want an accurate CGT for the btl or such like.

I like to think I'm middle of the road price wise but give a high level of service, so I'm great value for money. This is the point I try to get across to potential clients, it works well when clients have been messed around before or for those who come from larger practices that charge medium to high fees but they still don't get the service.

I've been a little lucky as a large local firm got taken over and a lot of their clients are leaving and I've been able to match their fee which is mostly a decent fee but give them way better service, they are happy, I'm happy, all is good.

This is probably why I'm not so fussed about the shopping around, I know that the odds probably aren't in my favour for those clients.

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Replying to I'msorryIhaven'taclue:
By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
18th Jan 2022 14:05

I&#039;msorryIhaven&#039;taclue wrote:

Thanks SouthCoastAcc, Slim, & IRSKTB,
So for my today's £700 job (bare return + 2 sections/SE accounts/2 x Landlord accounts) you chaps would be billing perhaps £900 - £1k.

I appreciate the benchmarking - this is where Aweb works so well! The odd thing is I thiought my fees expensive, having recently been gaslighted by a mates-rate client (a tenuous mate, who used to cuckoo from someone else's office in my block) who tried to wear me down by telling me £550 is way too much for a bare return and a medium difficult and rather messy self-employed accounts prep (service co., t/o £45k, with SEISS this time round to boot).

The point is he'd shopped around and has been quoted the £250 or so fees you guys charge for a return, to include the s/e accounts prep. Added to which his previous accountant, some five years ago, used to charge £200 all in (accounts prep et all). See what I mean? You can easily be led to believe you're doing something fundamentally different to everyone else; the only one out of step.

@imsorry, no I would be charging £375+VAT for a landlords returns complete.

Not £250+£375. This assumes its just PAYE and not much else on the base return. To put it your way, if my base is £250, i am charging £125+VAT for the landlord pages for a first property, so £375+VAT in total. Probably taken form agents statements or a download of their bank account + their annotations. If its a sole trader too (and perhaps a consultant or something with 20 invoices and some costs) it would be say £499+VAT all in. if its a landlord with two properties and a (simple) sole trade, perhaps £600+VAT or so, more if its a 'proper' business and needs accounts. I have for example a sole trader consultant with a car and all sorts who is VAT registered and payed £700+VAT as its a 'proper job' with a bank rec and formal balance sheet. my "simple" SA clients just get a 2 line balance sheet with anything to adjust the cash for the next year which doesn't go to them.

I find you cant charge much more than £950+VAT for any tax return as they just walk.

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Replying to ireallyshouldknowthisbut:
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By SouthCoastAcc
18th Jan 2022 14:18

ireallyshouldknowthisbut if your base is £250 and you charge £125 per property, for two btls that would be £500? If so then the sole trader part is only £100 if you are charging £600 or if it's more complicated and requires accounts £200? That seems very cheap.

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Replying to SouthCoastAcc:
By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
18th Jan 2022 14:42

SouthCoastAcc wrote:

ireallyshouldknowthisbut if your base is £250 and you charge £125 per property, for two btls that would be £500? If so then the sole trader part is only £100 if you are charging £600 or if it's more complicated and requires accounts £200? That seems very cheap.

Perhaps it is too cheap. I would normally do the first property for £125 and then extra for £75-100, so 2 properties for £450 or £475+VAT if its a residential let (not for HMO or holidays), But I can bill £1k a day at that with myself and my no.2 at it which think is a reasonable return. Most of my sole traders are very small indeed so often the sole trader page is nothing more than 20 odd transactions so is probably not comparable to the average sole trader business. I don't target them, so they tend to be "bolt ons" to rents or the day job.

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Replying to ireallyshouldknowthisbut:
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By I'msorryIhaven'taclue
18th Jan 2022 14:19

Doh! My mistake.So you're in the same ball park as I by the sounds of it, which is reassuring enough.

I'm sure there are people out there who promise £250 all in as per my gaslighting client's contention, but who must surely charge loads extra for any and all extras. Not unlike the Soho Cafe visited one lunchtime by Mrs ISIHAC and yours truly, which had a board outside offering lunch special lasagne @£7. Our extras were coke, water, bread rolls, and coffees but we nevertheless racked up a £50+ tab.

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Replying to I'msorryIhaven'taclue:
Slim
By Slim
18th Jan 2022 14:06

A bare return + 2 sections/SE accounts/2 x Landlord accounts I’d have no enthusiasm to complete this for £700.

If everything was in good order I can’t see me quoting less than £1,000, if it was a total dream of a client maybe £900 but that would be so rare.

I’ve got a good idea of what my fellow accountants charge in the area and for that they’d be above £1,000, probably in the £1,200 to £1,400 range. I’m benchmarking against the 1 or 2 partner and a 2-4 employee type practices.

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Replying to I'msorryIhaven'taclue:
Tornado
By Tornado
18th Jan 2022 13:23

"Clients take it or leave it - I refuse to simply work out the numbers on a spreadsheet and populate the return. It's the full monty, or not at all. "

I completely agree but my charges are based on time spent so if there are any particular complications related to a year, then the charge will go up accordingly. This applies to any work I do for clients although generally the charges each year tend to be about the same level as usually the same amount of work is being done each year.

I never did get the attraction of fixed price work. It can mean that work is carried out which does not get charged or work is skimped in order not to exceed the fixed price fee quoted.

OK, you have to keep time sheets, but time recording software comes as part of most practice software these days.

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Replying to Tornado:
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By I'msorryIhaven'taclue
18th Jan 2022 14:05

Thanks Tornado,

So one way or another you charge a good deal extra for the supporting docs that are s/e accounts, property rental accounts, and the like.

I was starting to believe that I was out of step* by doing so - that other accountants charged only £250 for a return with such accounts thrown in (albeit with those accounts' workings calculated and recorded on a spreadsheet, a sheet of paper, or perhaps a beer mat). A tight-wad of a client had so convinced me, but thankfully the panel straightened me out (above).

*Being out of step reminds me of a picture of the guards - all redcoats and busbies - that I saw in the Sunday papers many years ago. The photo was a side on view of a particularly wavy single row of guardsmen marching on public parade - part of a large block of guards - with a disparaging headline and comments ridiculing their wonkiness. One guard was even out of step - marching left foot forward whilst the rest of his wobbly rank were leading with their right - so he was especially pilloried by the article for being so out of step. It wasn't until the following week, when the full zoomed-out photo was published in another newspaper, that it became evident our out of step guardsman was in fact perfectly in step with his colleagues in all the rows in front and all the rows behind, and that it was the others in his row that were marching on the wrong foot. As a bonus, he was equidistant from the guard in front of him and the guard behind him; it was the others in his row who were spaced all over the place.

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Replying to I'msorryIhaven'taclue:
Slim
By Slim
18th Jan 2022 14:40

Having the add-ons is probably going to cause a headache.

My dentist is a couple of doors down from my office, they offer a superb service, they listen to me and my concerns, I can get an appointment without too much hassle, I trust their abilities I know I'm in safe hands, I can email and get a response from the head dentist and because of all that I wouldnt dream of changing to the dentist across the street just because they are cheaper.

Maybe it comes back to the car analogy do they want a Ford Fiesta or a BMW 3 Series (or some other mid price car :D).

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Replying to Slim:
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By I'msorryIhaven'taclue
18th Jan 2022 15:37

It can, I agree, although it all gets bundled into one fee (unlike my Soho Cafe, where the bill was a few feet long. Can you believe they even charged £1 for a bread roll!). For many of my clients, the self employed accounts themselves are the main event so I guess they regard the tax return as the "extra".

My cheapskate mates-rate client pays monthly but has developed toothache just recently, informing me I'm extracting £550 for whereas the dentist across the street would happily fill-in for £250. IMHO he's trying it on, trying to alienate me into believing it's me that's in the minority.

In car terms, he wants to buy a VW but is telling me most others charge Lada prices. I guess some do, although I'm realising they'll be the exception.

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Replying to I'msorryIhaven'taclue:
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By Hugo Fair
18th Jan 2022 16:02

That café in Soho scarred you, huh?
One can only presume that they have a marketing plan based on some combination of a clientele drawn from the business (re-charging) sector and from the touristic (one-off) passers by.
Either that or they're doomed, as you won't be providing them with repeat business or making recommendations to friends.
All of which is, of course, not a million miles away from the issues being debated on this thread!

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Replying to Hugo Fair:
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By I'msorryIhaven'taclue
18th Jan 2022 18:24

Hugo Fair wrote:

That café in Soho scarred you, huh?

It did...I might have mentioned it before ;-)

They even charged for the jug of water! And, to top it all, added a 15% service charge to my expensive lettuce, coffees, tap-water and bread roll!

But it was a lesson in marketing that impressed me greatly.

Slim, Thank you and I hear what you say about my £700+ VAT but it seems I'm mid-range on price (your £950 / ALISK's £600). That's sufficiently reassuring for me for now, because I started off the week believing I was way out of line for charging anything at all for accounts, thanks to my wheedling *client; who hypothesised that it was the norm for other accountants to throw them in free with their £250 or so tax returns

*Not the £700 client, who's very easy going; but a different client, with sewn up pockets.

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Replying to I'msorryIhaven'taclue:
boxfile
By spilly
18th Jan 2022 23:05

Did the cafe have an alcohol licence? If yes, then they legally have to supply tap water for free if requested. No alcohol, no free water.

We charge £150+vat per tax return, then £150 for each rental property. We’ve found that it isn’t viable if you offer a cheaper rate for 2nd or more properties, particularly if they manage it themselves. And yes, always produce rental accounts - clients seem to really like them, maybe because they have something tangible and explanatory to look at.

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Replying to spilly:
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By I'msorryIhaven'taclue
18th Jan 2022 23:39

Well I guess they must have had an alcohol licence, although by luck and good fortune we didn't imbibe as we were saving ourselves for an evening bash. Our waiter was straight out of the Godfather, so we elected not to question the cost of the jug of water. Discretion being the better part of valour, and all that.

Your charges are precisely the same as mine, so far as they go. I do so hope you bill further and accordingly for s/e accounts and their additional tax return section; it wouldn't do to chuck them in FOC, after all. All this is a reassuring benchmarking exercise - eat your heats out unscrupulous chiselling clients who profess cheaper rates to be had elsewhere!

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