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they all want something
and most of them give [***] all back . Happy New Year Mark , keep up the good work!
Hope you make it clear
If any accountant is in the "I know my job and that's all I'll do' camp I hope his terms of engagment make that clear. Even a well time worn phrase such as 'I think you need a pension' which does not itself consitute advice prohibited under the FSMA could quite easily come back and bite you.
I would agree with Mark that many firms have a client bank to thin or of too low grade to warrant much attention from competent financial advisers (who have to justify their fees and costs as well you know) just as I know of others too arogant to perceive a need. On the other hand...
I worked with one sole practionner deploying highly successful income tax defferal mechanisms (plain vanila S42/44 film schemes) which provide sufficient capital to completley refurbish a property portfolio ( on which he eanred his fees)
Another using the same device to help in a complex re-financing project
Partially solved a prior accounting period corporation tax problem using a SASS pension (the accountant had correclty identified that a pension contribution could not be carried back but had not appreciated the scale of potential contributions of just under 1m therby creating a loss in teh current period.
could bore you with many more.
The critical thing is that in every case my accountant contact had identified a problem; I identified the solution. In most cases there was no wish to receive a fee split and in today's regime I would be highly reluctant to offer one. After all a GP doesn't get a share of the surgeon's 'cut'!
Happy New Year
Honest and trustworthy
To be honest I'd love to hear from an honest and trustworthy IFA, particularly for mortgages for directors and the self-employed.
I've tried lots of different ones for clients but have yet to find one they really understands it properly.
The two Scenarios I have had which they just don't get are.
1 - a foster career who may well have income of around £50k but due to allowable taxable reliefs may have a nil profit for tax purposes. They state they understand and then ask for SA302s from HMRC to confirm the income. This will just show nil!
2 - a director / shareholder of a ltd co where the one director/shareholder has just left. They were an admin role and profit will now actually increase for the company and the remaining person. They understand and again ask for an sa302 to proove the new level of income. I stress that is has happened in the last 2 months so it is not going to show on an sa302 until a full tax year is done. We go nowhere.
I could go on with more and more situations where there is a lack of understanding or honesty. I know that there are rules to follow but a simple look at the situation and a quick I can't help sorry would earn far more respect than wasting everyone's time.
So if you find one who knows what they are doing and is not up for promising the earth when they will deliver nothing then yes send them my way!
No rudder?
Only director has just left? So the 'remaining member of staff 'and potential mortgagee is employed by a company with no director?
Client retention
It's about providing a full service to clients - for example, my accountant connections can provide information and guidance on pensions auto-enrolment, but are not in a position to implement the scheme review, liaise with providers, provide communication material, advise members etc - which can be provided by a trusted partner, to ensure that the client receives a rounded service proposition.
financial advisers
My experience may be out of date, as I retired 3 years ago, but this may help.
I was asked by a personal friend/ client for a list of clients so he could circulate them about some issue or other. I explained that client confidentiality didn't permit me to do that.
I did have a financial advisor who I discovered through a mutual contact. Unlike most financial advisors he understood tax. I used to introduce him to clients who needed investment advice, until he retired. He used to advise me gratis on changes in investment law and practice and I used to answer his tax questions where his knowledge was not technical enough. But I never introduced him to business the clients didn't need.
Unfortunately the layers of reporting in order to show accountability to the FSA and their successors made a practice of his size unviable. But his sucessor is pretty good.
One fairly obvious rule of thumb. Ignore approaches from people you don't know, especially if they come in circular letters on embossed paper. You have no idea about the firm, and they probably don't know anything about yours either. I know that, because three years after retriement I still get them!