I was caught by an apparent authentic email from a regular colleague even the text and context appeared realistic and was signed off by him. The give away was 'can you confirm the bank balance and I will send details to make the payment'; our system was to ask for a copy invoice and the nature of the transaction which is when it started to unravel - we also have two signatures for all bank payments. Also looking more closely the englich and punctuation was poor. You have to be on your guard.
HMRC have said they will not contact via email in the manner described they will ask you to log on to Personal Tax or Business Tax to pick up a message.
I am in a similar position and use Office365, I have yet to find anyone who needs to share a file (for which you also need to use One Drive, i.e. you save to One Drive and then share). I mostly will share a file be emailing a copy. I do not use any of the advanced features either. However I do find it useful to make sure I am getting the latest version of office and the support. The subscription allows use on other PC's in the office. I pay annually for the Home version. I think it is worth it. Roy Price
I am amazed nobody uses Outlook as a reminder system. I also use Digita suite of software which is brilliant - particularly the Company Secretarial Module which has a sentinel function e.g. goes online to get the latest deadlines. I also set up the company house email reminders which are excellent.
I had a client for whom I had to disengage primarily due to lack of co-operation and communication, failure to pay bills and failure to comply with paye procedures. I had disengaged shortly after their year end recommending them to find another accountant. 8 months later up pops a new accountant. Personal I concluded that the fact I had decided to disengage and the back ground reasons was enough of a Professional Reason why the new accountant should be aware when taking on the assignment; he can form his own opinion. I would expect the same when taking some one new on.
I have been a sole practitioner for many years and therefore have to work very efficiently and have used the Digita Suite or software; we are also moving to the Digita Practice Manager as well. The benefits apart from time saving is the maintenance of accuracy as data can be transferred automatically to the tax programs. Like any software product you do need to cross check results in the event of problems I have found their help line extremely efficient. I use Quick Books Accountant and Enterprise for Payroll and Book keeping. The payroll is excellent. As a Pro Advisor you can obtain a shrink wrapped copy of the software to sell on you can often have it for free during the year. Roy Price AIMS Accountants - Wimborne
I might recommend that you contact Abbey Tax (or similar senior company e.g Accountax) who can provide you with detailed technical advice for a reasonable fee.
This is what I would do if I were in your situation.
I employ a range of solutions and use the most appropriate to the client's circumstances and wishes.
I can post directly to Digita Accounts pro for a typical incomplete records job. The programe has a journal styled like a cash book and works very well.
I provide book keeping services using Quick Books Premier which is an excellent product and has a good bank reconciling routine. Quick Books can also take direct input from Banks but have not tried it myself.
I will instal quick books for client's to use and provide some training for use; I tend to find most people work from bank statements down loaded from the internet; of course the more sophisticated the client then the more selective one has to be with software.
I would be interested to know whether many people use the auto download facilities for importing bank data.
I do have an Excel cash book that I have designed but have found that it can easily get out of line and needs too much de bugging - I encourage client's away from DIY Excel solutions as they are dangerous in a business environment. A client can end up spending inordinate amounts of time with these solutions which often takes them away from the important matter of developing their business.
I had a similar experience and went through the following stages:
The business was cash sales and money was either being removed from the till or items were being under rung or not rung through at all.
The member of staff was only caught with video evidence and the police laid an ambush - at the time they only had a small amount of cash but the thefts had been going on for a while.
Quantifying the loss - this was not as easy as it seems but I managed to agree a figure with the client and derived a reasonable set of workings should they be disputed.
Output VAT is still due on the lost takings as appropriate - this bit hurts.
The lost income and loss subject to any insurance recovery is transfered to P & L.
There will be underlying stock losses similarly go to P & L.
Obviously my client once bitten implemented some sensible procedures.
I have been using this in my home office accounts practice for 4 years now. It has proven very reliable and I was even able to upgrade the drivers when I went to Windows 7 64bit.
The print quality has never failed; which can be a common problem in printers.
It has: scanner, fax, print facilities and can print high resolution photographs. It has an auto feeding for multiple pages. It can be operated direct from the PC including sending faxes.
I have had some instances where in my opinion my client was caught by IR35 and they disagreed: mainly because they see others doing the same and getting away with it.
One client referred to Abbey Tax who will give a cost effective independent review and have a great deal of expertise in field of IR35.
I agreed with my client that if Abbey Tax agreed with me then they were caught.
They disagreed with my view.
My client understood that this can be a matter of opinion and decided to accept the risk of not following IR35. It is also important that each contract should be examined in its own merits.
I felt I had done my professional job. I did not ask them to fill out any forms I have formal letters to the client on hand plus email traffic.
It is important to ensure the client fills in the P35 return correctly with regard to the service company question and also their Self Assessment tax return (TR4 section 1). They sign both documents and thereby take the risk. They also sign the accounts and corporation tax return and take the risk.
I have not lost the client.
If one takes on a client and a previous accountant has done something incorrect then the situation needs to be remedied and voluntary declaration made. The client can take the matter up with the former accountant - e.g. make a claim for the additional costs incurred together with penalties and interest in correcting the situation.
My answers
I was caught by an apparent authentic email from a regular colleague even the text and context appeared realistic and was signed off by him. The give away was 'can you confirm the bank balance and I will send details to make the payment'; our system was to ask for a copy invoice and the nature of the transaction which is when it started to unravel - we also have two signatures for all bank payments. Also looking more closely the englich and punctuation was poor. You have to be on your guard.
HMRC have said they will not contact via email in the manner described they will ask you to log on to Personal Tax or Business Tax to pick up a message.
I am in a similar position and use Office365, I have yet to find anyone who needs to share a file (for which you also need to use One Drive, i.e. you save to One Drive and then share). I mostly will share a file be emailing a copy. I do not use any of the advanced features either. However I do find it useful to make sure I am getting the latest version of office and the support. The subscription allows use on other PC's in the office. I pay annually for the Home version. I think it is worth it. Roy Price
Outlook / Digita
I am amazed nobody uses Outlook as a reminder system. I also use Digita suite of software which is brilliant - particularly the Company Secretarial Module which has a sentinel function e.g. goes online to get the latest deadlines. I also set up the company house email reminders which are excellent.
Disengaged client
I had a client for whom I had to disengage primarily due to lack of co-operation and communication, failure to pay bills and failure to comply with paye procedures. I had disengaged shortly after their year end recommending them to find another accountant. 8 months later up pops a new accountant. Personal I concluded that the fact I had decided to disengage and the back ground reasons was enough of a Professional Reason why the new accountant should be aware when taking on the assignment; he can form his own opinion. I would expect the same when taking some one new on.
Accounting Software
I have been a sole practitioner for many years and therefore have to work very efficiently and have used the Digita Suite or software; we are also moving to the Digita Practice Manager as well. The benefits apart from time saving is the maintenance of accuracy as data can be transferred automatically to the tax programs. Like any software product you do need to cross check results in the event of problems I have found their help line extremely efficient. I use Quick Books Accountant and Enterprise for Payroll and Book keeping. The payroll is excellent. As a Pro Advisor you can obtain a shrink wrapped copy of the software to sell on you can often have it for free during the year. Roy Price AIMS Accountants - Wimborne
Contractor Issue
I might recommend that you contact Abbey Tax (or similar senior company e.g Accountax) who can provide you with detailed technical advice for a reasonable fee.
This is what I would do if I were in your situation.
Roy Price
AIMS Accountants for business
Bank accounts and book keeping
I employ a range of solutions and use the most appropriate to the client's circumstances and wishes.
I can post directly to Digita Accounts pro for a typical incomplete records job. The programe has a journal styled like a cash book and works very well.
I provide book keeping services using Quick Books Premier which is an excellent product and has a good bank reconciling routine. Quick Books can also take direct input from Banks but have not tried it myself.
I will instal quick books for client's to use and provide some training for use; I tend to find most people work from bank statements down loaded from the internet; of course the more sophisticated the client then the more selective one has to be with software.
I would be interested to know whether many people use the auto download facilities for importing bank data.
I do have an Excel cash book that I have designed but have found that it can easily get out of line and needs too much de bugging - I encourage client's away from DIY Excel solutions as they are dangerous in a business environment. A client can end up spending inordinate amounts of time with these solutions which often takes them away from the important matter of developing their business.
Sorry but I prefer not to use Sage.
Employee Theft
I had a similar experience and went through the following stages:
The business was cash sales and money was either being removed from the till or items were being under rung or not rung through at all.
The member of staff was only caught with video evidence and the police laid an ambush - at the time they only had a small amount of cash but the thefts had been going on for a while.
Quantifying the loss - this was not as easy as it seems but I managed to agree a figure with the client and derived a reasonable set of workings should they be disputed.
Output VAT is still due on the lost takings as appropriate - this bit hurts.
The lost income and loss subject to any insurance recovery is transfered to P & L.
There will be underlying stock losses similarly go to P & L.
Obviously my client once bitten implemented some sensible procedures.
Printer
HP Officejet Pro L7680 All in one
I have been using this in my home office accounts practice for 4 years now. It has proven very reliable and I was even able to upgrade the drivers when I went to Windows 7 64bit.
The print quality has never failed; which can be a common problem in printers.
It has: scanner, fax, print facilities and can print high resolution photographs. It has an auto feeding for multiple pages. It can be operated direct from the PC including sending faxes.
Hope that helps.
IR35 Clients
I have had some instances where in my opinion my client was caught by IR35 and they disagreed: mainly because they see others doing the same and getting away with it.
One client referred to Abbey Tax who will give a cost effective independent review and have a great deal of expertise in field of IR35.
I agreed with my client that if Abbey Tax agreed with me then they were caught.
They disagreed with my view.
My client understood that this can be a matter of opinion and decided to accept the risk of not following IR35. It is also important that each contract should be examined in its own merits.
I felt I had done my professional job. I did not ask them to fill out any forms I have formal letters to the client on hand plus email traffic.
It is important to ensure the client fills in the P35 return correctly with regard to the service company question and also their Self Assessment tax return (TR4 section 1). They sign both documents and thereby take the risk. They also sign the accounts and corporation tax return and take the risk.
I have not lost the client.
If one takes on a client and a previous accountant has done something incorrect then the situation needs to be remedied and voluntary declaration made. The client can take the matter up with the former accountant - e.g. make a claim for the additional costs incurred together with penalties and interest in correcting the situation.