SJD Accountancy - anyone use them?

[NoelWatson]

Ultraviolet said:

I'm moving away from SJD having used them for a couple of years.. In my experience, they don't act as accountants, only bookkeepers (albeit relatively efficient ones). You won't generally be dealing with an accountant.

So don't expect any sort of advice and if you have any level of complexity in your setup (e.g. having a SIPP), ensure you check everything carefully. Some gems this year:

1. Didn't know what an EIS was
2. Didn't know an EIS contribution is tax deductable
3. Didn't spot that there was more than one shareholder in my company, so were declaring all dividends against the primary shareholder (I then had to restate three years of personal tax returns)
4. Tried to account for a pension transfer from my personal pension to my new SIPP as a loan from me to the company!

However I am yet to find a decent accountant for contractor / small companies (this is my third) so maybe they are no worse than the others....

UV

Which branch did you use?

[NoelWatson]

NoelWatson said:

Ultraviolet said:

I'm moving away from SJD having used them for a couple of years.. In my experience, they don't act as accountants, only bookkeepers (albeit relatively efficient ones). You won't generally be dealing with an accountant.

So don't expect any sort of advice and if you have any level of complexity in your setup (e.g. having a SIPP), ensure you check everything carefully. Some gems this year:

1. Didn't know what an EIS was
2. Didn't know an EIS contribution is tax deductable
3. Didn't spot that there was more than one shareholder in my company, so were declaring all dividends against the primary shareholder (I then had to restate three years of personal tax returns)
4. Tried to account for a pension transfer from my personal pension to my new SIPP as a loan from me to the company!

However I am yet to find a decent accountant for contractor / small companies (this is my third) so maybe they are no worse than the others....

UV

Which branch did you use?

UV,

Did you find another accountant in the end?

[Ultraviolet]

NoelWatson said:

NoelWatson said:

Ultraviolet said:

I'm moving away from SJD having used them for a couple of years.. In my experience, they don't act as accountants, only bookkeepers (albeit relatively efficient ones). You won't generally be dealing with an accountant.

So don't expect any sort of advice and if you have any level of complexity in your setup (e.g. having a SIPP), ensure you check everything carefully. Some gems this year:

1. Didn't know what an EIS was
2. Didn't know an EIS contribution is tax deductable
3. Didn't spot that there was more than one shareholder in my company, so were declaring all dividends against the primary shareholder (I then had to restate three years of personal tax returns)
4. Tried to account for a pension transfer from my personal pension to my new SIPP as a loan from me to the company!

However I am yet to find a decent accountant for contractor / small companies (this is my third) so maybe they are no worse than the others....

UV

Which branch did you use?

UV,

Did you find another accountant in the end?

Yep... a mate of mine has just setup a practice. So I'm going to transfer to him. At least I'll be dealing with a proper, qualified accountant rather than a YTS bookkeeper!

UV

[CIS121]

535dman said:

Time has come to change accountants and a lot of consultants I work with have high regards for Simon Dolan and his firm SJD accountancy.

Does anyone on here use them - what do you think?

I looked at them a few years ago when I was a one man band. They were fairly pricey, but I meet the sales girl in Guildford and after an hour's chat was put off. Iended up seeing a total of three, one of which was a firm of accountants who were just hopeless. I wont go into details here, but I do advise taking SJD up on this chat and also seeing another accountant, preferrably one recommended by a friend.

The accountant I ended up using was recommended by a friend, charged me half as much and still does my accounts now I employ a few people.

[Eric Mc]

You do advise using them or you don't? I'm confused.

[CIS121]

Eric Mc said:

You do advise using them or you don't? I'm confused.

They weren't to my liking, but I would advise anyone who is keen to go with them on taking them up on their free chat before making up their mind.

[thewave]

CIS121 said:

Eric Mc said:

You do advise using them or you don't? I'm confused.

They weren't to my liking, but I would advise anyone who is keen to go with them on taking them up on their free chat before making up their mind.

I think the majority of accountants offer a free initial consultation.