accountants .. how do you deal with 'simple' questions ?

[SGirl]

wattsm666 said:

What is the question ?

I just wanted to know that if I wanted to give my staff a Christmas present, how much can I give them? I know I can't give them alcohol or food as gifts, I just want to know the monetary value if I wanted to give them a bonus or a present.

I've not been Ltd. long, so I don't know these things. My old advisor was very good and made sure I was up to speed with the small details of running the company as queries arose, but the new one isn't!

[mx stu]

SGirl said:

I just wanted to know that if I wanted to give my staff a Christmas present, how much can I give them? I know I can't give them alcohol or food as gifts, I just want to know the monetary value if I wanted to give them a bonus or a present.

Seasonal gifts

An employer may provide employees with a seasonal gift, such as a turkey, an ordinary bottle of wine or a box of chocolates at Christmas. All of these gifts can be treated as trivial benefits. . For an employer with a large number of employees the total cost of providing a gift to each employee may be considerable, but where the gift to each employee is a trivial benefit, this principle applies regardless of the total cost to the employer and the number of employees concerned. If a benefit is trivial it should not be included in a PSA (EIM21861).

If the gift extends beyond one of the items mentioned above, for example from a bottle or two to a case of wine, or from a turkey to a Christmas hamper, you will need to consider the contents and cost before being able to determine whether the benefit is trivial.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/eim21863.h...

[Eric Mc]

£100 please .

[SGirl]

Thank you Stu! I knew it wouldn't be a hard one to answer, but I didn't have time before Christmas to go rummaging through HMRC's website and I knew an accountant would know off the top of their head.

I already pay my accountants thousands every year to sort all my financial stuff, you'd think they could just answer a simple question like that. Without charging me £100 for it, Eric.

I'm still interested in moving my accounting to another company, if anyone has room for new clients!

[sumo69]

Sian

Stu is wholly correct regarding the seasonal gifts.

You also referred to "bonuses" - unfortunately any supplement in wages/salaries would be subject to PAYE/NI in the normal manner.

HTH

Dsvid

[mx stu]

Eric Mc said:

£100 please .

SGirl said:

Thank you Stu! I knew it wouldn't be a hard one to answer, but I didn't have time before Christmas to go rummaging through HMRC's website and I knew an accountant would know off the top of their head.

I already pay my accountants thousands every year to sort all my financial stuff, you'd think they could just answer a simple question like that. Without charging me £100 for it, Eric.

I'm still interested in moving my accounting to another company, if anyone has room for new clients!

Not a problem, my career to date has included a stint in the employment taxes team within one of the 'big four' so I knew what to search for within the Employment Income Manual on the HMRC site.

[Eric Mc]

Agreed. It's not having all the information in your head that counts. It's knowing how to access the data quickly.

[LC23]

waterwonder said:

Isn't this a little like the handy mans invoice story.

Man turns up spends 5 mins looking at some plumbing (or whatever) and then just before leaving gives it a bash with a hammer. All fixed.

Total bill for 5 mins work £20. Charge for time spent £1, charge for knowing where to bash it with the hammer £19.

Theres many permutations but you get the idea.

This sums it up perfectly for me (as a practicing tax advisor). You are not just paying for the time taken to answer the question but also the years spent gaining the knowledge and knowing where to look quickly for the right answer.

Think of it another way - as an example you will "happily" pay £500 for a TV but the cost of purely manufacturing that TV may only be £100. The other £400 will be various elements that will include profit and R&D costs.

How much proft and "R&D" time an accountant will want to recover from a client will encompass many factors already covered such as terms of the engagement, fees already charged annually and what the true value of the advice is. It may only take 5 minutes to answer a question but that advice could save thousands of pounds in tax or future potential issues when HMRC conduct an audit and find that an incorrect position has been taken as advice was not sought at the time.

[pacoryan]

I get irritated by labour unit charges, which I first saw in a London BMW Dealer about 20 yrs ago, then a "labour unit" was £16, which sounded great. Except a labour unit was 15 minutes or something.

No-one should work for free, but frankly if it takes longer to prep and send the invoice than it does to answer the question, the michael is being well and truly taken.

I probably spend an hr a week max answering "quick" questions via email or phone, added value which the clients value hugely, and thus refer me because of the service. It's cheaper and more effective than advertising. If the answer isn't quick they get an estimate for doing the work and an explanation why it isn't quick.

My accountant works on the same basis.

My solicitor charges by the second and never answers the blinkin' question anyway.