Ltd Company Accounts - annual accounts methodology
Discussion
I use Kashflow religiously entering every sale and every purchase transaction. I use it to calculate and submit my VAT return and to calculate the monthly P&L for dividend payments so I am very careful with the data entry.
Yet to produce the annual accounts my accountant goes through every supplier paper invoice, every bank statement and every sales transaction rather than using the painstakingly entered "cloud" data as a result of which the accounts are finished and submitted at the 11th hour 9 months after the year end due to her volume of work. It costs £1300 for this including my personal simple tax return.
I was recently approached by another accountancy firm who are well into Xero and said they would use the Kashflow data with a few cross-reference checks and have my accounts finished next month.
Is it the norm to go through all the paperwork and bank statements in detail or should I be strongly encouraging her to use the Kashflow data to speed things up? I am not sure what the accounting convention is especially now with the ready availability of cloud accounting software with good reporting facilities.
Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Yet to produce the annual accounts my accountant goes through every supplier paper invoice, every bank statement and every sales transaction rather than using the painstakingly entered "cloud" data as a result of which the accounts are finished and submitted at the 11th hour 9 months after the year end due to her volume of work. It costs £1300 for this including my personal simple tax return.
I was recently approached by another accountancy firm who are well into Xero and said they would use the Kashflow data with a few cross-reference checks and have my accounts finished next month.
Is it the norm to go through all the paperwork and bank statements in detail or should I be strongly encouraging her to use the Kashflow data to speed things up? I am not sure what the accounting convention is especially now with the ready availability of cloud accounting software with good reporting facilities.
Your thoughts would be appreciated.
The fact that you are keeping (seemingly) decent records and then your accountant is completely disregarding them seems bonkers to me; I would also imagine she would find it very difficult to reconcile your VAT payments to what you have claimed/paid unless you give her printouts of your VAT returns and reports?
I suspect she isn't overly IT savvy and doesn't get cloud accounting?
Time to move on IMO.
I suspect she isn't overly IT savvy and doesn't get cloud accounting?
Time to move on IMO.
Unless your books are a complete mess, then of course she should be using your data. Maybe she just doesn't know how? If your accounts are being finished at the last minute because of her, then you need a new accountant. If you provide all the info she needs, there's really no excuse for not turning things round in a few weeks.
Unless your books are a complete mess, then of course she should be using your data. Maybe she just doesn't know how? If your accounts are being finished at the last minute because of her, then you need a new accountant. If you provide all the info she needs, there's really no excuse for not turning things round in a few weeks.
Eric Mc said:
If what you are saying is true, it does look like she is reinventing the wheel somewhat.
Have you spoken to her about her methodology to confirm that she is indeed doing what you think she is?
Do you speak to your accountant on a regular basis?
What is the relationship like?
I have been using her services for 7 years now and the relationship is good. I started using Kashflow 4 years ago and gave her accountant access but she continued to use the old method. Kashflow has changed a lot and perhaps when she first looked at it the accountant access facilities weren't as good as they are today.Have you spoken to her about her methodology to confirm that she is indeed doing what you think she is?
Do you speak to your accountant on a regular basis?
What is the relationship like?
It sounds like I need to be insisting that she uses Kashflow.
Before you jump ship, explain the situation to her and talk her through the software if necessary. If she refuses to play ball - then it will be time to move on.
If she has reservations about the software and doesn't trust what it is telling her (which seems to be the case), she should explain to you why she feels this way.
If she has reservations about the software and doesn't trust what it is telling her (which seems to be the case), she should explain to you why she feels this way.
RegMolehusband said:
I use Kashflow religiously entering every sale and every purchase transaction. I use it to calculate and submit my VAT return and to calculate the monthly P&L for dividend payments so I am very careful with the data entry.
Yet to produce the annual accounts my accountant goes through every supplier paper invoice, every bank statement and every sales transaction rather than using the painstakingly entered "cloud" data as a result of which the accounts are finished and submitted at the 11th hour 9 months after the year end due to her volume of work. It costs £1300 for this including my personal simple tax return.
I was recently approached by another accountancy firm who are well into Xero and said they would use the Kashflow data with a few cross-reference checks and have my accounts finished next month.
Is it the norm to go through all the paperwork and bank statements in detail or should I be strongly encouraging her to use the Kashflow data to speed things up? I am not sure what the accounting convention is especially now with the ready availability of cloud accounting software with good reporting facilities.
Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Xero great piece of simple accounting software, migrated entire business to it, whilst on contract. Idiot proof and obviously cloud based which was a huge advantageYet to produce the annual accounts my accountant goes through every supplier paper invoice, every bank statement and every sales transaction rather than using the painstakingly entered "cloud" data as a result of which the accounts are finished and submitted at the 11th hour 9 months after the year end due to her volume of work. It costs £1300 for this including my personal simple tax return.
I was recently approached by another accountancy firm who are well into Xero and said they would use the Kashflow data with a few cross-reference checks and have my accounts finished next month.
Is it the norm to go through all the paperwork and bank statements in detail or should I be strongly encouraging her to use the Kashflow data to speed things up? I am not sure what the accounting convention is especially now with the ready availability of cloud accounting software with good reporting facilities.
Your thoughts would be appreciated.
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