How much to pay an accountant?

[Patch]

Hi

I have been Childminding since March and I am looking into getting an accountant, I have had a quote for some one to do my accounts:

£100 for filing my tax return
£150 for this year to set all the accounts up plus do an I & E
£250 for next year to be there to go through it all with me.

This seems like a lot but I have nothing to base this on. Or would i be better to try and do it myself?

Any help would be appreciated.

x

[sarah707]

I have been doing my own accounts since I started as a childminder - they are not difficult if you get into a good system.

There is lots of support on the forum too if you get stuck :D

[linda2girls]

I paid an accountant £300 last year to go through my accounts and fill in my self-assessment. Unfortunately he died and the business closed, so I have done them myself this year. It's not difficult but I did have his paperwork and a copy of my last self assessment to go by.

Linda.

[migimoo]

My accountant charges £90 a year-I give her all my receipts,copies of parents invoices and a recent bank statement with all of my bills/direct debits highlighted....she does everything and I sign a form giving her the authority to deal with Inland Revenue on my behalf if they have any queries.

I could probably do it myself but as i'm just starting out i'm still a bit nervous to!

[rickysmiths]

I pay a lot lot less than £300 for my Accountant to fill in and file my return from a spread sheet I send her. She doesn't charge any extra to have a chat to check I am claiming for all I can or if I have a question.

[Patch]

Thanks for your responses, the price of an accountant does seem to vary, I am thinking now I will do my own.

With this in mind I have had start up costs that far out way my income in 2011-2012 tax year. Does anyone know what the process is for carrying these cost through to this tax year?

Thanks again

[LadyC]

I have just filed my return and have just logged my income and my allowable expenses as two separate numbers. There was the option to break down the expenses side into various categories but these didn't seem relevant to childminding so I just said 'x' is my income and 'y' is my expenses. I made a loss as also had all my start up costs versus only 2 months of childminding fees so I then ticked a box to offset my loss against next year's return. If I've done my correctly(!), I can confirm this was very straightforward.

[ziggy]

I've always done my own using NICMA book and then this year i'm using MM sheets.

Wow, £300 seems alot

[Boris]

My accountant charges £90 a year-I give her all my receipts,copies of parents invoices and a recent bank statement with all of my bills/direct debits highlighted....she does everything and I sign a form giving her the authority to deal with Inland Revenue on my behalf if they have any queries.

I could probably do it myself but as i'm just starting out i'm still a bit nervous to!

That sounds like a bargain! What area are you in Migimoo?

[karen m]

Well i was well and truly cheated in my first 2 years £450 and £550 resepectivly
,never told me what i could claim ,so basically to input details in to computor, sorry she worked out %for gas ,electric,council tax. I now do my own

[LittleLadybirds]

I was told £60/65, but definitely not more than £100 by the accountant. Then have received an invoice today from her stating £192. I have emailed her and told her I was not happy and what she had said the cost would be. She is now going to 'honour it', but there is still stuff to sort out with her before I pay anything.

I think this year I will do it myself and save the money!

[Patch]

I have just filed my return and have just logged my income and my allowable expenses as two separate numbers. There was the option to break down the expenses side into various categories but these didn't seem relevant to childminding so I just said 'x' is my income and 'y' is my expenses. I made a loss as also had all my start up costs versus only 2 months of childminding fees so I then ticked a box to offset my loss against next year's return. If I've done my correctly(!), I can confirm this was very straightforward.

That sounds great that you can do this, I am definately going to give it a go and do my own - Now to make sure I don't leave it until January :laughing: