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ACCOUNT OFFICER OY

Pricing

How we price, and why the only figure here is a non-binding band

Accounting work is priced on volume and on the condition of the material. The fee estimator publishes an indicative monthly band from a versioned model, and that band is not a quotation. A binding fee is stated only in a written proposal after we have seen your books.

What the fee actually depends on

Five things, in roughly this order of weight: the number of vouchers a month, whether there is a payroll and how many people are on it, your VAT filing period, the kind of business and therefore the kind of reconciliation involved, and how complete the material is when it reaches us.

The last one is the one that moves the number most and the one no form can capture. A set of books that arrives reconciled, with receipts attached and a bank feed that matches, costs materially less to maintain than the same volume arriving as a folder of photographs. This is why the estimator gives a band of 90% to 115% around its midpoint rather than a single figure.

Use the estimator to get an indicative monthly band from a published model, then ask us for a written proposal.

What a written proposal must contain before it binds either of us

  • The exact services included, and the ones expressly excluded
  • The fee, stated as a monthly amount and any separate annual amounts
  • Whether the fee is fixed, capped, or charged by time at a stated hourly rate
  • What we need from you, by what date each period, for the fee to hold
  • What happens to the fee if the volume or the condition of the material changes
  • The notice period on either side, and what happens to your records when it ends
  • The date the proposal expires, which is 30 days unless it says otherwise

Five things we will never do

  • Quote a fee before we have seen a representative sample of your material
  • Promise a tax saving, a refund, or a particular assessment outcome
  • Bill for work you did not agree to in writing beforehand
  • Hold your accounting records hostage over a disputed invoice: they are yours
  • Charge a percentage of any tax we help you avoid paying

The last of those is worth spelling out. A fee contingent on a tax result gives the adviser a reason to take a position that is aggressive rather than correct. We charge for the work, and the advice is the same advice regardless of which answer you were hoping for.