Philip M Collis, FFA Incorporated Financial Accountant 01255 242311

The bookkeeping service also includes a subsidised payroll service

Why do I not quote fixed fees? More often than not, if you go for fixed fees for bookkeeping then you will find that the service provider will look to build in contingencies (final accounts and tax returns are a little bit different where you can set a fee if the client provides the right information at the right time). This may include situations where information is missing or not forthcoming at the right time, such as missing bank statements, lost bills, cheque stubs not filled in and a whole host of other problems which may occur when running a small business. The well organised client would not expect to pay a premium to cover the mistakes of the bookkeeper's other clients, so the fairest way to provide bookkeeping services to trial balance is to charge by the hour. Whatever the arrangements may be for actually carrying out the work (visiting your premises/ postal service etc) we can easily come to an agreement to pay by monthly instalments. I would bill as normal and then once a year we would review the situation and amend the standing order if necessary - rather like a budget account. In all cases, I will submit your VAT Return (if applicable) online as required by law. I will print out/email/send you a copy of the Return so you may remit any amount due to HM Revenue & Customs, by your preferred method of payment (or refund if applicable). NB! - there is no minimum charge for offsite working. You only pay for the actual time taken for the work. Unit of charge As a highly experienced professional I am able to work much faster and more accurately than less experienced bookkeepers. As a result of this, my costs are usually less than other bookkeepers at a lower rate, but who take much longer to do the work correctly. My standard rate per hour is GBP 25 (twenty five pounds). Bookkeeping I am happy to visit your premises, and there is no mileage cost for reasonably local visits. There will also be a minimum daily charge of four hours for the visiting bookkeeping service on your premises. In some cases it may be more economical to scan your paperwork to pdf and email to me. I would then file the documents accordingly. I visit your premises and use your own equipment. I visit your premises and use my own laptop, printer and software to enter your transactions. I then print your reports (VAT Return and audit trails) for your own records. I will then submit your VAT Return online using my mobile broadband. You scan and email your documents, I process them and email your reports (VAT Return and audit trails). Year End Accounts If you already have an accountant and just require bookkeeping services then I can prepare a year end pack for your accountant which will include all your results up to Trial Balance, together with all necessary reconciliation schedules. If I process your documents away from your premises, then I shall need to collect your banking transactions just after your year end so that I can bring your books up to date in readiness for your accountant.

Invoicing and Payment As fees are by nature my salary, I do ask for settlement of the bill on presentation. Fees are not subject to Value Added Tax I prepare my bills weekly and will send/email them to you. If you would prefer a fixed monthly outgoing then look into operating a Budget Account Why not set up a budget account? If you would rather pay a regular monthly amount then it is easy to set up a Budget Account, payable by a regular standing order. You would be billed as normal with your monthly payments offsetting the bills. This operates rather like budget accounts operated by many service companies, such as electricity and gas etc. The regular amount would be adjusted occasionally so as to cover bills over a reasonable period. Paying a professional to get the job done right is always cheaper in the long run. Red Adair once said "If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." I'm not suggesting that you hire me to put out oil well fires but I can help prevent you from falling foul of the law. If the books are not kept correctly, then there could be problems with HM Revenue & Customs for both VAT and income tax purposes. If your present accountant/auditor has to spend a lot of time correcting mistakes and looking for missing information then of course it is costing money at the accountant's rate per hour, which is much more than the bookkeeping rate. Professionally kept books typically cost about half the money it would cost for poorly kept books, which is not a bad reflection on the the person trying to keep the records. It is a fact of life that each of us do some things better than others and our individual skills make the world turn around.