Accountants in practice are governed by money laundering legislation which regulates how we take on clients and how we relate to them through the relationship life cycle. This means that whilst we can engage fully with clients who have “gone through the process”, we cannot with those who have not. We sometimes get people phoning up out of the blue and asking for quite complex advice and then when we ask them to meet face to face, they get quite irate. Even if we explain that it is good practice to meet, many are only looking for a quick (free) fix. So if you are not a client in the fullest sense of the word, we can only talk to you in very general terms.
And it’s funny how some people think that because they have appointed you as their accountant, it means that everything is included in the monthly fee. Even if the terms of engagement do not involve a monthly fee, that assumption often prevails.
So we thought we would make things very simple and very clear. Outside the precise list of actions in the letter of engagement, the following applies:
What we say to you on the telephone is free.
What we do for you is chargeable.
If we call a meeting with you, that is free.
If you call a meeting with us, that is chargeable.
If we rectify our mistake, that is free.
If we rectify your mistake, that is chargeable.
If HMRC investigate your affairs, and we are involved, that is chargeable.
If we write a letter for you, e.g. landlord’s reference, that is chargeable.
What we charge will depend on what you want . E-mail us if you have a project in mind.
Simples……..
