One problem we often come up against is the fact that prospective clients think it will be a nightmare with changing accountants – this is simply not the case. It’s not as difficult as some accountants make it out to be! Infact, it’s a pretty simple process – just like changing your shoes!
In an ideal world, the best time to switch would be at year end. This is a nice clear break and will give a defined cut off/start point for the old and new accountant.
However, we understand this isn’t always possible anytime that suits you is fine with us and we will always look to work with your previous accountant to ensure a smooth handover.
But don’t worry – we won’t contact them until you give us the all clear to do so – and we’ll ensure they’ll still talk to you afterwards!
So, how does it all work then?
In your onboarding form we’ll ask for the contact details for your previous accountant. And as we mentioned above we won’t get in touch with them until you say we can – so we ask that you inform them that you’re moving away and that we will be in touch.
There is a place on the onboarding form to note if you haven’t spoken to them yet – and if that’s the case we’ll then hold off until you’ve had a chance to speak to them.
When you do speak to to them you’ll agree a date they’ll stop acting for you.
We’ll then drop them an email to ask for what we call a ‘Professional Handover’.
We will ask them for your references, year to date information (if applicable) and to transfer your Xero (and Dext) subscription to us (if applicable).
We will also ask for your previous years full accounts, tax computations, tax returns and any other information we need from them to be able to take over.
They’ll usually then send over the information we need and job done! We can then continue with our onboarding process and start delivering our fabulous services to you 🙂
We’ll be taking over as your HMRC agent
One little thing to note – we’ll be applying to be your agent with HMRC for all relevant taxes (this will mean a few brown envelopes in the post – but don’t panic – just send a scan/pic of the letters to us as you receive them). As we get set up for each tax, this will then automatically mean that your previous accountant will drop off. So no need to worry about them still having access to your account, or having to inform HMRC or anything. It’s all taken care of – yay!
What if they’re currently my registered office address?
This will be one of the questions/things we talk about during the proposal meeting. If your previous accountant is your registered address you have some options on where to change this to and we’ll discuss this when we speak. Check out our registered office blog for more info – but in a nutshell you can either change to your own offices, your home or we can set you up with a virtual office address – whichever suits you best.
You’ve not answered my question!
If you’ve got any other questions or worries about changing accountants please just talk to us. We get this can be a delicate situation – especially if they’re friends/family/you still see them at networking or social events or for some other reason. But we always take your circumstances into account, and make it as straightforward and stress free as possible for everyone involved 🙂
Don’t just take our word for it….
From some of the feedback we’ve recently received here’s what one of our clients had to say about changing accountants to us:
I was concerned about changing accountants but it was a super easy transition and the onboarding process and customer experience is AMAZING.
Emma Knewstub, Magnificent Stuff Ltd
Time to get changing accountants!
If you’re ready to get switching then please pop over to our Get Started page, complete the quick questionnaire and book your discovery call today! We look forward to hearing from you, and all about your business.
