Quote for sole trader accounts and tax return

wildgoose1uk

I just gave a ballpark figure for sole trader accounts and tax return for him and his wife. Main source of income is a shop, he has additional work as a handyman that he started this year and she had another source which has dried up. I have £500 as a ballpark figure and he seemed shocked that it was so low.

HELP.... Have I just seriously underpriced myself or does it seem reasonable?

stefanboro

Questions

I have many questions.

Firstly, when you say sole trader for him and his wife, do you mean that you will be filing two seperate returns - one for each?

If they are operating as a partnership you will also have to file an SA800 AND THEN two individual returns.

From then you must ask operational questions and make judgements. They own a shop. My first question is what is there record keeping like? Do they perform stock takes? Do they reconcile the till? How do they pay themselves? Etc

£500 might be reasonable but it depends on what they are like and what they expect and what you can and want to deliver for that price.

Frankly I'm as cheap as chips - I need to up my prices!!

Monsoon

How does he keep his books? Shops can be notoriously tricky.

£500 for a sole trader might be ok.

£500 for a partnership on the basis of what you've said sounds pretty low.

Assuming they are a partnership, and have done their own books in an accounting package with the bank reconciled and there are no major mistakes, I'd probably charge for the following:

Partnership accounts for shop
Sole trader handyman accounts
1 SA800
2 x SA100

....£750-1000 ish? Depending on exactly what's involved with the shop.

If the books are a mess, then I would be charging significantly more.

wildgoose1uk

Thanks for the replies. They did not mention it was a partnership and I did specify sole trader accounts and two tax returns. That does not mean they understood what I meant by Sole Trader though.

I know they employ a bookkeeper so hopefully the books are in good shape!

Gem7321

How complicated are the wifes tax affairs? If straightforward and they use a bookkeeper I think £500 is reasonable