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kateyliz · August 2009

Hi All

I've just completed my AAT course (Hurrah!) and although work full time, am going to try and build up some private clients with the view to working for myself in the future.

I've had a request from a friend of a friend to do their tax return for them and how much do I charge?

How much should I charge? Would you do an hourly rate or a set fee? I've not actually spoken directly with them to find out how organised their accounts are or if it will be the simple or long tax form, as I wanted to have an idea in my head what I should be charging or I will look like a cowboy!

I am based nr Brighton if that helps...

Also, am allowed to do a tax return if I'm not a MIP?!

I suddenly feel like I don't know anything and can muck it up, even tho I've done my partners tax returns lol

Thanks in advance for any advice!!

mark130273 · August 2009

it all depdns on how you want to charge and how you see your business.....if you wish to charge per the hour and you do a quick job then that might help your business but then if you do a slow job then this would damage your rep. but if you have a set fee for doing the tax return then if you take 5 minutes or 6 days then at least the client will know their charge and its upto you to make sure that it is cost effective......im in the current same stage as you as trying to get some private clients and am still thinking of weather to charge by the hour or by the job ?

kateyliz · August 2009

I think maybe for a tax return I would do a job charge rather than hourly rate but find out first how organised their accounts are!

Is £10 a hour about right do you think? I would work out in my head roughly how many hours I think it would take and give a set fee based on that.

Psyche · August 2009

£10 an hour!? What are you, a babysitter?
Agencies get paid £25 per hour for finance professionals, you should charge no less.
I am also setting up in business and intend to charge a minimum £25 fee for self assessment returns, with a 10% discount if they get paperwork to me before 30 November. The fee will be higher if the return is more complicated, for instance if they also have self-employment, property or capital gains income. A friend was quoted £140 by his previous accountants to do his self-assessment tax return -- he is sole director of a limited company and also has property income. So there is your range.

~Psyche

Jon_1984 · August 2009

If i where looking for this type of service (I work in Industry and procure all supplies and services for my employer) I would expect a quote of £XXX.xx based on the following information being provided, additional work being charged at £XX.xx per hour. I would also anticipate book-keeping to be in at around £25p Hr as a minimum.

The other alternative would be to find some local book-keepers in yellow pages and pretend to be a client if your sly....

Sevren · August 2009

Goodness me !

If you charge £25 per hour and work a 40 hour week your salary would be £52K per annum which seems impressive for bookkeeping !

Not a critisism, good luck to you - I charge £15 per hour on the basis that a £32K salary aint bad at the moment ?

angela27 · August 2009

£25 quid an hour? Er theres a recession on and accountants are taking a drop which has had a knock on effect on all of us. I charge half of that and have gained a client a month since i started since May and havent had to advertise.

whiterose · August 2009

Not all the hours you work are chargeable. It's worth keeping a rough record of how many hours you work and how many of those you can charge out - the results may surprise you.
I would think that for a tax return a fixed fee is the more common approach. I charge £80 for a basic return plus £30 for each additional set of supplementary pages (land and prop, foreign, etc).
Try looking at accountants' websites - a surprising number of them publish their fees.

Guest · August 2009

angela27 wrote: »

£25 quid an hour? Er theres a recession on and accountants are taking a drop which has had a knock on effect on all of us. I charge half of that and have gained a client a month since i started since May and havent had to advertise.

Our rates are £75 per hour for partner for tax work, £60 per hour for non-technical, my juniors have a COR of £35 per hour.

We are highly competitive in the North West as the City firms in Mcr and L'pool have partner’s rates in excess of £150 per hour!

AK002 · August 2009

Guest wrote: »

Our rates are £75 per hour for partner for tax work, £60 per hour for non-technical, my juniors have a COR of £35 per hour.

We are highly competitive in the North West as the City firms in Mcr and L'pool have partner’s rates in excess of £150 per hour!

That's different tho.. that's a large company not someone going it themself, hardly comarpable!

the lowest charge out rate (even for juniors) in my office is £40, going all the way up to managers at £125 and partners at £250 an hour!

farmergiles · August 2009

kateyliz wrote: »

Hi All

I've just completed my AAT course (Hurrah!) and although work full time, am going to try and build up some private clients with the view to working for myself in the future.

I've had a request from a friend of a friend to do their tax return for them and how much do I charge?

How much should I charge? Would you do an hourly rate or a set fee? I've not actually spoken directly with them to find out how organised their accounts are or if it will be the simple or long tax form, as I wanted to have an idea in my head what I should be charging or I will look like a cowboy!

I am based nr Brighton if that helps...

Also, am allowed to do a tax return if I'm not a MIP?!

I suddenly feel like I don't know anything and can muck it up, even tho I've done my partners tax returns lol

Thanks in advance for any advice!!

If it is purely a tax return and nothing else, then £75 seems reasonable. If you are talking a sole trader with annual accounts to do as well then I would be looking for between £200 and £250 fixed price.(As an example, I charge sub contractors £250 to do their annual accounts and tax return)
If I were to work for an hourly rate, it would be a minimum of £12.50 an hour but all of my clients want a fixed rate.

Kind regards
Peter

blobbyh · August 2009

Hi Kateyliz,

I work in Hove so very near to you and although I'm employed, if I wasn't I'd say the going hourly rate down here should be around £20-£25 per hour. Too cheap and you'll not only barely make a living (be realistic, you're rarely gonna do a 40 hour week in a recession) but you may subliminally scream "AMATEUR"! Too high and you'll price yourself out.

We sometimes contract accounts people and in my experience of temping, many companies are quite prepared to pay £20-£25 per hour if the person is good enough. If they're not, you just get another one.

Psyche · August 2009

My rough estimate (I am just starting) was going to be: £15 per hour for bookkeeping, £20 for payroll and £25 for management accounts and tax. This is in line with what agencies seem to charge. Good to know that I can increase my rate as I gain experience!

The tough thing for me seems to be extrapolating how many hours I expect to work for a client over the course of a year and turning it into a monthly fee. Any hints on that, from the more experienced folk here?

burg · August 2009

Fixed fees certainly work better for the client for accountancy and tax.

Bookkeeping tends to be by the hour and payroll per payroll run per employee.

I work on the following recovery rates:

Bookkeeping / Payroll £15-£20 per hour
Accounts / Tax £50 per hour

I find my recovery very accurate and I attract quite a few clients. I have around 50 and have been full time since June part time since about 07.

I don't really have any individuals who are not directors of companies that I do or sole traders or partners. £75 seems ok for a simple return. If accounts aswell I would be looking at a minimum of £200.

Cliff · August 2009

Rates

Hi

In my experience you need to think business and not employee when providing services. By this I mean there will come a time when you will have overheads such as premises and staff costs.

The best way to deal with this is to have a fixed fee, one thing that really upsets and loses you clients is unexpected and additional fees.

When we started our practice one of the most differcult situations to deal with is conflict of interest and how to price the work.

Something you should also bear in mind is not all work is worth having - been able to identify this comes with experience.

By the way we charge no less then £100 plus VAT for a self assessment, accounts should be produced if the clients turnover is greater then 35K

Good Luck - and remember do not sell yourself short, there may be a recession but you will find there is still plenty work out there.

paulb · August 2009

I'm based in Northumberland and charge £20/hr for bookkeeping/payroll/vat returns and £40/hr for accounts and tax returns. I haven't had any complaints as yet from clients or lost any potential clients as a result of my fees.

My average fees would be £500-£750 for Ltd Co accounts & CT return, £250-£400 for sole trader accounts & tax return, £100-£150 for a tax return with say property income and £80 for a tax return for a director of an existing Ltd Co client with say employment and dividend income only.

Psyche · August 2009

Cliff -- exactly, out of your £25 per hour you are charging there are overheads like your stationery, AAT membership fees

, software support, web space, anything you have to subcontract, computer upgrades, advertising, liability insurance etc. etc. Even if you DID work 40 billable hours every week that would certainly NOT equate to £52k of take-home pay!

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