I want you to be clear, confident, and certain about our fees, that’s why I’m giving you a heads up on our pricing commitment, so you can trust us. In this blog I will explain HOW we price our services and WHY we price the way we do.
When I started the business in 2008, I was clear that I wouldn’t work with the traditional bill by the hour model. My journey to accountancy practice was borne from industry, so I was never used to having a clock running in the background, and the thought of clients receiving surprise accountancy bills, or fearing picking up the phone to call with a query for fear of the cost, made me shudder.
Instead, I decided to work with a clear and transparent pricing model that produces upfront tailored fees based on the services you need which facilitates the collaborative and supportive way we like to work with our clients.
Maximising Your Value, Impacting your Business and Helping you make Better Decisions in 3 steps
[1] A clearly defined proposal of services is produced during our Discovery Call and agreed with you
before ANY work starts.
Our Discovery Call process ensures we are a good fit for our clients, and we are a good fit for you.
Meaning we will only ever work with businesses where we know we can add value, that way you
can be sure you have made a good choice in selecting us as your accountancy partner, and that your
investment will not be wasted.
What is a Discovery Call?
It’s a free 30-minute call where we can learn more about you and your business, cover what’s
working well, where you’re trying to get to, the challenges you’re facing and how we can help you
overcome those challenges.
There are 3 potential outcomes of the call:
- It’s clear we are a good fit for each other and have enough information to produce a tailored proposal of services and fees.
- We’re a good fit for each other but we need to schedule a follow up meeting to really get under the bonnet of your business, at which point we will be able to produce your proposal
- If we’re not a good fit for each other, we’ll do our best to make a suitable recommendation for you.
[2] The fees for each of the services you have selected are listed in your proposal and agreed with
you before you sign up.
Your proposal will include a list of services, built together as part of the Discovery Call conversation,
so you are clear on what services are included and why, set alongside a breakdown of the fees for
each service selected. Click here to see an example of what a proposal looks like.
Before the call we will send you a brief online questionnaire (5-10 mins) to capture some basic
information about your business to make sure we have an informed conversation. For example,
what challenges do you need help with how many employees are there, what software you currently
use, when is your year-end?
We use this information to agree and build with you the list and frequency of services you require
and when you want them to be delivered. This ensures you are clear what services will be delivered,
by when, alongside a detailed fee schedule that will clarify when your billing commences.
Your proposal will include what you choose when you choose it to start. If you are happy to accept your proposal straightaway then great, but there is no pressure to do so. You may want to reflect or speak to colleagues, and that’s fine. We’ll agree a convenient date when we can follow up with you.
You are not committed to a lengthy contract. If for whatever reason you wish to leave, we only ask for 1 months’ notice to ensure a smooth handover.
[3] We work closely with our clients as collaborative partners, providing ongoing support
throughout, not just at year end). In exchange for our skill, experience, and expertise we do this…
- Invoices are emailed to you on the 28th of each month
- We bill for services across 12 monthly instalments
- Payment is collected by direct debit
If your circumstances change, e.g., your business grows and you have additional staff and higher transactions, we operate the 1-3-12 model. This ensures you only pay for the services you need:
o 1 per month we will review the number of employees on your Payroll
o Every 3 months your Bookkeeping transactions reviewed
o All other services will be reviewed every 12 months
Why is billing monthly better for you? You can manage your finances better…
- No big bills at the end of the year
- You know when your bills are coming what your standard monthly fee will be, so you can plan
- You don’t have the hassle of processing monthly invoice payments
- You never get any surprise accountancy bills
Even now, over 10 years after I started the business, I am confident this was the right decision and clients love the certainty and transparency of our process.
No two businesses are the same…
Pricing accounting services is complicated, and each business is unique, and complex. Following the process outlined above you can see we price based on the services you need, at the precise service level you require, which is based on your own unique circumstances. We are advocates of clear and transparent pricing, which is why we agree all of this with you, to ensure you understand what everything costs and how your fee proposal is built up.
That’s why we can’t produce a standard list of service fees. But we can share with you how your fees are calculated. See the table below for some ranges, and remember all proposals are designed to meet your business where it’s at.
Some standard items your proposal may include:
- Annual Accounts = Turnover & Number of transactions
- Bookkeeping = Number of transactions – Frequency (daily/weekly/monthly)
- Payroll = Number of employees – Frequency of pay (monthly/weekly)
- VAT Returns = Number of transactions – Frequency (monthly/quarterly)
- Management Accounts = Monthly or Quarterly
- Performance Reviews = Monthly or Quarterly
- Personal Tax = Returns Per person – Complexity (standard/complex/advance)
Our commitment to you…we continue to invest in leading edge technology to…
- Deliver our services with great accuracy and efficiency ensuring no deadlines are missed
- To enable us to have better conversations with our clients through key performance insights so they can grow sustainably, save time, save tax and control cash
- To seek continuous improvements in I.T processes and controls, so clients can benefit from up-to-date best practice and maximise value.
Ready to get started?
When you click this button, you will be sent to an online form to book your free 30 minute Discovery
Call. When it’s booked, we’ll send you a short 5-minute questionnaire to collect some key
information about you and your business to make sure we have an informed conversation, for
example, what challenges do you need help with how many employees are there, what software you
currently use, when is your year-end? We use this information to agree and build with you the list
and frequency of services you require and when you want them to be delivered.
If you’d like to have a chat with us about our services, book a call to get started