Why does my accountant take so long?
Why do slow accountants take so long to process accounts – sometimes up to 6 months?!
This is one of the major reasons business owners get frustrated with their accountants. It is very common, unfortunately, and there are several reasons for this. I’ll give my unbiased (as an accountant – and not a slow one) views as to why this happens.
Why is my accountant so slow?
As a business owner, if a customer buys your product or service, you’ll then generally deliver it either that day or soon after. When you drop your paperwork off with your accountant you’ll know it’s unrealistic to get it back that day. Of course, you’ll expect your accountant to spend some time on it to ensure the work is completed well and accurately.
Unless you’ve agreed a quick turnaround because you need the accounts for a reference, loan, management meeting or some other purpose, the only thing the accountant will go on is the due date for the accounts that you have given to them.
If you take your accounts into the accountant one month after year end, you’ll think, “Great! I’m early and I’ll get my accounts and tax liability back with plenty of time for its due date.” Most accountants will, or should, have a system for recording when accounts arrive. Generally you would expect the accountant to process the accounts they receive in chronological order. However, the accountant will have many other deadlines that can take over the order in which they process accounts.
Are your accounts urgent?
So your accounts are in nice and early, one month after the year end, but they are not due for another 8 months. This is where I see the issue as to why your accountant is not processing it with the same urgency that you would expect. In that month that you dropped your accounts off the accountant could have several VAT returns and company accounts with an earlier period end than yours that are due that month. Due to the shorter end-of-month deadline of VAT returns and limited company accounts, these take priority. The accountant becomes busy meeting imminent deadlines and puts your accounts on hold until after the end of the month.
Now your accounts have been submitted for a month and the slow accountant hasn’t had a chance to start them.
Then, the new month starts and the same cycle starts again. Priority is set for the VAT returns and accounts that are due at the end of that month. As the VAT figures cannot be processed until the month they are due, there will be a constant cycle of work that takes priority over other work.
Still not heard back from your slow accountant?
As the client, you’re now starting to think, “Hey, two months have gone by and I’ve still not heard anything”, and you may get a bit annoyed. In the accountants’ office they are busy dealing with immediate deadlines. Unfortunately because your accounts are not on their “urgent” due list, then they get forgotten. Until, that is, you either chase them up or they are getting near to the deadline themselves!
As soon as you’ve called the slow accountant you’re now unhappy with their tardiness of not processing work in a timely manner. However, unbeknownst to you behind the scenes the accountants are stupidly busy processing work on a “must do” basis and not in a fair orderly basis. They may also be dealing with a handful of other tasks too. You’d be surprised how much accountants do behind the scenes!
We know this is frustrating.
SHMS, as a firm of accountants, have picked up on this point and fully understand the frustrations of clients whose work is not processed in a timely manner, and “late” people who drop off at the last minute appear to have their work pushed up the list and processed quicker! In the past, although we’ve always planned to complete work on a first come first served basis, sometimes we were a little guilty of this as well. While we’ve never missed a deadline, we have previously been guilty of putting other deadlines first.
Recently we sat down, put our heads together and discussed how we could alleviate this frustration with our clients. We should be processing work in the order it gets dropped off no matter when the deadline for its completion.
We came up with a very simple but challenging target to ensure we complete our clients’ work in the fairest way possible and keep them happy. Although I’ve seen other accountants give processing time guarantees I’ve rarely seen short turnarounds, with a FINANCIAL PENALTY on the accountant for non-performance. We will do the following for all our clients:
30 Day Turnaround Guarantee:
SHMS Accountants guarantee that within 30 working days of receipt of the books and records from a customer, we will at least provide a draft accounting report for all of these services, based on the documents provided:
- Self-assessment.
- VAT returns.
- Payroll.
- Limited company accounts.
- Companies House returns.
- Management accounts.
- CIS returns.
- Any other ad hoc work agreed to be completed.
If we do not provide at least a draft accounting report based on the information provided within 30 working days, the client will receive the following money back*:
- If paying for services on a monthly payment plan, the whole of one month’s fees will be refunded.
- There will be a 10% reduction in the invoice for the work if paying by invoice.
- If the work has been paid for in advance, we will refund 10% of the payment made.
If your current accountant takes too long to process your accounts and doesn’t offer any form of guarantees, then contact us at info@shmsgroup.com or call Stephen on 01489 584400 and discuss how we can help you get the service you deserve. We are here to help you grow your business, and provide the information you want in a timely manner.
*Terms and conditions apply and can be found here.