Switching accountants is easier than you think

What actually happens when you switch

Almost nobody switches accountants twice, so most people only do this once and have no idea what it involves. It is a well-worn process and there is very little in it for you to do.

You appoint us. We write to your current accountant with what the profession calls professional clearance, which is a standard courtesy letter asking whether there is any reason we should not act for you, and requesting your records. Your outgoing accountant is expected to hand over the information we need. We then register as your agent with HMRC, so we can deal with them on your behalf for tax, VAT and payroll, and we set your software up and bring your figures across.

You do not have to sit in the middle of any of that. In practice most people write one short email to say they are moving, and we take it from there.

The three things people worry about

That it will be awkward. It is far more routine than it feels. Accountants move clients between firms constantly, and professional clearance exists precisely so the handover is a formality between two firms rather than a conversation you have to have. You are also perfectly entitled to move, whatever the relationship has been.

That something will be lost in the handover. This is the fear worth taking seriously, and it is the reason we ask for records rather than starting from your last set of accounts. Balances carried forward, capital allowance pools, losses brought forward, PAYE and VAT history: those come across properly or your first year with a new firm is a mess. We reconcile what arrives against what should be there before we file anything.

That it will be expensive to move. Switching itself is not a chargeable exercise for you. What matters is the ongoing fee, which we quote as a fixed annual figure at the start, so you know before you commit. If you want a sense of the going rate before you speak to anyone, our guide to what an accountant costs in Northern Ireland sets out the typical ranges.

When in the year should you move?

The instinct is to wait for your year end. Usually that is the wrong instinct, and it is the single most common reason people stay somewhere they have already decided to leave.

Waiting means the firm you are unhappy with prepares one more set of accounts, and you carry the same problem for another twelve months. Moving mid-year is normal, and it is often easier: there is less pressure on both sides than in the run-up to a filing deadline, and it gives the new firm time to understand the business before anything is due.

There are two points where timing genuinely matters. If a filing deadline is close, it is usually calmer to get that one filed and move straight after. And if you are coming into Making Tax Digital, it is worth moving before your first quarterly update rather than during it, so the setup is done once and done properly.

Why businesses in Belfast move

We are not going to speculate about anyone else's practice. But the reasons people give us when they come across are consistent enough to be worth stating plainly.

Most of it is responsiveness. Calls not returned, emails that sit for a fortnight, or the sense of having been passed down the chain to someone more junior each year without anyone saying so. A good number are moving because they want to understand their numbers during the year rather than receiving accounts nine months after their year end, by which point the information is history rather than something they can act on.

The rest tends to be Making Tax Digital. It has moved a lot of sole traders and landlords from an annual conversation to a quarterly one, and some firms have been slower than others to get set up for it. If nobody has spoken to you about whether MTD applies to you and when, that is worth asking about wherever you end up.

Fee surprises come up too. Not the level of the fee so much as not knowing it in advance.

What we do first

Before we do anything else, we work out where you actually stand: what is filed, what is outstanding, what is due next, and whether anything has been missed. That check is the point of the handover. It is also where most of the value is, because the things that cost money are usually the ones nobody has looked at.

From there we get your accounts and filings onto a clear calendar so nothing arrives as a surprise, set the software up, and put a name and a direct number against your work so you know who you are ringing.

If you are still deciding rather than ready to move, our guide on what to look for in a new accountant is the more useful place to start.

Thinking about it?

A 15-minute call, no commitment, and you will get a straight answer on whether we are the right fit. If we are not, we will say so.

Talk to us