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Original poster

Accountant says I owe £2,200 ‘ASAP’

141 replies

peakyblinderoriginal · 19/08/2019 10:09

I’ve had my accountant for the past couple of years. Over the past year there’s been a few issues which I’ve had to flag up - letters from HMRC saying my business owes X, or him saying a refund for £1500 he said I was getting I’m now not (which I’m the end I did get as I challenged it with him).

He said he’d do my OH’s self-assessment as he’s a shareholder in my business at no extra cost. OH has two jobs, which accountant knew, one being a permanent contract and one being 0 hours.

Last week OH received a letter from HMRC saying he owed over £4k!!!!!! 😳

Emailed info to accountant who said he didn’t owe that but did owe £2,200, and it needed to be paid ASAP!?
He said he didn’t get the P60 for one of the jobs, so didn’t include it in the accounts for that year. He didn’t ask for it, and I didn’t know he needed it as he did ask for one but not the other!?

I don’t know if I’m BU, but surely if I pay my accountant to do my accounts he should get it right, and if he doesn’t there should be some liability on his part?
I pay him as I’m not an accountant and he is supposed to be the expert!

Plus we’re now expected to find £2,200 to pay HMRC ‘ASAP’ because of the accountants error.

As a small business this is a huge chunk of money to just find, and that is why I pay my accountant, to take the stresses away from me regarding tax/HMRC etc. His attitude is just ‘Yeah, you need to pay this asap’ which is also annoying me!

OP posts:
BlueMoonRising · 19/08/2019 10:18

It's your responsibility to ensure he knows ask the income for the year. You didn't give him the p60, so he didn't have the information to provide to hmrc.

Yes, he could have and maybe should have asked for it. But it should be fairly obvious that he needs to know all the income and expenses for the year. If my accountant asked for one p60 but I had two, I would either ask if he needed both or just supply both with a 'I'm not sure if you need this, but here it is just in case' kind of comment.

Having said that, the other issues alone would have me looking for a new accountant.

Cluelessbeetroot · 19/08/2019 10:19

It looks like you need a new (and decent) accountant. They might be able to liaise with HMRC on your behalf and ascertain if the debt is an error due to your current account incorrect filing.

Cluelessbeetroot · 19/08/2019 10:21

*Current accountant's

Whywonttheyletmeusemyusername · 19/08/2019 10:22

Totally agree OP. An accountant is supposed to take the HMRC stress away. Nothing to advise, but following with interest

Kazzyhoward · 19/08/2019 10:24

surely if I pay my accountant to do my accounts he should get it right

How can he "get it right" if you don't give him all the information? Do you think he's a mind reader?

Kazzyhoward · 19/08/2019 10:26

Plus we’re now expected to find £2,200 to pay HMRC ‘ASAP’ because of the accountants error.

It's not the accountant's error. You'd have owed £2,200 if you had given him all the information in the first place.

ChicCroissant · 19/08/2019 10:27

Accountants can only work with what you give them - you didn't give all the information.

TheInvestigator · 19/08/2019 10:28

Why did you think he wouldn't need the other P60? Or course he would. He shouldn't need to ask for every single piece. It's your job to hand over all your finance info and their job to sort it out.

Original poster
peakyblinderoriginal · 19/08/2019 10:38

But I didn’t know he would need it. I started my business 4 years ago and I honestly have no clue about this stuff, so rely on the expert to do it for me. I didn’t know he needed P60’s, and only gave him what he asked for. Surely this is the reason you use an accountant, so they ask you for the info they need and then do your accounts? I’m not the expert, so why would I know to say ‘Oh, do you want this P60 too?’.

This has never been something I’ve had to deal with so why would I automatically just know it? I thought the idea of an accountant was for them to say ‘I need xyz’, you give it to them and they do the accounts, not for me to say ‘I know you need xyz so here it is’ as I don’t know what they need.

OP posts:
familycourtq · 19/08/2019 10:39

He shouldn't need to ask for every single piece. It's your job to hand over all your finance info and their job to sort it out.
This comment and other similar ones are unfair on the OP.
It's obvious when you know what a P60 is and what it's for, but not so much when you don't. I expect my accountant to ask me for the stuff they need, because they (should) know that.

OlivesAreGod · 19/08/2019 10:42

Our accountant asks for everything she needs. She doesn't just sit back and expect us to know. She will email me with a list and chase up/check on this she doesn't have. She also sends me a draft before she sends it to HMRC so I can ask any questions before she sends it off.

ILoveAllRainbowsx · 19/08/2019 10:42

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

BlueSkiesLies · 19/08/2019 10:43

You need to check the work of the accountant yourself. Obviously. If DH had checked he woudl have immediately realized his income was far too low as it was excluding one of his jobs.

this is 99.5% on your DH.

OlivesAreGod · 19/08/2019 10:44

so he can't be expected to remember every detail of your and your OH's affairs

I'd think something which had such an impact on taxes as a second job should be on their notes surely? In my job, we are expected to remember important info about all our clients by putting it on their file.

NoSquirrels · 19/08/2019 10:46

What’s done is done, but if I were you, OP, I’d make it my business to take one of the many free courses aimed at small business owners. And then find a new accountant.

Accountants are great for doing all the input and advising you etc. But as self-employed or a small business owner you really need to have at least a basic understanding of tax affairs and record keeping.

newtb · 19/08/2019 10:46

In the final event, you can always make a complaint to his professional body, if he's a member of one.

When I did all the practice work for a 1-man practice, he would pay any penalties if clients had problems for which he felt he was responsible.

The responsibility, despite pii insurance, was the main reason I never wanted to be a self-employed accountant.

familycourtq · 19/08/2019 10:46

You need to check the work of the accountant yourself. What the fuck are we paying for then? Do I also need to get a law degree and check my lawyer's work? What a wank idea.

newtb · 19/08/2019 10:46

Also, his cleint file should have flagged up that your DH had 2 jobs and therefore 2 P60s were required.

Funghi · 19/08/2019 10:48

Our accountant asks for everything she needs. She doesn't just sit back and expect us to know.

Same.

Very strange that so many posters think otherwise.

NoSquirrels · 19/08/2019 10:48

It's obvious when you know what a P60 is and what it's for, but not so much when you don't.

But when you’ve been employed you get one every year ... hard to not understand what they’re for, surely?

sackrifice · 19/08/2019 10:49

First rule of accounting: get all the information needed to complete a tax return.

Get a new accountant. This one is incompetent.

adaline · 19/08/2019 10:49

How can he "get it right" if you don't give him all the information? Do you think he's a mind reader?

Shouldn't he ask for the information he needs? He's the professional - if he needs the OP's P60, then he should be asking for it.

sackrifice · 19/08/2019 10:50

but perhaps he forgot that your OH had two jobs, especially if there was only one job in the previous tax year.

The accountant was asked to do the tax return BECAUSE the OH had another job.

Wolfff · 19/08/2019 10:51

Unfortunately your husband is still responsible for this whether the accountant asked for the P60 or not. Surely it is obvious that you need to declare income from all sources.

Tell HMRC what happened and you might be able to make an arrangement to pay in instalments.

OlivesAreGod · 19/08/2019 10:51

I don't think people need to 'check' work necessarily because that implies you could essentially do the job yourself?!

But as I say, our account does give us drafts of everything she does before sending it so I can say 'oh what does X mean?', 'why does Y equal that' etc... Anything that's been missed would usually come up in those meetings so it's important to offer your client a draft to look over and query I think. Like lawyers give reports etc..