Choosing an accountant?

[Katymac]

Is it better to be a small customer of a large accounting practise (so lots of experience/experts to confer with??) or a lagre(ish) customer of a smaller independant accountant?

WHat haven't i considered?

I think the latter. Small businesses can have lots of experience too! I find bigger practises have less time for you. I also think when a business gets "too" big they lose touch. IMHO

Hmmm that's kinda the way I was thinking

thanks

Any other opinions - it's an important decision

Make sure you finalise all your costs with them, ie vat, tax, wages etc, get a package if you can. My Mum is an accountant so we won't have quite the same worries as you when we finally get there!

Do my own wages, not reg for VAT (& can't be),will need tax as I'm going to be ltd (currently do self assessment)

It is scarey

If you ever need to remortgage, banks will only accept accounts prepared by people with particular qualifications - so don't fall into the trap we did, of employing an accountant recommended to us, and incredibly busy and efficient, who turned out to have NONE of the seven or so qualifications required. We had to pay to have three years of accounts re-done by another firm. (And she was annoyed when we did this??)