So you don't want to drop your documents round to your accountant? And you already have all your records ready to send as PDFs? Then an online accountant might be for you!
In this day and age there are online services which could be based in Fyfe or Bombay. Some of these come with great reputations — as you can tell in our user feedback ratings.
You can get online accountant quotes simply and painlessly by placing an ad. Its 100% free and we reckon it takes no more than 2-3 minutes to fill out the form. We normally are able to provide 4 quotes within 12 hours.
We provide all the user feedback from previous clients of the online accountant so you can see who sent the extra mile to really help their clients.
Take a look at our page suggesting how to choose an accountant as many of the tips in there apply to online accounting firms too.
There are some specifics you should bear in mind for making an online accounting relationship work. Key is making sure you have good clean data ready to send. You'll need to be able to scan and send documents — so make sure you have the kit and skills to do this (the online accountant will certainly help explain most probably). There is nothing more likely to make an online accountant's fees start to increase than having to go backwards and forwards over data. Example: if you omit to send in your pension contributions whilst asking the accountant to prepare the tax return and any tax strategy clearly the accountant will have to redo it all later ... and they'd probably have had to chase you in the meantime — which will add to their frustrations ... let's hope they are feeling friendly when it comes to your bill.
Many online accountants also offer the ability to fix your fees too. This helps control your accounting costs. Hence one of the key issues that you won't have to face is the issue of an unexpected accounting bill. Local accountants sometimes offer this too — so don't rule out asking around. Get multiple quotes from local and online accountants and see for yourself.
Meanwhile the key risk from an online accountant is whether or not you can make the relationship work in your favour. This can sometimes be a challenge. A bit like a long distance relationship. For example you need to be very clear on what help you want in drawing up your tax planning strategy. Some might find it difficult to get to the level of detail that really good tax planning requires if your affairs are complex using only a phone and email. Others however have simple enough affairs, the right attitude of mind and the handiness of clean data to make an online accountant work.
In short using an online accountant is simple enough. The only really issue is at your end: if your affairs are simple and already have everything electronically then why not explore the option of going online. We’d advise also getting a good local accountant to speak to as well (its always good to compare). Otherwise it is up to you!