If the thought of changing accountants sounds like too much trouble, it’s actually easier than you may imagine and could be beneficial. Whether you’re a small business owner or a large limited company, there are many reasons why switching accountants is worth considering.
It’s a good idea to carry out a regular review of the service you are receiving from your accountants, to check that it continues to meet your needs. You may find that, as your business grows or changes, your current accountants are not as good a fit as they used to be and you require a more hands-on approach or better customer service to deal with your day-to-day operations. Lithgow Perkins may be able to help.
How to change accountants
As mentioned above, changing accountants is not as daunting a process as it may at first seem. You will need to inform your current accountants of your intention to leave and give permission for your new accountants to communicate with your current ones to arrange the transfer of all your accounting information and tax records. This is done through the professional clearance process. All accountants who are members of any professional body such as the ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) are obliged to respond to this.
Once you have contacted both parties and initiated the process, your work is largely done. Your new accountants will arrange the transfer of information from the previous accountants and all the work will be completed behind the scenes, with no need for you to get involved.
Making it simple to change accountants
At Lithgow Perkins, we make the process of joining as simple as possible. Our approachable team will guide you smoothly through the transition, with minimal disruption to your business.
When you inform us that you wish to become a client, we will need to go through our internal on-boarding process. This involves taking some personal information from you for our statutory money laundering procedures. We’ll ask for things such as photo ID, address and National Insurance number. We’ll then send you a letter of engagement and terms of business to explain the respective responsibilities between accountant and client, and to outline things like data protection and confidentiality. Once you have approved these documents, you will officially be a client of Lithgow Perkins.
Once you have been set up as a client, we will apply to HMRC for authority to correspond with them on your behalf as an agent. This means that we are able to speak to them directly about your affairs and resolve any issues for you while getting you involved as little as possible.
A personalised, tailored service
If you are thinking of changing accountants, get in touch to find out about our services. We offer a free, no obligation one-hour consultation to find out more about you, your company and your ambitions.
For more than 60 years, our independent firm in Harrogate has been successfully working with clients of all sizes across the UK. Some of the companies we work with have been our clients for decades, and we have helped them throughout their journey of development and growth.
Our team includes specialists across all areas of tax, accounting, bookkeeping and payroll. We provide a personal, tailored service to each client, and use cloud-based software to make life as easy and efficient as possible for them. This also allows us to work with clients outside our local area, so location is no longer a barrier to switching accountants.
Get in touch to find out how we can help you by calling 01423 564 446.