The provision of accountancy services is mostly unregulated for owner managed businesses.
Anyone can say that they are an accountant without being qualified or registered and we often hear about tax and accounting advice passed down from sages (excuse the pun) at the local pub.
We know that there is a huge choice of accountants to choose from and it is clear that many prospective clients have suffered from poor experiences.
One prospect in the manufacturing sector comes to mind.
They had been “helped out” by their existing accountancy firm which meant that their accountant had “adjusted” various tax returns to reduce their liability.
However, they had also suffered numerous HMRC inspections which led to more fines and penalties and more “adjustments” by their accountant. Each time adjustments and inspections happened their accountant would increase their fees (which were by then way more than the company’s profits).
The directors were distraught but also felt trapped, guilty and even blackmailed by their own accountants.
We went to offer them a way out, back to the straight and narrow, and back down to much lower but decent fees for our services.
“Are all accountants bent?” asked the director earnestly.
The problem here was the client was in denial about the state of his business, had crossed the line to the dark side by agreeing to have their returns manipulated and was now too guilty and afraid to take the appropriate corrective action.
A deal with the devil had been done and it was easier to believe all accountants were dishonest than to do the right thing.
Last I heard, that business was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and was still being sucked dry by its bent accountant.
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