Looking for ad-hoc VAT expertise without the high cost of hiring someone in-house?
VAT Exchange Limited offers a dedicated service for accountants, bookkeepers, tax advisers and other professionals in the accounting and finance industry.
The VAT Consultancy Service for Accountants gives you flexible advice, as and when you need it. Most clients for this service are professionals who run their own practice where the advice is for the benefit of their clients (this is at our discretion).
Main Features
- Hourly rates starting at just £97 +VAT an hour for telephone/email/postal queries. This service is designed for accountants with SME clients, generally up to £5m annual turnover.
- High level advice at low cost.
- No maximum or minimum usage (other than our minimum time period of 15 minutes).
- Certainty of fees.
- Continuity of service for your team and your clients. This is important as the arrangement means that I will get to you know your clients and this will enable me to give more tailored advice as and when required with their specific circumstances in mind.
- You get the benefit of having me at the end of the phone or by email. I aim to reply to your initial contact within 24 hours.
- You retain your relationship with your client and only involve me as and when you choose.
How does it work?
VAT Exchange Limited sets up an engagement with your firm and charges an hourly rate of £97 plus VAT for advising on day to day client VAT issues, such as compliance queries or liability issues.
You simply give me a call when you have a VAT query and we have an initial chat about the issue.
If I can give you an answer in an initial conversation, there is no charge, although I normally recommend confirming any advice in writing to avoid any confusion. Otherwise, I will give you a quote for sorting out the query which will include my own research time and producing a record of the advice (which I will copy to you) and speaking to you or your client with the advice.
The minimum time period is 15 minutes and you will be billed per 15 minute periods. For example, the cost of a telephone call and note of the advice is typically between 30 minutes and an hour depending on the complexity of the subject.
The fee is agreed up front and once agreed is payable by you to me regardless of whether or not you can recover the cost from your client. The first time you use the service, I normally issue an invoice for the higher of £500 or 50% of the value of the work, plus VAT, which is held as an advance payment for the initial work. After that, invoices are usually issued at the end of each month or earlier if the value of WIP exceeds £200. Either way, payment is due on receipt of the invoice.
What sort of work does it cover?
The service is available for work that can be done by phone, email or by postal contact. There is no specific limit to the type of work that could be covered, for example it could include advising on partial exemption or property issues, liability queries or compliance queries. That’s it.
This service is designed for advising on day to day VAT issues, so work involving high value transactions or one-off projects, such as negotiating a partial exemption method, advising on major property transactions or business acquisitions or disposals, would normally be subject to normal market rates as agreed between myself and the client and a separate engagement letter between VAT Exchange Limited and the client. In these situations, I offer a very competitive rates for SME business owners, so even on major projects your clients can have access high quality advice at a very competitive cost.
How do we get started?
If you’d like to take advantage of this service, simply let me know and I’ll send you a formal engagement letter together with our normal terms and conditions of service. Once I’ve received your signed copy of the engagement letter, you can start using the service as soon as you need it, whether it’s straightaway or in 6 months time. It’s as simple as that.
Once you’ve signed up, you get the benefit of having your own in-house VAT specialist when you need it, but without the ongoing salary and other employment costs, and you can use the service as much or as little as you require.
To find out about the VAT Consultancy Service for Accountants, please contact me marie@vatexchange.co.uk or call me on 07955 704228.
Marie
VAT Exchange Limited