Minimizing Professional Fees

The following information may assist you in minimizing the professional fees related to your bookkeeping, accounting and income tax matters.

Firstly, it may help if you understood the process undertaken by the team here at Joseph A. Truscott, Chartered Accountant to complete your bookkeeping, accounting and income tax engagements.  Some of the common questions that have been asked of us over the years include the following:

Question: How Do Accountants Charge?

All Accountants charge by the time spent.  The longer it takes to prepare and enter your bookkeeping, complete the year end financial statement or prepare your personal or corporate income tax return the dearer it’s going to be.  Some businesses sell hamburgers, Real Estate Agents obtain commissions, and ACCOUNTANTS SELL TIME.  The more accurate your bookkeeping records are, the more correct and presentable the year end statements are and the more complete your income tax information is, the quicker we can get the engagement completed, and the more cost effective it will be.  We only have 7.5 hours per day to sell and we would not be in business if we gave our service away.

Question: Can You Give Me A Quote For The Job?

Just like it is impossible to quote a building job over the phone without looking at the plans, or value jewellery over the phone, it's not possible to know how long any work might take.  Two sets of records for the same business can take twice as long for one set as for the other depending on how the records are entered, balance, reconciled and presented.  We can provide a quote after reviewing your records.  If we have not prepared financial statements for you previously there may be an additional one time setup fee.

Question: Why Is My Invoice So Much More This Year Than Last Year?

Basically there are four main reasons:

Question: The Quickbooks, Simply And/Or M.Y.O.B. Salesman Said That The Software Should Reduce My Accounting Costs But It’s Actually Doubled - Why?

Basically garbage in, garbage out.  It takes much longer to sort out garbage.

The most frustrating thing (and every Accountant says the same thing) is when a client gives you a year’s computer printouts (after they have spent hours getting it to this stage) and we have to spend hours and hours sorting out the mess.  Efficient computerization of your records depends solely on the operator.  If the operator is good then it would definitely reduce time.  However if the operator is not good then it takes a lot more time to try and sort out the mess.  If the operator is not good then it’s much more cost effective to use a simple manual cashbook system (or simply supply cheque stubs and bank statements).  We also use a more junior staff member to process you records at a lower charge out rate saving you money.

Question: What Are Your Current Charge Out Rates?

Our rates (exclusive of GST) depend upon the type of engagement, the urgency of the matter, the staff member selected and a number of other variables.

Our standard hourly rates are based on a number of matters not limited to the market rate, the cost of our employees, our overhead and a number of other variables.

Please call us to discuss the type of engagement that you require and we can discuss the rates that are applicable to that type of engagement.

Question: When Will The Partner Look At My Tax Return?

The Support Staff process all the records and produce a draft set of financial statements and or income tax return.  They then go to the Partner who reviews them and discusses any tax planning options.  It is this tax planning session that could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars.  The Support Staff then finalize the financial statements and or tax return according to the Partner’s instructions.  In most engagements the client is called in to discuss the draft financial statements and meets with one of our Senior Staff Accountants and the Partner.  This process is similar to the surgeon and the nurse or the mid-wife and the Obstetrician.  These processes are designed to minimize the costs to the client / patient.

Question: I Asked You To Run Your Eye Over This Document And You Send An Invoice?

Don’t forget our business is to sell time.  If the task takes a few minutes (like a phone call) then there is no fee.  If a greater amount of time is required or the question requires a high degree of sophistication, then time may be charged.  We only have 7.5 hours per day to sell.  If we give our time away for free we would not be in business and be able to offer our services.

Question: Why Has It Taken So Long?

In the PEAK PERIOD between January and April the turn around time may stretch out to a longer time frame, as everyone wants their work completed in this period.  Every Chartered Accountant is in the same boat.  So please be patient during this period.

In the OFF-PEAK PERIOD between May to December turn around time decreases depending upon the type of engagement, deadlines, etc.

Just like there are peak and off-peak periods for holiday accommodation every Chartered Accountant is in the same boat.  So be prepared for some delay in the peak period.  Remember how hard it is to get accommodation during school holidays.

Question: Does My Income Tax Return And/Or Financial Statements Get Reviewed Before I Receive It?

The Staff Bookkeepers processes a set of draft financial statements or a draft income tax return.  The draft set of statements or draft income tax returns are then finalized by the Senior Staff Accountant and together with any detailed checklists that have been designed by the firm to confirm the integrity of the draft financial statements and/or draft income tax returns.  The partner and the Senior Staff Accountant then discuss the draft statements and tax returns and discuss any specific income tax planning.  It is this income tax planning session that can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars in income taxes.  The partner spends quality time and the accountant spends quality time.  The Senior Staff Accountant then finalizes the statements and/or tax returns according to the Partner’s instructions.  Sometimes the client is called in to discuss various problems or to review and discuss various tax planning alternatives.  These processes are designed to minimize the costs to the client and maximize the benefit.

Question: How Are Your Fees Compared To Other Accountants?

Our professional fees are determined at the conclusion of the engagement; we total our time and determine the amount to be invoiced based upon our standard rates applicable to that engagement.  It is not our standard practice to always invoice for every hour spent on the engagement.  A number of variables and our professional judgment are used to determine the number of hours to be invoiced.

Being a small firm, you will find our rates are much lower than those of medium and large size Chartered Accounting firms.

We can provide more detailed comparisons, so please call us.

Question: Are There Cheaper Accountants?

The only ones that are more inexpensive are the one-person operators working from home.  Obviously bookkeepers and non professionals will be more inexpensive.  However what you get is simply a bookkeeping service and he/she will be unable to provide strategic solutions to particular problems.  He/she will not have the resources to keep at the cutting edge of various tax changes and to provide you with the input of Joe Truscott’s expertise in this business for over 25 years.  What you save is a few dollars in bookkeeper fees that could cost you thousands in lost tax benefits and the benefits of an integrated service.

Question: You’re My Accountant So Why Is The Senior Accountant Preparing My Financial Statements Or Tax Return?

It’s more economical to you.  It’s silly to use a surgeon to stitch a minor cut when a General Practitioner can do it at a much lower cost.  The surgeon cannot do it any better than a General Practitioner.  It’s an over kill to have a surgeon do it.

Don’t forget that our Senior Staff Accountant is providing similar services daily and when you do something daily one becomes very quick and efficient.

Our staff of professional accountants either have a University Degree and/or a professional Accounting Designation being a Chartered Accountant, Certified Management Accountant or a Certified General Accountant designations.  There has been some confusion recently about the role of your Senior Accountant.  He/she handles your day to day needs including preparation of the financial statements and Income Tax Returns.  They may or may not have the experience to answer investment, strategic, structural and tax planning questions.  This is NOT their role.  The partner looks after answers to those questions.  It is always best to direct your questions in the first instance to your Senior Accountant.  If they are unsure of the answer they will either find out or have the partner call you back with the answer.

However if you are unhappy with your new or old Senior Accountant please, by all means, notify our office and we will move you to another person.  It’s difficult to match people perfectly overtime and sometimes we can get it wrong.  So speak out if you are unhappy with anything at all and we will try to correct it.

If you are unsure of an answer given to you by a Staff Accountant please do not hesitate to confirm the answer with the Partner.

Question: How Do I Minimize My Accounting Costs?

The following are some of the ways in which you can reduce and/or minimize the annual professional fees:

  1. Provide all the information in the first instance.
  2. Summarize and reconcile as much as possible.
  3. Efficient computerization - make sure that you understand the computer packages you buy.
  4. Explain any unusual events at the initial meeting when your records are brought into us with the Bookkeeper and or the Senior Accountant.
  5. Ask yourself the question “can I attend to this without contacting my Bookkeeper and/or the Senior Accountant,” i.e. sometimes you may contact us to fax copies of documents which you may already have in your possession, i.e. Tax Returns, Financial Statements, etc.
  6. Discuss with your Senior Staff Accountant areas that can be improved or work that you can do to present the job better or during the initial meeting when the records are brought to us or during the year end meeting.
  7. Use your Senior Staff Accountant for the minor things and use the partner only for the important things.
  8. Use the Bookkeeper for bookkeeping matters and not the Staff Accountant or the Partner.
  9. Provide missing information quickly.
  10. Do most of the running around yourself, e.g. calling banks / solicitors, collecting statements etc.
  11. Use email and/or the telephone to ask for answers to questions.

Paying Accounts On Time

Please help us provide you with good service by paying your accounts on time.  Without payment we cannot provide the resources to give you prompt service.  Some clients take a long time to pay but expect us to drop everything and attend to their needs immediately.  It must be a two way street.

Our payment terms are strictly payment in full upon completion of the engagement, unless alternative arrangements have been structured.

Our Firm Policy is that no further work is to be carried out for a client, if there are accounts for which the date for the payment has been passed and no payment has been received by us.

We accept the following as payment:

Thank You

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your loyalty and trust over the years and assure you that we are managing our business into the 21st Century to give you the absolute best that this profession can offer.

We assure you that we will continue to provide you with excellent ongoing service and advice and appreciate the confidence you have shown in our team and will strive to improve that level of service.