The biggest myth about switching accountants is that the timing matters more than it does. The second biggest is that it's more involved than it actually is.
We onboard most of our new clients from a previous firm. The process is straightforward, we handle most of it on the client's behalf, and the work the client has to do is closer to a single afternoon than a project.
The professional clearance letter.
When you decide to move, we write to your existing accountant. This is professional courtesy and is required under the standards we work to. The letter asks them whether there's any reason we shouldn't take you on (almost always no) and requests transfer of professional documents - prior-year accounts, tax computations, the working papers we'll need to pick up where they left off.
Most professional clearance letters are responded to within ten working days. We have not yet had a refusal we couldn't work through within a fortnight of correspondence.
Handover of records.
Once clearance is given, we receive your accounting records and historical filings. If you use a cloud bookkeeping system (Xero, FreeAgent, QuickBooks), we add ourselves as your new accountant on the platform and you remove the old firm. If you're on a desktop system or spreadsheets, the records come across as files. Either way the heavy lifting is on us.
Picking up mid-year vs at year-end.
There's a common assumption that you have to switch at year-end. You don't. We pick up clients at any point in the year. The work is no harder mid-year - we just have a slightly different starting point. The only practical advantage to switching at year-end is that you don't pay for two firms to do the same work, which is rare in practice because the outgoing firm only completes what they were engaged to do.
What week one looks like.
In the first week of a new engagement you'll have:
- Our engagement letter for signature - plain English, no surprises
- A first call with your partner - James for most matters, Sarah for tax-led work
- Confirmation of which deliverables we're picking up and when
- A clear timetable for the next quarter, including any approaching filing deadlines
If you're thinking about switching but haven't decided, the first conversation is free and we'll be honest about whether it's the right move for you. If we're not the firm for you, we'll say so.