Cheap Accountants
Why look for a Cheap Accountant?
With the costs of living soaring and economic uncertainty around every corner, not to mention having just lived through a pandemic – times have never been more challenging for a small business.
The natural inclination when things are a bit pinched is to try and cut costs. And look, we get it – when you’ve got VAT returns to worry about, tax returns coming out of your ears, in addition to the usual day to day stresses of running a business, it’s really tempting to look through what you’re spending per month and trim the fat.
Unfortunately, one of the first things that people tend to cut is their accountancy services. But why?
Should you hire a Cheap Accountant?
Because self-assessment tax returns get filed once a year (for now!), and payroll could be muddled through on your own with a bit of software, sole traders and small businesses often think that they can handle things themselves to keep their cashflow looking better. And maybe in the short term, they can.
However, what so many small businesses forget is that an accountant does so much more than just file accounts and tax returns.
An accountant is there to keep ahead of all the various issues that crop up for a business. Often, your accountant will have handled things without you even knowing about it. For example, as we act as an agent with HMRC for our clients, we’ve often responded to that scary letter you’ve just received before you’ve even opened it! Cool huh?
That said, there are plenty of accountants out there who don’t demonstrate great value for money. Perhaps you’ve landed on this page because your current provider doesn’t seem to do much for the fee they charge – perhaps they don’t get back to you when you expect they will, or they haven’t kept on top of your tax affairs as you’d hoped. So here you are, looking for a cheap accounting service because, well, if you’re going to have to pay an accountant, it may as well be cheap, right?
Can you trust a cheap accountant?
There are good cheap accountants and bad cheap accountants.
Just like there are good expensive accountancy services and bad expensive accountancy services!
Likewise, different accountancy services are better suited for different sorts of businesses. Some specialise in sole traders, others in limited companies. Some services require you to use a piece of accounting software, some provide their own accounting software, and others (like us) don’t ask that you use any sort of accounting software at all unless you want to. Horses for courses and all that!
So if you’re looking for a cheap accountant – how do you know they’re any good?
Here are some top tips for choosing a cheap accounting service:
- Look for their staff’s professional qualifications. AAT, ACCA and ACA are all good signs!
- Also, look for the words ‘chartered’ and ‘technician.’
- Do you get assigned an accountancy team? Having a dedicated accountancy team means that you’ll get continuity of service and a smoother overall experience.
- Do they cover all the services you need regularly? If they have mainly sole trader clients on their books, will they be able to handle your limited company? A limited company is a more complex entity to prepare accounts and tax for than a sole trader, so it’s important they’re experienced in it.
- Do they offer a monthly fee or subscription model? Often this sort of accountancy service offers you a better bang for your buck than a once-a-year offering because you’ll have regular contact with your accountant.
- Do they include any online accounting software? If so, is it an online accounting software that you need to pay for in addition to your monthly fee, or is it included?
- Are they a small business themselves? Or did they start off that way? An accountancy firm that still has the founders present often has a much more business-minded outlook than a large corporate where things like online accounting services are an add-on to their larger functions. After all, they’ve lived and breathed the same struggles that you face so they’ll absolutely understand what you’re going through.
- What are their reviews like? A good accountancy service will proudly display their customer feedback on their site and on review party sites like Trustpilot. And if they’ve had a couple of bad reviews, how have they handled them? No one is perfect, but it’s how someone deals with the negative that shows the true nature of their character.
Is Mazuma a Cheap Accountant?
We’ve always aimed to offer our services at a competitive price. From our very start back in 2006, to today, we’ve called ourselves your low-cost, hassle-free accountants.
Low cost does not mean low quality.
In our case, we are able to deliver you a cheap accountant because we have worked tirelessly to make sure that we maximise our efficiencies and keep our own costs low.
We don’t have fancy glass offices in a city centre, we have humble but cozy offices on an industrial estate.
We don’t shower our clients with expensive gifts and merchandise (sorry!) because we’d rather spend our money on ways to get your accounts and tax done in the cheapest way possible for you.
We offer online accounting and bundle all of your costs into one price per month because we know it’s crucial for a small business to handle their cash flow properly. Traditional accounting services that charge a big fee once a year just don’t work well for so many small businesses and self-employed people.
Should you use Mazuma's accounting services?
If you are looking for an expensive accountant who insists on face-to-face meetings and makes you buy your own cloud software, then we are not for you!
But if you want a multi-award-winning accountancy service, for an excellent price, who is passionate about businesses just like yours and gives you your own accountancy team, then we’re the right choice for you.
Are we cheap accountants? Sure! We’re also the absolute best in the business at what we do.
Our monthly service includes everything you’ll need such as:
- Data entry
- Bookkeeping
- Free software
- Invoicing software
- Monthly management accounts
- Payroll
- VAT
- Tax returns
- Year-end accounts
- Filing to HMRC and Companies House
- Dedicated Accountancy Team
- Advice and support all year
