Once we have in-person or online meeting, and you decide to become an Inchmead Accountants client, we will send you our engagement letter. Once you sign and return this to us, you will become a client.

Generally speaking, no, we do not need to meet in person and can do most things online. As part of our on-boarding process, we do need to meet you to comply with anti-money laundering regulations, but this can be in-person or online. Once you are a client of the firm, meetings can be on-line if you prefer. Quite often, on-line meetings are more efficient and effective, particularly with clients who do not live or work close to our offices. We use Skype, Teams or Zoom for online meetings. If we record meetings, we will ask your permission before we start recording.

Yes, all of our offices facilitate clients with visual, hearing or physical disabilities.

We can be your accountant regardless of where you live or work. We have an extensive client bank spread all over the UK and the world. So, working with clients who are not local to our offices is not unusual for us. No, you don't have to live or work local to us.

This is generally quite a simple process that we manage for you. We will write to your current accountant and ask them to provide us with the information we require to take over as your accountant.

We have extensive and varied client bank, both big and small, simple and complicated. To us, there is nothing like a client that is too small, no.

Yes, our entire staff have received training in equality and diversity. They possess extensive experience, and approach situations without judgment, and excel in handling sensitive matters related to diversity, including but not limited to gender identity and other personal aspects of our clients.

Whether that is practical or efficient depends on the circumstances and the services we provide, but generally speaking the answer to that question is "yes".

Sadly, no. Arrangements that we refer to as "client share" don't work very well for us and it's not something we do, unless the accountant is your statutory auditor and only provides audit / assurance services.

Our client bank is varied, and include small sole traders, large complex groups and both simple and complex international clients and just about everything in between. Most of our clients retain us as their accountants but for the Complex Matters Team, it's not unusual to receive one-off or ad-hoc instructions. We can help just about anyone. To see if we can help you, please book a free consultation using the button at the top of our website. We do have a firm-wide policy not to provide services to high-risk, cash-intensive businesses nor to businesses that are located in or owned by citizens of FATF black-listed countries.

We would be delighted to be your accountant. Please book a free initial consultation by clicking on the button at the top of our website. However, it is important to understand that regardless of who you appoint as your accountant, running a business and remaining compliant is much complicated than before and the cycle of complexity is not going to end anytime soon. We also strongly recommend that before you appoint an accountant, that you ensure they are a member of one of the following professional organisations: ICAEW, ACCA, AAT, ATT, AIA, ICB, or CIMA. So, please don't try to do your own bookkeeping, payroll, accounts or tax unless you have the qualifications and experience to do it competently.

Generally speaking, no, we can only provide advice to clients of the firm. However, if you are considering Inchmead Accountants to be your accountant or advisor then we are happy to give you a free consultation if you book via the button at the top of the website. During the consultation we will get a better understanding of what you require from us and how we can help. As part of that, we are more than happy give explanations but cannot provide specific advice until we are your accountants.

Yes, we do help contractors who fall within or outside IR35. We already serve hundreds of contractors in a wide range of professions. We do not, however, provide umbrella services but we can introduce you to an umbrella company we work with and we can still be your accountants that way.

Yes, we have experts who deal with difficult cases and inquiries. One of our Partners is a former HMRC inspector and if required, we have access to specialist tax lawyers and barristers.

Accountancy and tax advise in the UK is not a regulated profession, so you do not need to be formally educated or qualified to provide most services. However, that doesn't mean you should engage the services of someone who isn't suitably qualified or experienced. This is a brief list of credible professional organisations in the UK and we recommend you only engage with an accountant who is a member in good standing of at least one of these: Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) Association of Tax Technicians (ATT) Association of International Accountants (AIA) Chartered Institute of Taxation (CTA / CIOT) Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) Institute of Financial Accountants (IFA) Don't be afraid to ask what their qualifications and experience is. Also don't be afraid to check with their qualifying body that are qualified and in good standing with them. Yes, you certainly should care if your accountant is qualified or not. Accounting and tax matters have legal implications and in the worst case, dire consequences if something goes wrong. It may be their fault, but you face the consequences, not them. So hold yourself responsible and check before you engage with any accountant.

Yes, why wait? If you need a better or more comprehensive service from an accountant, then make the change now.

How many clients we have is a difficult question to answer because its always changing as we grow. But we have many hundreds of clients and growing. Where they are located is an easier question to answer. We have clients the length and breadth of the UK, from Scotland to Cornwall and from Wales to Norfolk. Our experience and making good use of technology has largely dispensed with the need to be around the corner. We also have clients in France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Monaco, Dubai, India, USA, Italy and Turkey. The international footprint of our client bank is expanding as well.

Yes, there are. We do not accept engagements from: high-risk cash-intensive businesses businesses that are registered or do business in a FATF black-listed country individuals who are citizens of or reside in a FATF black-listed country, unless they are in an exempt professional or trade individuals who are on a UK-endorsed sanctions list

Yes, very much so. Building relationships, having conversations and meeting clients' needs on an individual basis is core to everything we do. We recruit for their knowledge, skill and experience but importantly, we recruit the right people who can build relationships and have conversations with clients. By building relationships, we can truly understand what you need from us and we'll do our best to meet those needs. What we don't do is 'out of the box services' or 'we only do it this way". That's the opposite of our one of our core values: let's have a conversation.

We have comprehensive technology stack that we deploy across the firm depending on need. For general practice we use: Quickbooks online Xero FreeAgent VT Transaction Linkmybooks Payroll Manager Taxcalc LivePlan Some firms will only use Xero and Dext, for example. Although we are a technology-enabled firm, we do not have any technology-enforced policies.

Yes, we can. Our General Practice Team and the Complex Matters Team have decades of experience in producing business plans and helping clients produce business plans.

Yes, that's part of what we do. Saving tax is what any accountant should do for their client. There is a popular saying: "Paying tax is not voluntary, but paying as little tax as possible is voluntary." We have experts in the various fields of tax covering personal tax, corporation tax, SDLT and IHT, all of whom are competent in tax saving and tax mitigation strategies.

Yes, our Complex Matters Team have decades of experience in business valuations of all kinds.

Absolutely, yes. The firm is appointed as an agent for Capitalise (www.capitalise), so we have access to over 100 or more lenders in the UK. For larger amounts for our enterprise clients, the Complex Matters Team have access to a wide range of banks, equity houses, family offices and investor groups worldwide. Typically these are for fund raises of £5-million or more.

Potentially, yes. Please book a free consultation by clicking the button on the top of our website. We will have a conversation with you to understand your circumstances and how we can help.

Yes, we do help contractors who fall within or outside IR35. We already serve hundreds of contractors in a wide range of professions. We do not, however, provide umbrella services but we can introduce you to an umbrella company we work with and we can still be your accountants that way.

Yes, we do. Depending on your circumstances and what tax you are referring to, ie personal tax, corporation tax, VAT, etc, we can and will guide clients on what is and what is not allowable for tax. Each client and circumstances are different, so there may well be different answers for very similar clients.

Yes, we can and often do. What you can draw from your business is largely determined by a combination of how much is available to draw, how much you need to draw and what the tax implications are. So we will have a conversation about how much to draw and what the tax implications are.

Yes, we have experts who deal with difficult cases and inquiries. One of our Partners is a former HMRC inspector and if required, we have access to specialist tax lawyers and barristers.

Yes, we do have a number of property tax experts in the firm. Whether you are a buy-to-let owner, have furnished holiday lets or commercial property, have the expertise to provide tax advice and strategies that work for you.

No, please don't do that unless the mate down the pub is your accountant and is giving you formal advice.

Yes, we certainly do. Our Complex Matters Team are familiar with crypto currency and other digital assets.

The fees we charge are based on the time we spend on the matters and the level of experience and expertise required to do deliver the outputs you require from us. Our fees vary from £40/hour to £450/hour + VAT. All the fees we charge are transparent, pre-agreed and you should not get any surprise invoices from us. We offer fixed-fee and contingent fee arrangements, as well as ad-hoc billing. Monthly fixed-fee arrangements must be paid by direct debit.

Our monthly fixed-fee arrangements are paid by direct debit. Other fee arrangements can be paid by debit card or bank transfer. We accept payment foreign currency bank transfers from clients outside the UK. We have bank accounts in the UK, Europe and the USA. We do not accept cryptocurrency as payment for fees, unfortunately.

If your business is a small business, we do offer a fixed range of fees and services as a guide. It can be found here: https://www.inchmeadaccountants.com/for-small-businesses The services listed are as a guide only and will be customised according to your personal needs.

Unfortunately, no, we are not able to accept crypto currency in settlement of our fees. This is because the source and custody of the crypto currency or other digital assets cannot be assured.

Generally no you won't be entitled to a refund. Our fees are charged on a monthly basis and are not considered a pre-payment of services we will provide to you at some time in the future.

All of our monthly fixed-fees must be paid by direct debit. For other fee types, we will invoice you in keeping with our service agreement. We expect payment within 3 days of the invoice being presented. In some cases, we will ask for a fee deposit, which is held in our designated client account.

Yes, we are VAT registered and charge VAT in accordance with legisaltion. If you are VAT registered then yes, you will be able to claim the VAT back on your VAT return.

We have 3 offices and 5 partners. The head office is in Reading and we have offices in London and Oxfordshire. Our client bank is pretty extensive and varied, so we are probably not what most clients would classify as "small". The way we look at it is: the firm is small enough to maintain personal relationships and deliver a personalised client service, small enough to be agile in decision-making but big enough to have an amazing team of professionals covering a wide range of general and specialised areas of practice.

Yes, we are. We are regulated as firm and registered for anti-money laundering supervision. As well as being regulated as a firm, well over 80% of our professional staff are qualified with one or more of the following professional bodies: ACCA ICAEW AIA AAT CPAA

Yes, we are a firm supervised for anti-money laundering. Our licence is renewed each calendar year.

Yes, we are insured. As a regulated firm of accountants, our professional supervisory body requires us to carry a level of insurance depending on the risk of the work we undertake and our level of fees. We are insured for up to £1-million per claim.

Yes, we have to be registered with the Information Commissioner (ICO) and have to renew each calendar year. We have very strict GDPR, privacy and data protection policies in place. So, we believe your personal information is safe. We do not transfer or sell any client information.

We believe lots of things make us different. For a start, building and maintaining client relationships around conversation makes us different. The accounting profession has changed so much over the years, the days of shy, boring, grey-suited accountants is behind us and accounting has become an advisory profession. With our personal, conversational approach puts at the forefront of being able to provide outstanding service to our clients. One of our core values is to be different. We may be defined as accountants, but we don't let being accountants define who we are. Our Complex Matters Team focus on complex tax, due diligence, compliance & regulation, M&A as well as banking / financial services, none of which most firms our size provide.

INAA is an international association of independently-owned accounting and professional firms. We have over 150 offices in more than 40 countries. This gives us access to an incredible pool of talent and expertise globally. Being a part of the INAA worldwide client community has brought immense advantages to both us and our clients.

Over 80% of our staff are qualified through one or more of the following UK-authorised professional bodies: Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) Association of Tax Technicians (ATT) Association of International Accountants (AIA) Chartered Institute of Taxation (CTA / CIOT) Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) Institute of Financial Accountants (IFA) The firm is regulated and its licence to practice is renewed each year. We are also authorised by both the ICAEW and ACCA to train accountants.

Our youngest and newest partner has 8-years experience. Our most experienced partner started practice in 1991. So it's safe to say, our leadership have many years' experience.

How many clients we have is a difficult question to answer because its always changing as we grow. But we have many hundreds of clients and growing. Where they are located is an easier question to answer. We have clients the length and breadth of the UK, from Scotland to Cornwall and from Wales to Norfolk. Our experience and making good use of technology has largely dispensed with the need to be around the corner. We also have clients in France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Monaco, Dubai, India, USA, Italy and Turkey. The international footprint of our client bank is expanding as well.

Many families in the UK are experiencing a critical cost of living crisis. We decided to help in a small way but donating a food parcel to a local food bank in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The food bank also work closely with a baby bank providing supplies for families with babies who need support. For each client that joins Inchmead Accountants, we donate a food parcel that costs between £20 and £50.

No, you do not have to pay for the food parcel. The food parcel is paid for by the firm.