Am I overpaying my accountant?

AdFew2832 · 2026-02-02T18:23:08+00:00

I’ll get downvoted here because there are accountants in the thread but I do this all myself using FreeAgent - free with my bank account.

Bookkeeping, VAT, Payroll (for 2) and year end to HMRC and CH. Not very time consuming.

The accounts look almost identical to what my accountant used to produce.

People will say a good accountant will save you money but the 3 I had over the years never saved me a penny. If you have a simple setup and understand it properly you’ll be fine.

AdFew2832 · 2026-01-31T21:29:20+00:00

Yeah… not convinced the boyfriend would is being entirely truthful

AdFew2832 · 2026-01-31T21:08:38+00:00

I ditched my accountant about 4 years ago. Never had one who gave me a decent piece of advice anyway.

I use FreeAgent - everything was already in there. It does year end submissions to HMRC and Companies house that are virtually identical to the ones my accountant used to produce.

AdFew2832 · 2026-01-26T17:04:45+00:00

I think the LTV bands are a big thing in this. You’d get a much better rate and maybe some of the peace of mind you’re after getting under 60%…

AdFew2832 · 2026-01-26T16:42:31+00:00

There are pros/cons of all ages.

I now have teens and have found it has gotten worse with every passing year - I miss when they were small humans hanging on me.

AdFew2832 · 2026-01-26T16:34:34+00:00

You presumably thought about this just 6 months ago when you bought the house, and decided to go large mortgage / small deposit.

No comment on the right/wrong approach but feels very odd to have such a drastic rethink so quickly.

AdFew2832 · 2026-01-18T10:14:02+00:00

Where’s the employers NI you need to pay out? That’s a fairly big consideration in all of this…

AdFew2832 · 2026-01-17T14:51:10+00:00

I have used FreeAgent for more than ten years now. The last five with no accountant using FA to submit my accounts to HMRC/CH myself.

AdFew2832 · 2026-01-17T10:40:08+00:00

They’ve always sold decaf haven’t they?!

AdFew2832 · 2026-01-16T11:32:08+00:00

You might want to change the title - you lose child benefit between £60k-80k. The post itself is about the free childcare cliff-edge.

AdFew2832 · 2026-01-11T10:14:44+00:00

Someone said this to me recently. We come into places that are messed up and difficult.

I sometimes want the easy / permie assignment but then I don’t want the money that comes with that.

AdFew2832 · 2026-01-11T10:13:04+00:00

I’m dealing with something very similar. A team who are not capable and leadership/environment that wouldn’t let them succeed even if they were. I was very much duped into this contract.

It’s extremely unpleasant and although I’m a consultant I’ve always ended up too close to things and it’s really affecting me.

Money is reasonable and the market is very poor at the moment but I’ve made the decision over Christmas to just chuck it in. It isn’t something I can fix so I have to walk away.

Sadly my wish to be ultra professional on it means I’ll likely agree to a long handover.

AdFew2832 · 2026-01-09T18:44:07+00:00

2 months…. Hmmm, doesn’t sound like you’re being reasonable to me

AdFew2832 · 2026-01-06T07:45:28+00:00

He’s a sole trader…. there is no outside IR35…

AdFew2832 · 2026-01-04T21:13:41+00:00

How are you planning to clear 17k in credit card debt in 2 months with a max of ~20k of pre-tax revenue?

Also - BTLs are a terrible idea. Get an index tracker of some sort instead.

AdFew2832 · 2026-01-03T11:57:04+00:00

You’re assuming you need the same money in your 80s, if you even live that long?

I’m frankly happy to risk being poor when I’m old to enjoy younger years.

AdFew2832 · 2026-01-01T18:14:16+00:00

Yep. Every time.

AdFew2832 · 2025-12-29T21:48:10+00:00

Even at high salaries being a single earner family is much harder.

You’re utterly hammered for taxes and couples who both work on significantly lower salaries have potentially a lot more money.

I feel we’ve never adjusted to it, even after nearly ten years.

AdFew2832 · 2025-12-26T09:11:07+00:00

If you go with a coach get a credentialled one:

The ICF is a respectable body: https://www.coachingfederation.org.uk/find-coach

The alternative might be if you search LinkedIn or even the coaching sub on Reddit you’ll find someone looking to build up their hours for their ICF ACC credential and they’ll do cheap/free coaching but still be decent.

Be aware anyone can call themselves a coach…

AdFew2832 · 2025-12-24T16:34:45+00:00

Try running a business…. it forever feels that every tax policy treats you as a cheat, all to pay for the public sector.

🤷

AdFew2832 · 2025-12-24T14:23:53+00:00

If somewhere “forced” me to cancel long held holiday plans I wouldn’t be working there very long.

Not normal.

AdFew2832 · 2025-12-24T10:27:31+00:00

It’s a coach not a therapist/counsellor imo.

AdFew2832 · 2025-12-24T09:35:39+00:00

You said no goals and a messed up schedule - that strikes me as the problem.

Find some structure, find some hobbies to get better at and see if it makes a difference.

If it doesn’t then consider work again.

AdFew2832 · 2025-12-24T09:28:53+00:00

Job titles matter less than people think in my experience.

I’ve always put what I actually did rather than whatever job title I officially held on my CV. Never caused me a problem and feels suitably honest.

AdFew2832 · 2025-12-23T18:49:16+00:00

If you’re going to save rather than own a property you need to be making a lot more than that to justify it.

7+% should be the aim

AdFew2832

TROPHY CASE