Accounting firms and now

It has been a fantastic week! Started last week and we can already talk about a healthy foundation to start the new year. Incredibly proud and excited about developments. Of course, there is still plenty of room to serve more customers, and we would be happy to keep in touch.

 

At the same time, it has also been a sad week. The “black hole” that (large) accounting firms dare to charge for financial statements is unimaginably high. For example, there are cases where the bill was filled with over €60,000 worth of hot air. Absurd but true.

How is it that your company’s financial & trust officer is hitting you so hard financially? And why is that accepted? This is mainly because people just don’t (want to) know exactly what an accountant does. And because it remains in such a haze, it also remains unnecessarily expensive.

I know practical examples where the best advice a large accounting firm could give its clients was: don’t let us do your annual work. However, they don’t say that because money carries the main weight for the top of large accounting firms. The customer is absolutely secondary to the generous profit requirement that the top thinks is “necessary.” And to enrich themselves, they saddle your annual work with unnecessary work to serve their profession and not the entrepreneur as originally intended.

It is frankly comparable to usurious policies of several years ago, and I sincerely hope that business owners will no longer put up with this.

Accountants themselves are now concerned with the question of whether they may now discharge all responsibilities (regarding law change regarding micro entities). I find it ridiculous because basically they already absolve all responsibility in the dozens of agreements/confirmations you have to sign as a customer. And in addition, they completely ignore the fact of how they can best serve the customer. #Signforhead

Message may be emotionally charged but this also goes to the heart of many entrepreneurs. Surely it is inconceivable that if an entrepreneur has a modest €40,000 of income left over from which the tax still has to be deducted, he has to pocket €15,000 from his accountant? When asked how this is substantiated, no clear answer can be given.

 

Because there isn’t!

 

The accountant may try to come up with a nice answer in his expensive tailored suit, but it will not be a clear nor honest answer. If you look at the facts, a larger accounting firm simply can NOT best serve the business owner regarding annual work. By the way, smaller accounting firms (1 to 4 associates oid), are still flexible enough to add value for a client. But SME accounting firms have simply become too unwieldy organizations. This has come particularly because of increasingly demanding professional requirements and their own commitment to specialty. There are fewer and fewer all-rounders so your work has to go through 6 different people these days. This is not efficient and certainly not more economical for you.

A larger accounting firm can still advise well. That is also REALLY their strength. But then you need an honest adviser, and if your fiduciary has been betraying your trust for several years now by picking generously from you, I doubt that such an adviser deserves that role anymore. Switching is not a chore, and only makes the market work better. Look at the energy market & telecom world. In the past, the revenue models of these companies were not transparent, and in a few years market forces have more than halved the rates. And still making a nice living without sacrificing quality.

I sincerely hope you will share this appeal, because it simply involves a lot of money & there is a serious breach of trust. The crisis has hit many entrepreneurs hard, and in these times, an honest advisor has become more important than ever.

Sources:
Accounting firm switches to administration firm and explains why
https://www.accountant.nl/opinie/20151/12/slagers-chirurgen-en-accountants/

Accountants discuss compilation statement for micro entities (easily over 80% of the Netherlands)
https://www.accountant.nl/nieuws/2015/12/meningen-verdeeld-over-micro-entiteiten/

Accounting firm itself establishes an administrative office with it:
http://www.accountancyvanmorgen.nl/Nieuws/Detail/grant-thornton-administratiekantoor-incompanion