Quickfile.co.uk over accountant?

A question about : Quickfile.co.uk over accountant?

In my search for an accountant for my Ltd co I have had limited success, most quotes are over Ј1500 despite the fact my business will be incredibly simple to do accounts for.

I came across Quickfile and it looks like they offer a service to file the necessary Ltd Co filings for only Ј199. Has anyone used it and have an opinion on it?

I realise this will basically involve me doing all my own accounting, but my business will be very simple, I have about 5 expenses per year, which are fixed, and it's all web based. My revenue will all come through a single payment gateway which can be automatically integrated with Quickfile. There will be no staff or salary for me either.

I am pretty familiar with accounting practises, depreciation, expenses etc as I analyse accounts a lot in my work, so while Im no accountant I am very comfortable with all the maths involved.

I think the only thing I may need in addition is some advice with setting up the initial directors loan (me putting money in the company) and possibly some advice when I do start to draw salary, but wouldn't it be cheaper to pay for the advice adhoc if Im saving over Ј1000 a year on the accounting? Or just ask the odd question online? I have a few mates that are corporate accountants too that can give me informal advice. Is there anything else I'm missing with this no frills service?

Best answers:

• I think that Ј1500 is way over the top. Who have you been getting quotes from? For a simple business, you should be looking more like Ј500 for accountancy fees, if not cheaper. Plenty of online chartered firms offering the year end accounts/CT returns for Ј300-Ј400 p.a., and if your "books" are well kept with few transactions, you should be able to find a chartered accountant to do it for even less. I suspect you've been getting quotes from High Street firms. Why not ask local one-man-band chartered accountant firms or google for online chartered accountants - you may be surprised how cheap you can get it done for.
• We use Quickfile, well my partner does mostly.
  Have a significant number of Paypal payments in, Quickfile pulls them in automatically.
  I think I am correct in saying it can't automatically pull in past transactions, only those from the time you set up and link accounts.
  Previous transactions need manual input. Same for bank accounts, we sorted ours out with csv import.