Our fees
Accounting Fees. Those two dreaded words that even we hate talking about. Unfortunately we can’t get by without them! That’s why BCV offers clients several options when we charge you for work that we do. We’ll discuss this a bit later.
One question we’re commonly asked is “how much is that going to cost?” For an individual tax return, this is a bit easier to answer. However for businesses, while we’re happy to provide an estimate based on information you provide, it’s almost impossible for us to list our prices on this website, as everyone’s circumstances are different. Some clients provide us with a set of pristine accounts that we barely need to touch. Others happily walk in with the infamous ‘shoebox’ and expect us to do the lot. Some clients employ bookkeepers, others prefer to do it themselves. Some use accounting software, others list payments on scraps of paper! All of these variables impact on the time it takes us to complete the work required, and ultimately impact on the fee we charge to you.
We therefore provide several options in regard to fees. Regardless of which one you choose, we will happily provide an estimate in advance.
Firstly there’s the traditional method involving an hourly rate for work completed. While we’re happy to bill on this method, it can get rather messy. When something takes us longer than you expect it to take, it invariably ends up with one unhappy party! Some clients do prefer this method however, and we’re happy to provide this option.
Alternatively, we can agree a fixed fee upfront, either for a one-off piece of work or for your overall accounting, tax or compliance package. This fee is agreed in advance, based on agreed deliverables from both parties. Only when these deliverables change is the fee likely to change.
Regardless of the billing method you choose, we also offer several options in regard to payment of our fees:
- On account – if you’re really nice to us and pay your bills on time, we’ll allow future work to be billed as it’s completed, with 14 day payment terms from date of invoice.
- Progressive payments – this generally applies for larger and more time consuming pieces of work (eg. Several years financial statements at once). We’re sure you’ll understand that we have bills to pay as well, so for work that is going to take some time to complete, we’ll need to bill you as we go.
- Monthly billing – for our regular and ongoing clients, particularly business customers, we are pleased to offer the option of paying an agreed monthly amount, by direct debit if preferred, on a regular basis, usually monthly. This generally puts less of a strain on your cashflow than us issuing you with an invoice for a lump sum at a particular time of the year.
- Trust account refund – this applies to any clients lodging a tax return for which a refund is expected. We have the ATO pay the refund into our Trust Account, we deduct our fees, together with a small administration fee, and transfer the remainder of the refund to your nominated bank account, or to you by cheque.
Whatever your preference, we can discuss your requirements and agree on what works best for you and BCV.