Accounting Services Company / Immigration Services lawyer

Any Suggestion friends

To start, what is your accountant charging you per month? How many monthly billings do they have to handle? How large is your company? How many employees?

All the above will determine rates.

well my accountant is charging 135 EURO/month and also VAT I have two bills to issue to my customer, its still one person company spending also one or two invoices per month. please recommend some cheap and good services provider along with English speaking

135 EUR/month is very cheap.

NazuAmir wrote:

well my accountant is charging 135 EURO/month and also VAT I have two bills to issue to my customer, its still one person company spending also one or two invoices per month.

As I have commented before, 20,000 to 30,000 HUF a month for an accountant is pretty standard for a small business (If someone says else, or that the amount you pay is cheap, I wonder if they actually have a small business in Hungary).

There is of course a "premium" for English speaking accountants, So you will pay more. Thus, given that premium, I do not consider your rate as above normal, even if little on the high side.

But, if you only have two billings a month you are paying more than you should. I would recommend to consider trying to negotiate with your accountant. Ask for a contract that says something like up to 5 billings a month gets a rate of 20,000 HUF, with a pro-rated rate for more monthly billings. After all, 20,000 a month from you is better than zero HUF from you, and don't be afraid to tell them that.

Accountant fees not only depend on amount of invoices. If one has to file waste report, special taxes have to be paid, or if the accoutnant is simply not familiar with the field the company works in, prices can skyrocket.

The company I work for had a cheap accountant, who didnt know how to file and pay the enviroment tax...so she simply didnt, or incorrectly. Each year a large fine came, and she didnt take responsibility, and bailed.

So no, 40000 for an english-speaking accountant is not much. You're expat, you should know that the knowledge of english on such level acconting requires is rare.

BTW, I have a company, 2 employees. We pay 20000 for it.

Rawlee wrote:

Accountant fees not only depend on amount of invoices. If one has to file waste report, special taxes have to be paid, or if the accoutnant is simply not familiar with the field the company works in, prices can skyrocket.

It is not the responsibility of a business to pay the accountant how to learn about different accounting issues. If the accountant does not know, or is not familiar with, the client's field of business, get another accountant. I have only seen this sort of accountant ignorance scam and non-sense in Hungary.

Rawlee wrote:

The company I work for had a cheap accountant, who didnt know how to file and pay the enviroment tax...so she simply didnt, or incorrectly. Each year a large fine came, and she didnt take responsibility, and bailed.

This use to be quiet common. Now accountants are suppose to pay for insurance and/or a bond to prevent their clients from having to suffer from their incompetence. If one's accountant can not show proof of either insurance or a bond, fire them. Immediately.

klsallee wrote:

It is not the responsibility of a business to pay the accountant how to learn about different accounting issues. If the accountant does not know, or is not familiar with, the client's field of business, get another accountant. I have only seen this sort of accountant ignorance scam and non-sense in Hungary.

The accountant gives a quote for the given job. The business either acccepts, or declines. I see no problem with higher fees if the accountant is "unprepared"; if you ask a factory to produce something, and they have to retool for it, of course they will include the costs in the bill.

klsallee wrote:

This use to be quiet common. Now accountants are suppose to pay for insurance and/or a bond to prevent their clients from having to suffer from their incompetence. If one's accountant can not show proof of either insurance or a bond, fire them. Immediately.

But if a company cant spare 40000 for accounting, where else can they turn but to such accountants? They exist because there is a market for them. Capitalism, baby!

Rawlee Thanks for clarification as I checked with some of my friends too they are saying the same of 20000 HUF, well if you are happy with the accountant you are dealing with in all the aspects would like to share the contact by inbox massage thanks again, yes I do have a small business yet....

Everyone is entitled to their idea how to run their business. Given that, below are my views. Not a critique, just my views.

Rawlee wrote:

The accountant gives a quote for the given job. The business either acccepts, or declines.

I consider this a false dichotomy. The third option exists: negotiate the price.

That being said, I have done business in many countries and I find the idea of negotiation in Hungary to be fundamentally lacking. The "take it or leave it" concept is very strong here. Meanwhile in some countries, if you do not try to negotiate and "deal" you are considered a business fool. Business cultures can be very different.

For example, recently sold our car. People came to look at it. No one questioned the price when it was stated, they just walked away. Until finally someone gave a counter offer, and the deal was struck. The buyer paid less than I was asking. And got a great car for the price we agreed.

Meanwhile, I knew someone who had a house on the market near where we live. I even gave a slightly less than the asking price offer for it. The offer I gave was still above market, but less than asking as the asking price was simply unreasonable. The seller refused to budge. The seller had that house on the market for 10 years at that price, then he died. That unwillingness to negotiate to close a deal, and then enjoy the profits while one is still alive, makes no sense to me at all.

Rawlee wrote:

I see no problem with higher fees if the accountant is "unprepared"; if you ask a factory to produce something, and they have to retool for it, of course they will include the costs in the bill.

There are a few confounding issues there. First of all, retooling is a capital cost. The factory can deduct and amortize this expense so there is no need to charge the client unless the retooling is so specific that no other factor offers this service. But if another factory has those tools already, I would play the factory that does have the tools against the price of the factory that does not to get the best price and deal for myself. That is, the factory's costs to retool should not be my problem or my expense and I would work to make it so.

But for an accountant, this is not a physical tool the accountant is buying. You are instead paying them to learn a skill. Skills are not really capital costs. They can be easily and immediately transfered to any other account and client. It would be like paying a doctor to go to medical school just to be able to do my surgery. So again, no, I will not pay for their education. Education is an investment they should pay for themselves so as to offer a better business skill and portfolio to their prospective clients. Especially for them to "learn on the job" as they will make mistakes and I am not going to pay for their mistakes at my expense.

Rawlee wrote:

But if a company cant spare 40000 for accounting, where else can they turn but to such accountants? They exist because there is a market for them. Capitalism, baby!

Capitalism means supply and demand. If a company can not spare 40000 HUF, and there is a demand for less expensive accountants from small businesses, then any accountants willing to enter that niche will find plenty of clients and will clean up. That is, they then supply the demand. Recognizing such niche business opportunities has been my business expertise for decades. Have done well exploiting these "forgotten" domains.