By Kyle Fraser, Trainee Accountant at Hive Business
Hiring a new accountant can mean a fresh and exciting start for many and here at Hive, it is just as exciting welcoming new clients and helping them improve.
Before this new opportunity, there are some small procedural matters that need to take place before we are able to act for you. Here are the quick and easy steps of the new client journey to get you signed up as an accountancy client.
1. Give us a call on 01872 300232 or send us a message at hello@hivebusiness.co.uk
Say hello, we’d really like to hear from you! We want to hear your background and get a general understanding of why you are thinking of using our services. You could be a principal, an associate, or you might be thinking of buying a practice. In fact, anything that’s related to the dental scope – we will be sure to try and assist you in any way we can! In this initial call, we will take your details and get in contact with you swiftly with a summary of the ways we think we can best help you.
2. Once you’ve agreed what services you’d like from us we will send you a New Client Checklist via Survey Monkey, an online questionnaire website.
Once you fill in all of the required questions, we now know more about you and can allocate you with the best accountant for your circumstances, we can also complete the essential administration.
3. Due Diligence and Anti-Money Laundering checks.
It is necessary that all clients pass Anti Money Laundering checks to ensure we comply with our regulations. To make it easier for you, we run an online check using IRIS AML.
4. If you have had an old accountant you will need to notify them that you are transferring. (If we are your first ever accountant we can skip this step!)
From here, we can request the required hand-over paperwork for our retention. This is what is called professional clearance and every time a customer changes their accountant, both parties make sure that everything is in order during a transfer. After you have informed your old accountant that you are leaving, we will then get in contact and ask them to send over the required information for us to proceed. This includes any of last years records for which they acted for you so that the transition is made quickly and efficiently.
5. Receiving your 64-8 authorisation code from HMRC
When we have been given permission to be your new accountants we will request authorisation from HMRC. After a short time, they will send you a code that you will need to share with us. After this step, we will be officially acting for you. This code has an expiration date, so be sure to send it promptly to us as soon as you receive it in the post.
6. Signing the Letter of Engagement
We will then send a formal contract via AdobeSign https://hivebusiness.co.uk/insights/adobe-sign-faq that confirms our services that you have signed up for. When you are happy and have signed it, you will officially be part of Hive.
7. The final steps
This involves getting you linked to our online Direct Debit service, GoCardless. There is no confusion in this method. No timesheets to bill. Just consistent and easy monthly payments where you know exactly what you are paying for.
Here is the new client journey infographic of the path that you will take if you choose to be a member with us. If you have any questions, we’re always here to help.
