We are aware that moving from one accountant to another can be daunting, regardless of how much faith has been lost in the relationship with your current provider. Often, the unknown can lead to you staying with them and putting off the transition until you’re years down the line and potentially £thousands worse off in avoidable taxes, had you had the relevant information or opportunities made available to you.

At Hive, we aim to be clear and concise with our services, how we can help you, and what working with you will look like. This is the case from the very start of your journey with Hive. To give you a clear understanding of what your initial sign up with us will look like, here is an overview of each stage and what you can expect with each step.

Phase 1 – Understanding your requirements

We use this phase to get a better understanding of your circumstances and requirements now, and also your plans for the future. With this information, only then can we be sure that we are a good fit for your needs and confirm how we can help you.

This process typically consists of the following simple steps:

• You enquire with us.
• You receive a preliminary call from a member of the sales team to carry out some fact finding that enables them to confirm the next steps of how we can help.
• You’ll likely be asked to complete a short survey, or to provide us with some financial data. We will use this information to complete some preliminary work ahead of your next call with us.
• We’ll reach out to you to confirm your follow up call with the relevant expert within the team.
• They will speak to you about the services they recommend to suit your requirements, confirm how we work with our clients to promote an efficient working relationship, and provide you with the formal quote.
• You can review and agree to this, if you are happy to proceed. Of course, we are also happy to answer any further questions you have.

Phase 2 – New Client Journey compliance

This is where we welcome you as a valued client of Hive and ensure that all the relevant compliance boxes are ticked to enable us to act on your behalf.

• We ask you to provide the relevant personal information, and details of your accountant by sending you our New Client Checklist to complete.
• We use the information you supply in this to complete regulatory money-laundering checks before we can proceed.
• Once this has passed successfully, and we have the approval from you, we will make contact to request the full handover of information from your former accountant. (This can sometimes take a while, depending on how responsive your former accountant is, but we will do all the chasing on your behalf, and keep you updated along the way).
• Once we have received this, we complete a few final administrative tasks, including ensuring that we are registered as your agent with HMRC, before this step is complete.

Phase 3 – Onboarding process

This is then the third and final stage of the process, before you are fully integrated as a client within Hive.

With the legal elements in place, we can then move onto ensuring that our working relationship is started how we mean to go on. This part is tweaked and made specifically to suit your circumstances, but typically covers the following:

• You get introduced to the relevant teams within Hive that you’ll be working with on the various elements of our service offering.
• We’ll complete a review of your current financial data and feedback to you on this – this could involve us setting you up with a Xero account and providing you with required training, or by providing you with our bookkeeping template to keep track of your expenses.
• We ask you to complete our Personal Budget Document, which enables us to get a deeper understanding of your financial requirements. This information will provide us with the information needed to work on designing a suitable tax plan and providing you with tax estimates, so you know exactly what to expect and plan for over the coming year.

Throughout the entire process detailed above, you’ll be kept in the loop and updated at every opportunity, so you are never left in the dark. We’re strong believers that communication is key, and so this is why we promote an effective two-way stream of communication with our clients from the offset. Not only does this relieve your worries and concerns, but it also allows us access to the relevant information to achieve the best outcomes for you.

If you’d like to find out more about joining Hive, and how we can help you, get in touch today.