Hi Kris,

nope, your not mad. We've got a little group of (relatively) sane and very competent bookkeepers on here so methinks you've been lulled into thinking that all bookkeepers are like those on this site.

There are so many out there who have either set up in this business without any real training on the back of some internet advice from people who have never been anywhere near bookkeeping but continue to tell people that there is unlimited work paying £25+ per hour. Or, there are the people who have only trained in Sage and think that is all that they ever need to know.

I think that we see it on here an awful lot where people query how quickly and cheaply can I be trained as a bookkeeper on the assumption that the learning is a one off excercise and then they'll have a good steady income forever.

The question should really be "Have I got what it takes to be a bookkeeper".

As for how clients get themselves into the mess that they do, I've found that clients see only the charge rate and assume that all bookkeepers are equal so a bookkeeper half my price must be bargain, right!!!!

Also, when we give clients bad news they invariably compare that to the "better" advice that they have previously receieved... Similar to the situations that you've hit although I've not yet had one who put their entire mortgage off against the company.

Have you broken the good news about their financial affairs to your client yet?

Shaun.

You can ask HMRC for a copy of previous self-assessment tax returns, if the previous bookkeeper won't give you a copy, and the clients hasn't got a copy...
They will also supply copies of the computations (if there were any), if you ask.
(Just allow a some time for the request to work it's way through the HMRC's internal systems)

Sometimes I wonder why I got qualified... I should have just bought a calculater and overcharged!

I've come across a few "professionals" who don't understand that to be a good bookkeeper you have to know what should go on the books and what shouldn't... they just think they can input anything and everything!

Hi Kris,

You are not mad....

That would not have slipped through the filet of an ethical, qualified and professional Bookkeeper.

Full personal morgage ledgered is quite astonishing! Really interesting case.

Best of luck in announcing the "bad" news to your client.

Kind Regards,

Nathalie xxx

I've always avoided commenting on here and I know the forum is here for all sorts of people to ask questions about things they don't understand but just sometimes I despair at the questions being asked by people who are obviously already working as a bookkeeper or who think its easy and they can learn in 5 minutes. My predecessor at a clients nearly took them under with some of the things she did. She was "finance manager" and dealt with all aspects of the business. Our insurance premium this year is £12k less than last as the rebuild costs she declared were £4 million pounds more than they should have been. The directors car was nearly repossessed on the day he was leaving for 4 weeks in Oz because she ignored some legal documents to reassign a lease because she didn't understand them. She eventually resigned but is now trying for constructive dismissal !!!

In respect of the original post, it's like quite a lot of industries, you get the good, the bad and the downright ugly.

We've seen shocking accounts and tax returns from individuals who are doing it on the side, and some perfectly good ones too.

Ditto for chartered practices.

I suppose that's what happens with low barriers to entry and relatively little regulation.