How We Work

Our Key Principles

1. Intensive Onboarding set up

We aim to onboard clients as quickly as possible in order for you to benefit from the insights we are able to provide. In order to do this, there is an initial period during which we establish your accounts and processes. There is quite a significant amount of work to do at this point:

• Confirm 55 pieces of personal and company information

• Get information from your previous accountant

• Set you up on all our internal systems

• Set up your new payroll

• Register with Companies House and HMRC

• Set up all relevant software

• Analyse your accounts and identify any issues that need to be addressed

• Plan your delivery

• Software training

This is why it is so important for you to work closely with our onboarding team, who will work with you at every step of the way to support you in the transition to the new and improved ‘NA way of doing things’!. They have tight deadlines to work to, but those demands are deliberate, as we want you to see the full benefit of working with NA as soon as possible.

2. Proactive chase of information

We should warn you now, we are going to need A LOT of information from you! We do this for two main reasons.

Firstly, when we have everything we need you can focus on your business and we can act on your behalf, taking the stresses and strains of your accounts away from you.

Secondly, once we have access to your accounts, we are able to deliver the financial information that will make a difference to you, at significantly greater speed.

3. Access Access Access

Access is crucial for us to deliver the service we want you to have. When we have access to your information it means we can take care of so much more, and so much more quickly. Give our expert team the tools, and we will do what we say we are going to do. When we don’t have access it can be like operating with one hand behind your back, and no one wants that!

Some examples of what we need:

Xero & Dext - If we haven’t set it up and you already have this software, we will need access so we can start to work on your accounts remotely and give you insights into your business.

Non-Xero Software - If we do not do the bookkeeping for you and you are not on Xero that is absolutely fine, but in order for us to give you tax planning and quick turnaround of your accounts, we will need a method of access.

Inboxes - If you want us to manage your inboxes and process your accounts information, we will need access to the inbox where all the paperwork goes to.

Suppliers - Authorisation to work with your suppliers on your behalf allows us to get the invoices and statements we need in order to work quickly and effectively on your accounts.

HMRC and Companies House Logins - As an agent that is able to act on your behalf, we should be able to take control of your accounts without you having to assist or provide security codes every time we need access (which can be frequent). It also means if there is a problem we will be able to resolve it, so you don’t need to worry.

Read-only Bank Access - If we do your bookkeeping this is absolutely crucial, because without this we are not able to reconcile your banks, properly close off the months, and give you accurate advice. Read-only bank access is exactly that, we are unable to make any changes whatsoever, but can access your account to download the relevant period’s statements that are necessary to produce your accounts.

From time to time our access, particularly to banks, will time-out and need to be refreshed. Please be quick to respond when we ask for these codes, as it will stop what we are able to do for you.

4. Responsiveness

Obviously you will expect our team to answer your queries and return calls as quickly as reasonably possible. However, we need this too! When you receive our query lists, or when a member of the team needs something (e.g. access, a code, an invoice etc.) any delay can slow down you getting your information and can possibly lead to tax not being claimed. Let’s face it - no one wants that.

5. Communication

In our business, communication is key. It is really helpful to know the best ways to communicate with you and who the key stakeholders are in your business. Similarly if there are ever any changes, e.g. if you change/add banks, secure new loans, team members or personal details change etc. you need to advise us about them so we can continue to work as effectively as possible.

6. Structured meeting plan

Every meeting you have with Northern Accountants will follow a specific agenda that is tailored to your needs and targeted towards what is best for your business. These agendas may cover any combination of accounting analysis and advisory services, where we can give you the latest and most relevant expertise for your business.

Meetings are booked in by our admin team who will work with you to agree a date that is suitable. Please make sure you are available for these meetings as they are essential touch points where our team will deliver YOUR business insights.

7. Access to a specialist team

Although you have a primary Client Manager, you will be introduced to a range of team members who are all specialists in their own fields and can support you whenever you need it. We operate call back policies to ensure that, if you are unable to get through to the person you need to speak to (and another of our amazingly friendly team cannot help you), a meeting slot will go in the calendar to ensure you get help quickly.

8. Transparent Billing

Nobody likes hidden surprises when it comes to billing, so we keep our pricing transparent and consistent. Our principles are clear, we bill for services and not time (unlike a lot of other practices), and we price per service so it is easy for you to add and remove them as required.

At the beginning of your financial year we will review all of your services to ensure we are providing everything you need. Quarterly we will check the number of transactions to ensure the bills for our bookkeeping services are fair for all parties - the amount you pay reflects the number of transactions and your bill will simply go down or up according to that.

9. Direct Debits

To make billing simple and to spread costs, all our services are paid for monthly by Direct Debit. Any changes in services/prices will be reflected by a new Monthly Direct Debit amount.