An accountant is worth the fee when the agreed work addresses a real need and is delivered reliably. For a care home, compare the service with the work already done by staff, the reporting you need and the risks that need attention. A specialist label is not proof of a saving, and no annual return on the fee can be guaranteed.
Start with the scope and annual cost
Current care-home service fees
- Single residential home: from £795 a month.
- Larger or nursing home: from £1,295 a month.
- Group of homes: from £1,995 a month.
All fees exclude VAT. The care-home service page explains the offer. Agree the tasks, payroll and reporting cycles, entities, access, client approvals and any extra work in writing. A financial evidence pack is separately scoped, from the existing £495 starting fee; it is not a promise of a regulator's or lender's approval.
The monthly starting fees annualise to £9,540, £15,540 and £23,940 before VAT. Add any VAT you cannot recover and separately quoted projects to your actual budget. The existing £1,200 one-off Tax Planning Workshop is optional and separately scoped, excluding VAT.
Check what the work gives you
List the regular outputs: reconciled books, payroll and pension submissions, resident fee checks, management accounts, cash forecasts and annual filings. Management accounts are current internal financial reports used to run the home. Specify their frequency, the measures included, who explains the figures and who acts on them.
For a residential or nursing home, useful measures can include occupancy, fee income by funder, staff and agency costs, overdue balances and cash commitments. Compare these with the approved budget and investigate changes. The provider still supplies operational records, approves payroll and payments and makes staffing and commercial decisions.
Judge value from evidence
- Check whether agreed reports arrive in time for decisions and reconcile to the records.
- Ask whether payroll questions, opening balances and tax issues are resolved with a clear record.
- Separate a tax relief you qualify for from a claimed saving attributed to the accountant. Timing relief may be a cash-flow benefit rather than a permanent saving.
- Count internal time or duplicated work only if you have a reasonable record of it. Do not treat an assumed avoided penalty as money already saved.
Director pay, pension funding, asset purchases and refurbishment may merit a separate tax review. Not every refurbishment item qualifies for the same deduction or allowance. Check ownership, invoices, the nature of the work and the applicable rules; capital allowances are tax deductions for eligible capital spending, not an automatic refund of every project cost.
Keep care-specific checks in the engagement
Payroll should use the actual shift and sleep-in arrangements. Minimum-wage treatment depends on the type of work and the facts, including whether a worker is sleeping with suitable facilities or awake and working. Review the contract and records using the official working-time guidance. Do not assume every night hour has the same treatment.
Qualifying welfare supplied by an eligible provider can be exempt from Value Added Tax (VAT). Registration alone does not make every supply exempt. Staff supply or other activities can have a different treatment. VAT on costs attributable to exempt supplies is generally not recoverable, subject to the relevant recovery rules. See HMRC's welfare notice.
Separate annual accounts from forecasts
The Care Quality Commission (CQC), England's care regulator, requires providers to take reasonable steps to maintain financial viability under Regulation 13 of its Registration Regulations 2009. Accounts, forecasts and cash monitoring can support that work, but no accountant's package guarantees approval. Check the current application-specific document requirements; a signed financial viability statement is not automatically required from every care home or domiciliary agency.
A forecast for occupancy changes, refurbishment or refinancing needs documented assumptions and a clear period. Check who prepares and reviews it and whether the quote includes scenario work. Any required specialist signature or independent opinion needs its own eligibility and scope check. Existing public service statements do not establish that a particular new case has permission to be published.
Compare proposals without assumptions about other firms
Ask every provider for the same list of tasks, deadlines, access, cover and fees. A capable internal team, another accountant or a combined arrangement may already meet your needs. Review the actual service instead of assuming all general firms omit care work or that outsourcing removes every operational risk.
A change can be worthwhile where records are not reconciled, reporting is too late or the required support is absent. Agree the handover and next payroll before ending the existing service. The handover guide gives a checklist, although a residential home's scope needs its own agreement.
Bring a concrete comparison to the first call
Bring your current engagement, recent reports, staff and entity coverage, planned projects and unresolved questions. Ask for the proposed tasks and client responsibilities in writing. Review delivery after the agreed period against those outputs, rather than relying on a promise that the accountant will pay for itself.
Frequently asked questions
Will an accountant always save more than the fee?
Are care-home fees the same as care-agency tiers?
Does annual filing include every forecast or regulatory document?
What should I compare between proposals?
Related guides and services
Discuss your position
A free 15-minute initial call helps establish what you need. Any detailed review, modelling or ongoing work is scoped and priced in writing.
07450 258975. Monday to Saturday, 10am to 7pm.