Choose-Your-Accountant | Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the site do?
How does it work?
Why post a job ad?
I am an accountant, what are the benefits of using Choose-Your-Accountant?
What are the costs?
How does the site make money?
What information should I include in my job description?
I am having trouble logging in, can you help?
I have purchased credits but my credits balance hasn't changed.
Can I be sent a receipt for my purchase of credits?
I am an accountant, how can I improve my chances of getting work via Choose-Your-Aaccountant?
Can I see which jobs I have already tendered for?
I have a question / problem, how can I contact Choose-Your-Accountant?

1. What does the site do?

Choose-your-accountant.co.uk has a simple aim:

To help users find their most suitable accountant with minimum effort.
To help accountants find good clients in the most cost effective manner possible.

2. How does it work?

Step 1: Those users who require work to be done can post a job ad for free.

Step 2: Accountants who are interested in jobs posted on our site must first register, a straightforward process. Once registered, the accountant may tender for jobs posted on our site. A small fee is charged for each tender sent.

Step 3: Having received tenders from accountants, the user can then compare the details of each tender, based on the cost estimate given, the accountant’s particulars and the feedback other users have made. Once satisfied the user may the then select the best accountant.

Step 4: Once the job is completed by the accountant, the user is then able to provide feedback on the accountant in question.

3. Why post a job ad?

Advertising your accounting requirements on our website has a number of benefits:

No Hassle: Searching for accountants be both time consuming and hard work. We make this process easy, and contact accountants on your behalf. And you only have to provide the job information once, not a number of times.

It's Quick: Generally speaking, a well-written advert will receive interest very quickly. The details of this interest will be sent to you by email. You will then be able to compare and contrast the tenders from the comfort of your desk.

Compare quotes: Getting a number of different estimates from different accountants means you can ensure value for money.

It's Free: Yes that's right! It doesn't cost a thing to post a job ad. You really do have nothing to lose.

4. I am an accountant, what are the benefits of using choose-your-accountant?

It's Effective: Choose-your-accountant enables you to pick and choose the clients that you want to tender for. You won't be contacted for jobs that you are not interested in with clients that are too small or too big. And you can be sure that you are one of a maximum of 5 businesses to tender for any job.

It's Cost Efficient: Many businesses spend hundreds or thousands of pounds on upfront advertising in directories with no control over the exact number or type of leads. With choose-your-accountant you are only charged for each tender that you send. If you don't see any ads that catch your eye you pay nothing.

We aim to be the most cost effective way of generating new business. That's why tendering for a job costs as little as 1 credit (from just £3).

It advertises your Quality: Building a good reputation in your business locality can take a long time. Our system of registering comments with regard to your work means that you can make the quality of your work count over and over again. Your feedback will be strong, and a long line of positive comments will give re-assurance to prospective clients.

Getting started? It only takes a couple of minutes to register (free).

5. What are the costs?

Posting a job ad: Posting a job ad is Free!

Tendering for jobs: Advertising your business to a user on our site costs as little as 1 credit (from £4.25). Accountants must purchase credits in advance. Credits can be purchased securely and instantaneously by credit or debit card payment.

6. How does the site make money?

We charge a small fee (from around £4) to accountants who wish to tender for an ad.

7. What should I include in the description of my job?

We automatically ask you for the key information. But try to be as precise as possible when writing the description of a job. If applicable, you should include all of the following:

A little on your company - for instance if the sales are rapidly growing
How many transactions you have per month
How good your records are, for instance whether your books reconcile to your bank statements. If you use an accounting package, say which one.
Any time constraints you wish to place on job completion.

8. I am having trouble logging in, can you help?

If you are an accountant and are having trouble logging in, here are the first three thing you should check:

Check your username and password by requesting confirmation
Ensure that caps lock and any other key locks are off
Ensure that cookies are enabled

If you are still having difficulties please contact us using the email address in question 12.

9. I have purchased credits but my credits balance hasn't changed.

If you purchased credits using a credit or debit card, your choose-your-accountant account balance will usually reflect this purchase virtually instantaneously. If this is not the case then the PayPal payments system may be under heavy use. Simply log back into your account in a couple of hours and your new credits should be available.

If you purchased credits using a PayPal "e-cheque" (a transfer from your bank account) we cannot credit your Choose-Your-Accountant balance until the funds have cleared. This usually takes 5 to 7 working days. You will receive a confirmation email from PayPal when the funds have cleared, after which your choose-your-accountant account will be credited.

10. Can I be sent a receipt for my purchase of credits?

Yes, you will be sent a receipt automatically by email for your purchase of credits. You should received this email within a couple of hours of making the payment.

11. I am an accountant, how can I improve my chances of getting work via choose-your-accountant?

Here are our top tips on giving yourself the best chance to win the contracts available on choose-your-accountant.

Make contact with a user who placed his or her job online recently. We contact you by email each time a job that we think is of interest to you is posted online. Soon after this is the ideal time to contact the user is question.

Your general advert should contain background information about you business. Further more your specific message should try to be specific to the client;s requirements. You should be seen to be taking an interest in their job in particular. For example "Please contact me on ..... " would be a poor message.

You should also provide a rough estimate, based on the information provided. You can provide guidelines e.g. "500-700 pounds" but try to be as accurate as you can. It boosts the confidence of the client in your capabilities.

Further information on improving you conversion rate can be found here.

12. Can I see which jobs I have already tendered for?

Yes. Simply login to your account and click on "My tenders". You will see all the tenders you have sent.

13. I have a question / problem, how can I contact choose-your-accountant?

If you have any problems using the site, or have any questions about how the site operates simply send us an email to helpdesk@choose-your-accountant.co.uk