Welcome To MCA Accountants
Find out more about the process to switch here
STEP 1: Familiarise Yourself With Us
Terms and Conditions
Our terms aren’t too different from most accounting firms. We require you to act promptly when we request information, and we rely on the information provided to us (we don’t do a full audit of your accounts, but we do use our professional judgment to find errors).
Our staff do great work, and they deserve to get paid for it. We therefore expect that you pay our fees within the agreed terms. We aren’t heartless however, and we are happy to extend payment terms for those in need.
All client tax refunds come to our trust account first. This is so we can check that your refund is accurate, and like other accounting firms our policy is to deduct any outstanding fees from your refund before we forward it to you. This goes for any related parties also.
Pricing
Pricing varies depending on how much is involved in your work – it’s why accountants don’t have a fixed price for all tax returns. Our price list gives approximate pricing for as many of our services as we can reliably estimate, but it’s a guide only.
Even something as simple as a rental property schedule for a tax return can take 15 minutes or 3 hours – all depending on whether you give us a nice spreadsheet with everything itemised and totalled, or whether you hand us a shoebox full of papers.
If you are price conscious, not an issue, but the onus is on you to make the job as easy as possible for us. Yes, it’s annoying to have to add up all of your receipts yourself, but we aren’t going to do it for free – so it’s up to you whether you take the time to do it, or you pay us to do it.
Mission, Vision, Values
We make things simple, and in return we believe you will never want another accountant.
We’ve lost track of the number of times new clients have come to us and been amazed that for the first time their accountant has explained something to them in a way they could understand.
We are dedicated to helping you understand the tax and business environment you operate in – which in turn allows you to make smart decisions. But this is a two way street…
If you are coming to MCA, chances are you like how this sounds, but it can’t work unless you allow us to keep you informed and updated. Part of this involves subscribing to our email list and our social media sites.
STEP 2: Tell Us About You
Get In Touch
If you think you’d like to work with us, the next step is to reach out to us. You can send an email to admin@mcaaccountants.com.au, or fill out the below form.
Let us know why you’d like to work with us in the message, and a brief overview of your situation and needs (e.g. salary and wage earner with simple tax returns, small business, etc).
Also let us know if you would like a complementary meeting to discuss your needs before you decide to work with us. We will not provide any advice or do any tax work during this meeting. We will ask some questions about you, your business, and what you are looking for in an accountant. We will cover off how we think can help you and approximate pricing for our services.
If we don’t feel that you are a good fit for our firm, we’ll let you know in this meeting or shortly afterwards. We don’t accept all new clients, we require that clients fit with our business model or else the relationship doesn’t work for either of us.
STEP 3: We Collect All Of Your Information & Authority To Act For You
Complete Our New Client Forms
Once we’re happy to work with each other, the next step is for us to get all of your details. That means names, addresses, emails, dates of birth, places of birth, tax file numbers, australian business numbers, companies, trusts, super funds, and much more.
We collect all of this on our new client form. Please don’t provide it to us any other way.
Once we’re all agreed, you will get an email from us with a link to this form.
Perform an ID Check
Anti Money Laundering rules require that we perform ID checks on new clients, so we ask that you are understanding and patient of this process. Our new client form contains an ID check section (using Stripe) to facilitate this.
It is important to note that we cannot start working with you until this is completed. We will require this is done before booking in any appointments to go over your tax returns.
Provide Copies Of Your Tax Returns
Your previous tax returns and financial statements are more than a treasure trove of information to us – they are vital for us to do our job. We will need the past 2 years, plus we will need to get any depreciation schedules, hire purchase agreements, and cost details of capital assets.
These documents are to be uploaded to us via the new client form.
Tell Us Who Is Allowed To Act On Your Behalf
You may want other people to be able to work with us on your behalf, so we need to know who they are. By default, we assume that you are happy for your spouse to act on your behalf and access your information, and by law company directors, trustees of trusts, etc are allowed to act on behalf of those entities.
If you want other people to be able to send us information and discuss things with us, you are required to let us know who these people are, and we by law have to do an ID check on those people also.
STEP 4: We Obtain Ethical Clearance
What Is Ethical Clearance?
A requirement of our professional bodies is that we contact your previous accountant and ask if there are any reasons why we shouldn’t take you on as a client. If you have a history of dishonesty (for example, you provide false information to your accountant) – we will decline the appointment.
Collection Of Other Information
Typically accountants will provide us with the bare minimum upon losing a client. The most common phrase we see is “our client has been provided copies of their tax returns” when we ask for copies.
Assuming your fees are paid up, your accountant will release any of your original documentation they hold (such as company constitutions, bank statements, receipts, etc), but generally not much more – which is why we ask for it all from you in the previous step.
STEP 5: Confirm Services And We Get To Work
Our Services
If you haven’t already, you need to confirm exactly what you would like us to assist you with.
Sign Agreements
Some of our services have agreements that require signing before we can commence, and some require a direct debit arrangement.
Provide Information
Naturally, if we are going to be performing work for you, we will need you to provide us with the relevant information to do this.
You can post it, email it, upload it via our website, or upload it via your client portal.
