Personalised accounting
As a society, we love generalisations; all HMRC are evil, all car salesmen are out to get one over on you, all accountants are boring. These messages are simple to digest and easy to remember. The reality is of course that none of these things is true. Each group of people demonstrate a spectrum of behaviours and the stereotype is not only false but it can also be offensive.
Moreover, every individual is complex and will display a range of behaviours depending on how they feel on a particular day and what is going on in their own lives. Every accountant has met a tax inspector who appears charming and personable and yet on another day may be simply intolerable. Realising that each person is an individual and trying to understand where they come from, what makes them tick and then communicating with them in a personalised way will create stronger relationships and better outcomes.
Throughout our lives, we face situations where there is a strong temptation on the provider to generalise; but success can be gained if someone takes the time and effort to look at us as individuals. In the education system, for example, it would be easy to treat all students in the same way, provide one type of learning and one type of performance measurement. The teachers we remember though, are the ones who could differentiate, inspire us with their knowledge and at the same time make us feel valued, even when we doubted ourselves.
HMRC recently published their service levels for the quarter to September 30, 2021. They are clearly really struggling following the Covid pandemic. Anyone who has had to call them over the past year will probably have experienced long waits to be answered and complex automated systems which often drop the call.
The current wait time to have a call answered by HMRC is more than ten minutes, by which time over two million people per year have hung up — and one caller in five does not find the answer to their question, when they finally do get through. This needs urgent attention.
However at the same time, there have been signs of compassion and personalisation; for example, there are record numbers of people on “time to pay” arrangements. When someone cannot pay their tax debts, HMRC can either start bankruptcy proceedings or they can come to an arrangement to spread the payments over an extended period. These sometimes work against HMRC as people can default on the arrangement and end up in a worse financial situation at the time of default. This means that HMRC ends up with less cash than they would have done had they forced a bankruptcy earlier.
Agreeing extended time to pay involves HMRC taking the time to listen to the taxpayer’s personal circumstances and then agreeing a bespoke repayment plan which is affordable and fair. Each plan is unique to the particular taxpayer and as long as the plan is kept to, the taxpayer will be saved from debt collection proceedings.
HMRC’s latest published figures also show that over 80 per cent of appeals to HMRC against automated penalties are being accepted. Automated penalties are raised using standardised measurements. Cancelling them will mean, once again, that someone has taken the opportunity to review a person’s individual circumstances, particularly during the Covid period, and agreed that what would normally be a reasonable penalty, should be waived.
When deciding on which accountant to use, people also have choices; large firm or small firm, friend, recommendation or internet search, specialist or generalist. Each has its own strengths and there is not one size or type which fits all. However many people who I meet when they are looking for an accountant have “someone who they can talk to” at the top of their criteria.
Accounts and tax can easily be commoditised; after all “it’s only bookkeeping and processing numbers”. The business relationships which are most successful and sustained are the ones where the client and accountant really understand each other; it is not about anyone having a quick sale or a shortterm win. They are both in it for the long haul, and each client should get a personalised service.
The past few years have been tough and many organisations are still a long way from being back to full strength. However there is room for many of us to be more understanding. We want people to be with us when we have an off day and when someone steps out of standardised mode and connects with you personally, take a moment to remember that in today’s world, they are swimming way against the tide. So enjoy the moment, even if it comes from the most unlikely of places.
When someone steps out of standardised mode, enjoy it