Alarmingly the word accountant is not a protected term in the UK. This means that anybody can call themselves an accountant! Or for that matter a tax adviser or business consultant! The result is that many of the businesses that call themselves accountants are being run by people without any professional accountancy qualification. What is worse, often many of these firms and individuals are not regulated. That's right, you could open up tomorrow as an accountant with no training, qualification or even professional indemnity insurance! I am sure if you were buying a house you would want a qualified lawyer to handle your affairs, or similarly if you needed an operation you would want a qualified doctor to carry out the procedure. So make sure that you get a qualified accountant to look after your tax and business affairs.
The directors of Harries Watkins & Jones are both members of the ‘Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales' and also the ‘Association of Chartered Certified Accountants'. This means that they: