Crunch Accounting

I was pretty nervous about setting up a company and moving from being a freelancer it’s kind of a scary thing. But at a point I realised I couldn’t freelance forever and figured I should set up as a limited company. I called Crunch on the advice of a friend. I’m so glad I did it’s one of the best business decisions I’ve made over the last few years.
They set me up as a company and explained exactly how their system works. And from that point onwards it’s been great. Invoicing and expensing are a breeze (it’s simple and brilliant) and sorting out my pay and the legalities of it all (the HMRC real time stuff which they do automagically) is easy. I’ve asked loads of questions and looking back some of them seem pretty stupid but they’ve always been brilliant (and incredibly tolerant) about answering everything.
Honestly, I can’t praise them enough. At the end of the day, Crunch is just another tool that helps me get my job done maximise my earnings and take away the hassle. I’ve said it before, but there are very few companies I’m always happy to recommend Crunch is definitely one of those. Tellingly I’ve recommended it to a few of my friends doing a similar job to me. They’ve all signed up they’d all recommend it which is a pretty good sign :)

I was one of Crunch’s very first customers. I was promised a meal if I mentioned the service to others. I did of course, but no meal (just sales talk!). I referred many more people to Crunch who I’m now in the process of referring away. They were fine when they were small. They believed they were being disruptive (a bad term to use, usually means there isn’t yet a market for it). As the company grew the service got worse. No longer was I talking to an accountant, but an account manager. Someone who would either give incorrect advice (pointed out on several occasions, with an oh yeah, you’re right response), or I ended up doing my own accounts and having to get a third party accountant to review them. At best they’re suitable for contractors (I.e 1 client at a time), in which case your tax is simple enough to calculate using FreeAgent or the like. They’ve lost their gap in the market. Xero/​FreeAgent are much better and cheaper, and so is paying an accountant on top to get advice that saves you money. Their software is incredibly slow compared to competitors, they’ve also barely improved their product since it launched despite how much they’ve claimed to spend on it. They’re about to increase their fees which is just a sign that they’re not profitable enough for their shareholders.​They don’t care at all about their clients, which is what you need from an accountant. I don’t want a standard reply from Crunch about how they can improve their service (they can’t), I just suggest other people, especially growing businesses, consider other options or it could cost you many £1000s that you weren’t aware. Go for an online software package + a real life accountant who cares about your business. From what I hear more and more of their customers feel the same so I don’t know how they feel they’ll achieve their growth targets. Investors watch out!

I was with Crunch accountants up until recently and would not recommend either. Customer service is terrible — emails never replied too, phone calls never returned etc. The reason I joined with an accountant in the first place was to get help and advice when I needed it and I’ve ended up having to research all the answers to my questions myself! Upon my research I came across another great online accountant who has been miles better so have moved over to them.
Would NOT recommend this company!

I’ve been with Crunch since I became self-​employed a couple of years ago, and it was one the best decisions I made. The system is easy to use and they continue to add features to make it even simpler. The account managers and team of accountants behind it are great. When I’ve had questions, they’ve always been able to understand and resolve them in a timely fashion as well as teach me a little more about my account, too. Biggest win was passing over my interaction with HMRC on my account to Crunch, with a great saving (the stress doing it has gone!). Thank you Crunch.

I’ve been a Crunch customer for about 6 months and have been really happy with the service easy to use software and I love the fact I’ve got an accountant on the end of the phone. I hate accounting (it’s why I switched degree courses many years ago!) so was pleasantly surprised by how easy it is. Good for a business newbie like me as all my (many) questions can quickly be sorted out over the phone :)

Really simple looking and effective proposition. Friendly contacts, quick and simple and Crunch seem super confident about a simple transition from my old accounting system.

Accounting is generally viewed as boring but important — a confusing chore which most of us dread doing and usually hire someone expensive to do it for us.
Well here is a company which, for a fixed fee, combines online accounting (easy documentation for you) and an accountant that is easily accessible by phone — at no extra cost (hurrah).
The company specialises in contractors, freelancers or people with their own ltd company. I signed up recently and found the whole process surprisingly easy: the staff were really friendly and helpful, the process was quick and they showed me how to save money in tax. Excellent!