Coastal Accounting Limited

While the team at Coastal Accounting were friendly during my interaction with them. I am disappointed with the final outcome, and am writing this review to suggest they may not be the best fit for small business owners. My small business grew very quickly and within my first year of being in business needed to register for GST. I sought their services to see what the best pathway forward was for me. I do not consider myself an expert in accounting, and like to seek professional help to ensure I am making the best possible decision for myself and my business. I had previously been using Hnry for my accounting/tax needs, and was still using this at the time of consultation with Coastal Accounting. At the initial meeting I found Hazel helpful in discussing the GST aspect of business, but was surprised by the gap in knowledge surrounding Hnry. I understand that Xero is a standard platform for many businesses, particularly working through an accounting firm, but with many start up business using the Hnry software, I would have expected an accountant to understand where their clients would be coming from in order to best serve them. The reason I say this, is that Hnry offers the ability to do your GST for you by simply toggling a button in the profile. After meeting with Hazel, I decided to sign on with the team and change to xero as it seemed like the best pathway forward for my business. In the weeks after, prior to heading in for my set up consultation for xero etc, I received a call from Hnry as they had been removed as my tax agent and wanted to check in. I talked them through my plans. Now I know everything is not about money, but as a small business sole trader in their first year it reeeally can make or break you. As I had been with Hnry for 3 months shy of a financial year, I had essentially already paid them $1500 to carry out my tax return. By switching to the accountant and xero at the time that I did, I was to pay that AND the accountant and xero a further similar sum to complete the same task. The resolution I would have liked to have been offered (in hindsight) would have been: the team at Coastal Accounting to have suggested I sign on as a client, but stay with Hnry until they had filed my current year tax return and then transition from them to xero. This would have saved me over a thousand dollars. I feel like this would have been a better financial decision for me and my business, and did not feel "looked after" as an individual business with individual needs. After I realised this I contacted Coastal Accounting to thank them very much, but that I would not be needing their services at this time, this was politely accepted and followed up with a final statement from them for $646, for onboarding and 2 months of xero. I have paid this, as they did carry out work to onboard me as a client in the background, albeit a bit gutted at such a steep bill! I have chalked this up to a big learning experience and will be sure to take my time to really assess big business decisions such as this in the future.
Jan 22nd, 2023

I was unhappy with the service at Coastal Accounting (lots of systems issues meaning I didnt get email reminders as promised about when to pay provisional tax and how much) so decided to change to a different firm. They told me I had to pay for two more months of Xero but then cut off my subscription early despite me paying. No response to my email about this. I doubt my money actually went towards the Xero subscription. Im glad Ive left and wont have to deal with them anymore.
Jun 25th, 2022

Positive: Professionalism, Quality, Responsiveness, Value
Mar 11th, 2022

I cant recommend Hazel for Cash Flow training enough, she really helped me create a plan and goals that I have been following and working towards since. Being a creative Im not great with my accounts so I needed someone to walk me through exactly what I needed to do to get ahead of all my tax obligations, she didnt make me feel silly for asking the same thing over and over. I feel much more confident that I can not only stay on top of all things tax related but can achieve the goals we set out. Highly recommend Hazel for all things accounting and cash flow!
Mar 7th, 2022

Positive: Professionalism, Quality, Responsiveness, Value
Aug 31st, 2020