The FEES are naturally an important issue for our clients. We can sympathise with the fear of spiralling professional costs and the shock of the unexpected fee note.

We believe fees should be openly addressed and, ideally, agreed in advance of an assignment. Wherever we can, we offer a firm written quotation based on the promise:

"Our quotation can be taken as the maximum we would invoice, notwithstanding that our actual time and costs may be higher, in which case we would bear the excess; if our actual costing proves to be lower than the quotation, we would invoice the lower amount."

We derive our charges from a painstakingly correct system of time recording, and base fees upon the grade of staff and the nature of the work, as well as the time spent on a case.

At each stage of an assignment our personnel are charged to clients by reference to the type of work and not merely staff grade. This means senior staff performing less complex work are charged at the lower rate, so for example, a partner engaged on clerical tasks is charged to the client as a clerk.

Unlike many accountants, we are prepared to identify our charge rates in quotations and fee notes, and computer costings support all our invoices. We welcome constructive comments if clients feel that the grade of staff or time allocated to a job can be revised without compromising the quality of results.

It may reassure new clients to know that our fee disputes in the last 5 years, total 3 (out of 6,000 invoices raised) and we have never (in 20 years) had a fee complaint referred to our Institute for adjudication.

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