Callan Accountancy Opiniones 

SAVE YOURSELF THE TIME, MONEY AND NERVES AND GO SOMEWHERE ELSE

Unfortunately I must warn others not to use this firm as I could not imagine accountancy service that is worse than the one I received. Stephen, the director, seems fine as long as everything is going his way, but as soon as something changes he becomes very unprofessional. This quote from him should give you an idea: “Now if you don’t mind I will go back to enjoying what I do best which is make money.” Yes, it seems all he cares about is making money and providing accountancy service or customer service in general is not his priority at all.

I am not sure what is Stephen’s background, I have not seen any evidence he is a qualified accountant. He surely is a director of many companies – his name shows up on Companies House search quite a lot next to some active and inactive tax advice firms. In the short, three month period when I was Stephen’s customer two out of three people I dealt with left the firm. One was a junior staffer tasked with all payroll and administration related work and the other was a qualified accountant. I never met Stephen although he agreed to meet me on the first day when I asked to see him in his office. I was greeted on the day by the senior accountant who left the firm shortly after. She apologised for Stephen’s absence.

My grim experience with Callan started with an email I sent out on 17 August 2017 to a number of accountancy firms. Stephen replied quickly to my email promising all the things I was looking for as a small, one person IT company I just started – accountancy, financial planning, guidance and advice. I was looking for a company who would provide a personalised service for a good price. I quickly signed up. My first disappointment was when they started asking for money. I did not mind paying of course, I wanted to pay by a bank transfer straight to their bank account instead of going through online payment gateway. It took some time, emails and phone calls before they gave me a sort code and account number I could pay the money into – for full year ahead of course. Then there was a whole series of events that eventually convinced me Stephen’s company was not what I signed up for. I felt I was being neglected as a customer. They gave me incorrect advice on how to reference monthly HMRC tax payments what resulted in HMRC sending me payment reminders. I was sent another company’s confidential information in error (monthly payroll and other confidential information) which seriously undermined my trust in their service.

The worst part was that they were ignorant about their mistakes and very slow to admit their errors. I needed to make repeated attempts to get them to provide reassurance my details were not sent by mistake to anyone else. They were slow to respond to my emails and Stephen was never in the office when I tried to phone. I finally decided to cease any dealings with Callan and deauthorise them to represent me on 29th of December 2017 requesting a refund for their services. It became apparent at this point that Stephen had no intention of giving me any refund.

Long story short, I paid Callan over £1400 in fees, I left the company in December 2017, Stephen finally refunded me £520 by sending a cheque with no accompanying letter or refund calculation on the 26th of March. This review is way too long already to describe the struggle I had to go through to get any money back from this man. I want to warn others of Stephen’s refund tactics. Stephen keeps postponing the refund by weeks and months and that is if you manage to contact him. In my experience, the only way to get another promise of a payment from him was to send emails copying everyone in his office in. This allowed him to claim he needs to deduct money from my refund because everyone in his office had to read my emails. Getting Stephen to process the refund was one of the worst nightmares I ever had to go through. I am absolutely convinced that I would never see any money back if I were not able to put some pressure on him by phoning the office and copying his staff in my emails.

I read the positive reviews about the company and I have to say they all seem to me to incredibly unrealistic given my experience with Stephen and Callan Accountancy.

After being recommended to use Callan Accountancy over 15 years ago, I can honestly say it has been the best decision I have made. He helped me through the first years of business, getting my accounts organised and showed me that it is not as daunting as I previously presumed (which as a new business man helped relieve a large amount of stress). As well as making my first years of business easier, Mr Ward and his company have helped me when my business expanded and even with the changes to date as my company keeps growing. I do not live near the business (over 180 miles away) so deal with the company over the phone or via email frequently, and have always found the staff friendly and extremely helpful. Mr Ward himself has always been polite, efficient and makes doing my accounts so simple and stress free. If you are looking for someone who is professional, yet friendly, then I would highly recommend his firm Callan Accountancy.

I have only started using Callan Accountancey over the past year and I have found their staff very helpful, friendly who offer a great service

callan accounts have looked after my paperwork for the last 4/5 years and have offered a first class service always

I started my Electrical Contracting business in Feb 2015 and got in touch with Stephen around November of the same year. Being new to running a business can be a bit daunting especially everything related to HMRC, however Stephen clearly explained the tax side of things to me and the company as a whole have been great ever since.

My first year's accounts were filed on time and the team at Callan always let me know what I need to do and when I need to do it. They also offer me advice when I need it and are a very helpful and professional company to have by your side.

I have never had any issues with this company and will continue to use them quite happily.

4 years we have been with callan now and everything is effortless. I'm no good at this stuff so I leave it to the professionals and they get it done for me at an affordable price. A service I can't go without.

Stay well clear of Callan Accountancy, to date I have had to pay HMRC in the region of £3500 for late tax returns. I am a Limited company with only myself and my wife as employee's and they cant even manage that

My brief history with Callan, all of which can be evidenced.
First couple of years, fine.
Then asked by Stephen to post positive reviews to counteract negative feedback by others.
Found out I was being charged for a service I wasn't receiving.
Received aggressive emails when I queried this.
Suddenly was forced to pay up front because I was "receiving a service throughout the year".
Requested advice on several occasions. No reply. No acknowledgement. No advice. Big phone bill due to repeated calls to HMRC to get advice I was paying Callan to give.
Sent info for company return 2015-16 in May 2016.
Had discussions with Callan in June to refine detail.
Contacted Callan many times throughout December 2016
expressing concern about not having received accounts for filing.
No acknowledgement. No response. No accounts.
Received letters from Companies House and HMRC telling me my accounts are almost due and if not filed on time will result in a penalty fine plus interest.
Contacted Callan many times in early January. No acknowledgement. No response. No accounts.
Finally received a response on January 9th, stating the matter would take a short time to look into and I would receive clarification that week.
One day before the deadline, Stephen provides the information and tells me it was done in September. The short time he said it would take to ideal with this turned out to be 21 days. To look up a file.
The take away message is: STEER CLEAR OF CALLAN ACCOUNTING.

FURTHER TO STEPHEN WARD'S RESPONSE TO MY POST

I was told on several occasions prior to my posting last week that the member of staff to whom Mr Ward refers was no longer with the company. To claim he was sacked as a result of my posting is in direct conflict with statements made by several Callan staff and by Stephen Ward himself.

After posting my positive review a while ago, the level of service dropped significantly. In the last 18 months many emails and phone calls went unanswered. The stress this caused, particularly over the past 6 weeks, has been immense.

I always speak as I find, truthfully and openly, in the hope others will be able to make an informed decision.

Thank you to all your staff for the help they have given us. They were always available for any queries which we did appreciated. Best of luck in all your business. Thanks for the help.

They make the accounts easy to manage, with friendly efficient service. Any queries are dealt with and communication is informative and productive.

Useful monthly payment service, useful social media content, yes I would recommend them, they got me out of a hole when let down by a previous accountant and have maintained my trust over the years

2 years with this company, first one ok, the second a total nightmare.
Sent in my data, received and paid Callan's upfront fixed fee invoice a month later (for completion of abbreviated accounts, full accounts, and self assessment), then heard nothing for months. Emails went unanswered for weeks on end, up to and beyond the filing deadline, so naturally I was concerned about having missed it.
The accounts were apparently filed on the deadline, WITHOUT me being informed, or given the chance to see or approve them. I was not given the abbreviated accounts until 2 weeks after the deadline.
I was not given the full accounts at all. Emails I sent asking for the full accounts went unanswered, and, because I asked publicly on their fb page for a reply, I got a rare email response from Stephen in which he ranted in a barely comprehensible manner and resigned as my accountant. WITHOUT completing the work I paid for, or refunding the portion of the work he couldn't be bothered doing.
They had also insisted that I pay monthly towards NEXT year's fees, which I did, and although they will not be doing that work they refuse to refund that money too.
In what universe is this ethical, professional or honest behaviour?
Callan are not accredited with any of the regulatory accountancy bodies so they are not bound by a code of conduct.
The icing on the cake is that I have since hired a properly qualified and professionally accredited accountant to do what I already paid Callan to do, and they have informed me that the figures in the abbreviated accounts are total nonsense.
I would not go near Callan with a barge pole, and definitely would not recommend giving them any money upfront.

In response to Stephen's comments below
_______________________________________

The matter is now being discussed in public because you refused to resolve it privately, despite being given multiple opportunities to do so.
The issues arose because you have not fulfilled your side of the agreement and appear to lack the ability to do the right thing.
It is not reasonable to take the money, not do the work, and yet keep the money. It is absolutely your right to refuse to do work, but in that instance you refund the client for what you fail to complete.

I have not made any statements which are not true. If you are in fact now accredited with one of the regulatory bodies please advise which one and I will address them about your conduct. Neither you nor your firm show up as a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, you do not show up as a member in the records of ATT, and you do not show up in the records of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

After my negative experience with you I was careful to check out my current accountant prior to agreeing a contract.
Funnily enough they do show up in the records of their chartered institute, have a communication policy which means they always reply within 24 hours, complete the agreed work, and show up with a professional attitude in every communication. You could learn a lot from this.

15/4/2015
Further to your additional comments:-
__________________________________
So much misinformation to address, so little time.
1) I offered to have a face to face meeting to resolve this a couple of months ago, you ignored the suggestion.
2) We had a fixed fee agreement, I have this in writing from you, in multiple forms. I also have the initial terms of business we agreed upon.
3) I paid the agreed fixed fee upfront, to cover the work you were supposed to do. I have proof of this.
4) You did not do the work you were paid to do. I have proof of this too.
5) As you did not do the work you were paid upfront to do, it is you who owe me money.
6) Stating that I owe you anything is complete fabrication. Given that you have performed zero work outside of our fixed fee agreement, and performed less than half of what was agreed *inside* of our fixed fee agreement, please state exactly what it is that you are asserting is chargeable.
7) I would be delighted to present the compilation of evidence of this to any interested parties.
8) I do not have the time to attend your office w/c 18th April due to other pre-existing commitments. I am available in Edinburgh the following week however.
9) I am no longer receiving emails at my prior email address. If you do in fact have constructive intent in resolving this matter, please send it in writing to my registered office address outlining how you propose to resolve the matter and I will respond to you asap. Alternatively you may leave a voicemail at my previous phone number, and again, I will respond as soon as possible.
10) I had, and continue to have, an extremely positive relationship with my previous accountant. I moved only because I did not require the size of offering that came with a large prestigious firm. They did not 'warn' you about me. Your attempts to discredit both me, and my new accountant, whose conduct is exemplary, are completely transparent.
11) While you continue to dishonestly hold funds for uncompleted work which rightfully belong to me, I will continue to leave this in place to warn other potential clients of your conduct.

We have been using Callan for almost a year now from when I set-up my own small company. They have provided lots of information, experience, options and guided me upon best solutions financially. I have no worries from a financial side of things as they take car of everything for me, from PAYE, VAT, TAX, HMRC, company and financial returns etc etc. Best of all they are competitive on price compared to some others and any questions I have given them they have always answered quickly and consistently. I would highly recommend.

I recommend Callan as a one-stop shop for all business and financial services. Knowing all of these things are being taken care of by people I trust lets me focus on my business. Stephen and his team really are the best!

Stephen and his team are very helpfull and have all the answers your looking for I have been using them for a while now so inhave no complaints at all .

Been doing business with this lovely company for about a year and I can only say good things about the company,the staff and boss. I have constantly recommended the company to my friends simply because they listen and always ready to assist and give you the best advice possible. Top company and I will continue to recommend to anyone

We have been dealing with Stephen from Callan since 2009 and obviously must getting along if still doing business after 6 years. Simple reason is that Stephen and his now many highly trained pleasant staff simply don't cause me stress over the scary government stuff. Would easily recommend to anyone!!!

Nick Swan

Nationwide Granite Ltd