A recent client acquisition was a firm operating across multiple sites with more than 50 staff. Running a busy VAT department and servicing a broad SME client base, by late 2024 the firm’s VAT team was facing a perfect storm of pressures:

On-boarded in early 2024, we were involved in a rigorous tender process to work with a London based firm with 20+ partners. Despite being almost unknown within the Partner Group we were shortlisted to the final two. Being shortlisted was a huge achievement due to the value this firm places on its client relationships and high quality of personal service. The reason we were ultimately successful was the enthusiasm and the commitment we showed to their retention and VAT service line growth.

In the spring 2024 one of our first clients, a top 50 with 20+ offices, using The VAT Team for complex VAT advisory projects negotiated a retained 40-hour contract for VAT support for staff seeking general VAT advice for clients. For the first three months the 40 hours were significantly underutilised and firm sought to be released from the contract.

We analysed the engagement and discovered that 20% of offices/partners were rarely engaging with us. We knew that meant there was VAT work not being identified, pitched or delivered. Furthermore, there was a high risk of upsetting or losing clients (finding VAT support and subsequently all their accountancy services elsewhere) or facing unnecessary PI claims when the VAT position hadn’t been fully explored or advised on. In response to this we developed, a new commercial arrangement that suited them more effectively.

One of our smallest clients in size, a niche tax advisory business, is also one of our largest in value. We provide a delivery overflow, holiday/sickness cover and peer review service, so they can concentrate on client retention and business growth. Because of their size and our skill set, we discussed and developed an offering to build business development and marketing into our services.

We developed another new service offering this year in response to significant staff changes in one of our biggest clients, a top 50 firm with 10 plus offices and 30+ partners. Having made a number of successful hires, including a VAT partner, the client’s team went from significantly under resourced to having the capacity required to meet the majority of their VAT needs.

A top 100, full-service accountancy practice, was struggling to recruit a replacement for their only VAT consultant. It isn’t an uncommon scenario within large firms to be reliant on a very small VAT team. The collaborative nature of VAT means larger VAT teams will, for many VAT consultants, have a greater appeal due to the desire to work as part of a team on solution-based advice.

The firm is very progressive and has ambitious plans within the market and requires strong, specialist teams to support their growth aims.

The VAT Team was recently engaged by a full-service accountancy firm to give the VAT department the capacity to support the firm’s audit function. Being a full-service accountancy firm, priding themselves on their proactive service, they needed additional specialist VAT capacity to review the VAT affairs of some of their more complex clients.

The VAT Team was able to support the in-house VAT provision, by working directly with the audit partners to identify potential clients that would benefit from a VAT specialist review of the VAT section of the audit documentation.