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. We now:

• Manage a new “VAT help desk” for staff to send through their client VAT queries retained at 25 hours rather than 40 which they felt more comfortable with in case of quieter periods. This consists of an email inbox on their firm’s email server set up so The VAT Team advisory staff all have access and respond to emails within 48 hours. This helped to address the perceived issues of emailing someone external to the business and created a clearer route into us for all their staff to access.
• Help them market the service internally to staff and set up a regular e-newsletter to ensure all staff are kept updated with current VAT challenges/changes.
• Have a programme of activity in place, where we visit their offices, meet the teams, sit with them and discuss first-hand the challenges their clients are facing.

The results

• A very happy client, receiving a more tailored service fitting their needs and aligning with their objectives.
• Since the launch of the new services (June 2023) the monthly usage has exceeded the 25 retained hours due to the increased engagement gained from our efforts. We now regularly exceed 45 hours for the service.
• Through the increase of enquiries, from the period June 2023 to June 2024 we have identified complex VAT projects for which our fees alone are approximately £55,000, that may not have been picked up otherwise.

Working with a client in this way, being a true partner meant that we were able to retain and strengthen the relationship and adapt our services in line with what they needed to get the best of The VAT Team support. The development of the “help desk” email inbox also created a ‘new;’ offering for those firms trying to establish support dealing with general VAT enquiries (as opposed to project work) where staff may be hesitant to engage with an external firm.

“The best VAT service we have ever had.”
- Partner