We thought the questions asked in the discussions area in our Crowdfunding Raise were superb so we wanted to replicate them here. Please let’s keep the discussions going and put forward your ideas to keep growing Crunch (and therefore your investment!)
Investor query (originally posted on Seedrs):
Ive been watching this and have taken a small position today. By chance I have just launched my own Ltd company which starts trading in January, so your Limited version is especially interesting. However at £75 a month it is not affordable to a new start up. I have taken a two year subscription with Quickbooks on a £11 a month deal. That does most but not all of your functions and I will still need an accountant to file Ltd Co. returns. I will be keeping an eye open here for progress and look to swap in due course once it develops and possibly becomes more affordable.
Our response:
Firstly, thank you for your investment and well done on launching your own LTD, it feels good and exciting I hope (if a little daunting).
This is a perfect question, thank you.
Ok so you’ve already spent £132 on software alone per year, got it. Let me approach this in 2 steps, one from a pure software perspective and running it as cost effectively as possible and next, really comparing apples with apples on software and service.
Software only / cost effective step
Firstly, if I can be so bold? Why? Crunch Free provides everything you need to run your brand new Ltd company business. See the attached comparison to QB.
So at the point you need more features in your accounting software and advice
Crunch Pro package comes in at £906 and comes with absolutely everything, VAT setup and checking, Limited company full accounts production, registered office service, client manager support whenever you need it and unlimited accountancy support. All in one place, all beautifully integrated.
So I could break this down and show you how much each element is but let’s zoom in on the biggest cost, the annual accounts production.
From all our surveys you can find a backstreet accountant maybe for £400 but if there are any issues or questions, the price ramps up. Of course you can go super cheap but you’ll just get the production and filing and you need to hope for the best. My advice now is to go searching for the price and feedback here in the discussion. Good plan?
So now there is a £374 difference to see if you can add on X hours of advice you’ll need across the year, the vat setup and management/filing (if you hit the threshold), the registered office and solid reassurance that someone is there to keep firing questions at (without the old fashioned accountancy clock ticking).
My mantra to myself has always been to surround myself with experts (hence my amazing leadership team) and I always want our clients and members to focus on what they are good at. Going on a big shopping trip to find an accountant is wasteful of your time and always a gamble finding someone who will deliver (and not make a big mistake at the low price bracket end).
Factor in that accountancy is tax deductible and the cost to you deminishes.
I think you’ve brought up a brilliant point that customers get lured by huge discounts from discount shops like QuickBooks and then spend a lot of time putting all the services they need at considerable time cost and risk. So if this is a common approach maybe Crunch needs a pizza style menu so we can break it down?
Crunch is super agile, we have to be to compete against the goliaths, the US and New Zealand based firms that operate here. I think I have a plan to present the pricing in a different way! Thank you!
Darren. CEO & Founder.
