“It’s not as if I’d be able to tell you the difference between Koppel and other tax consultants,” admits Winq Media co-owner Edwin Reinerie, who has been a client of Koppel’s ever since he first went into business for himself. “I haven’t a clue as to whether or not there are fundamental differences between Koppel’s services and those provided by others. Then again there must be a reason why over a period of ten years we’ve never once thought of switching tax consultants.” Clearly Edwin is happy with Koppel’s tax efforts on his (and his business partner’s) behalf.”

Although Edwin couldn’t possibly have known any of this when ten years ago he was introduced to Koppel by a mutual business acquaintance, he happily admits that “we never bothered to shop around, convinced as we were that we had got it right first time”.

Edwin is aware that he is much more than “just a number” where Koppel is concerned: “The staff at Koppel now us as much as we know them. They’re always there for us whenever we have questions. They answer us straightaway if they can or call us back within 24 hours if they need to dig a little deeper.”

Winq has its own controller, whose job it is to keep the day-to-day paperwork in order. “Our controller does all the groundwork, for Koppel to double-check and prepare the financial statements. They really have it down pat between them. They’ll confer where necessary so as to avoid auditing hiccups at a later stage, and although Koppel will inevitably spot the occasional oversight, thanks to the regular contact between them the audit usually goes without a hitch.” Doing his own bookkeeping and filing his own tax returns has never been an option for Edwin: “There are plenty of business owners who use some software package or other to do their own accounts, but I know that’s not for me. It’s all very well to press “export” at the end of the year and offload everything onto your tax consultant, but it’d probably take them much longer to straighten things out than if an experienced controller had done the groundwork in the first place.”

Of course Edwin also has his private accounting records to take care of. “Koppel reconciles my business and personal ‘tax personas’. All I have to do is hand in the paperwork, so that they can crunch the numbers, make sure that I maximise on tax relief and file the return on my behalf. That’s why one-stop shopping is the thing for me.”

The same applies whenever Edwin is in need of advice regarding the structure of his business: “Not too long ago we incorporated a handful of private limited companies which we subsequently had to reduce back into just the one company. We owe it to Koppel’s advice and support that the whole process was completed in time and up to standard.”

Edwin has now also convinced his photographer brother to join forces with Koppel: “He needed a helping hand, having recently set up shop for himself without any prior business experience. Having collected a severance payment from his former employer and being on benefits at the time, he needed Koppel to advise him on the most profitable tax arrangement and on how to make the most of the severance package he had received.”

Now that the Tax and Customs Administration has admitted Koppel Services to its Horizontal Supervision Covenant scheme, “Koppel’s approval instantly prompts the taxman to follow suit, which has significantly improved the rate at which tax audits are carried out and tax returns processed.”

Winq pays a fixed monthly fee for Koppel’s services: “Once a year Koppel calculates the number of hours they have devoted to us. The sum total is divided by 12, for payment in monthly instalments. It’s a great pay-as-you-use system.”

When asked whether he would recommend Koppel’s tax experts, Edwin doesn’t have to think twice: “Of course I would! Their performance over the past ten years has been flawless … and even the biscuits they serve with your coffee or tea are right up there!”