Interview · 5 Questions
5 Questions with Guilherme Oliveira
The founder of Goldfin Advisory on why most accountants are finishing your sentences after the full stop has already been written.
By S/ME
The founder of Goldfin Advisory on why most accountants are finishing your sentences after the full stop has already been written.
1. Give us the honest pitch. What does Goldfin do that most accountants simply don't?
The filing gets done correctly almost everywhere. What doesn't happen is the conversation in March about whether your salary and dividend split still makes sense, or what pension contributions could actually do for your tax bill before the year closes. By the time year-end arrives, every decision that could have changed the number has already been made. That's the gap I work in.
2. You started the practice deliberately slowly. Why resist the temptation to just take every client you can get?
Because the work I want to do requires actually knowing someone's business. I'd rather have fewer clients I can be useful to without being asked than a long list of names I file returns for and ring once a year. Building a big practice is easy enough if volume is the goal. That's not the goal.
3. Contractors, consultants, directors paying themselves through a limited company, why does that particular client tend to find you?
Because the questions they face are specific and the stakes are real. IR35 status, whether the company structure still fits, what to do with profit sitting in the business, these aren't things most accountants address unless you push. I find that people running their own companies have usually been told what their tax bill is, but rarely why, and almost never what to do about it next time.
4. Fixed monthly fees, what made that a non-negotiable for you?
Surprise invoices are a trust problem as much as a cash flow one. If a client is hesitant to ring me because they're wondering what it'll cost, that's the relationship broken before it starts. Fixed pricing means the conversation can just be the conversation.
5. Finish this sentence: most business owners would be genuinely shocked to discover...
How much of what they're paying in tax was already locked in before their accountant ever saw the numbers. Good planning happens during the year, not after the books have closed, and most people have never had an accountant who made that distinction.
Choose Goldfin Advisory Ltd
Specialism: pensions and director benefits, contractors and consultants working through limited companies — IR35 and employment status assessments, VAT scheme reviews, and the questions that come with running a company properly. Full service list: Bookkeeping and financial record management Payroll administration and auto-enrolment VAT returns, scheme reviews and MTD compliance Self assessment and Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Corporation tax and annual accounts Monthly management accounts Cash flow planning and forecasting IR35 and employment status assessments Tax planning and advisory Free initial consultation, no obligation.
Reader offer: Are you paying yourself the wrong way? Most limited company directors settle on a salary and dividend split once and never revisit it. Tell me your profit and how you currently take it, and I'll tell you what the most efficient split would be — and what the difference is worth. If you're already doing it right, I'll say so.
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