CDF Estates

CDF Estates have been delighted by the way we have transformed their business practices.

CDF Estates were formed in 2006 by Italy born Claudio De Falco, who moved over to the UK in 1987. Although he came from a hospitality industry, he did have experience of the rental sector from being a private landlord. The motivation to start CDF Estates was borne from the number of requests he received from private landlords asking him to look after their properties as well as his own.

Early issues to overcome included:

A general wariness that landlords had of letting agents
Ensuring the right accounting procedures were in place
Choosing the right software
Sourcing quality, reliable contractors
Getting the right staff in place
Complying with HMRC deadlines

CDF Estates focussed on offering a fantastic service at a very reasonable price and it is this strategy that has enabled them to grow from strength to strength. Expansion has also led them to opening another branch in Hucknall, to complement the Head Office at Sherwood.

We are the third accountancy firm that CDF have used, earlier problems encountered with our predecessors were:

A lack of communication
Not having one point of contact – being passed over to junior members of staff
No proactive tax planning
A lack of knowledge in certain areas of taxation
Filing deadlines taken right to the wire
A large amount of HMRC enquiries

Karl Watts met with CDF Estates in 2013, following up on a lead we received through our website. He remembers the first thing Claudio asked him –

“Are you a one man band, I only want to deal with a one man band?”

At that time, we were. We went on to establish that Claudio wished to work with an Accountant that he could build a great relationship with, where he felt comfortable asking any questions, where he would not be passed from pillar to post and with someone who had a detailed knowledge of tax law, not just in this country but who was also well versed on international taxation issues.

We are very careful that we do not lose sight of the appeal that sole trader Accountants hold, although we have grown rapidly, we are determined to treat our clients in the same manner that a “one man band” Accountant would.

We quickly established that a business of this size needed a lot more than a once a year rush job of annual accounts being produced, we went on to:

Recommend and implement a quarterly bookkeeping service on Xero software
Collect and drop off the relevant paperwork
Arrange quarterly management meetings to discuss the business
Advise on overseas capital gains
Advise on the most tax efficient way to deal with company vehicles
Advise on and set up auto enrolment
Negotiate with lenders on mortgage terms

Presently, business has never run smoother. The days of last minute rush jobs have long gone and Claudio is looking forward to Sunny Accountants working alongside CDF Estates as he gears up towards retirement and beyond. Our long term focus with CDF includes: