Everyone is entitled to their idea how to run their business. Given that, below are my views. Not a critique, just my views.
The accountant gives a quote for the given job. The business either acccepts, or declines.
I consider this a false dichotomy. The third option exists: negotiate the price.
That being said, I have done business in many countries and I find the idea of negotiation in Hungary to be fundamentally lacking. The "take it or leave it" concept is very strong here. Meanwhile in some countries, if you do not try to negotiate and "deal" you are considered a business fool. Business cultures can be very different.
For example, recently sold our car. People came to look at it. No one questioned the price when it was stated, they just walked away. Until finally someone gave a counter offer, and the deal was struck. The buyer paid less than I was asking. And got a great car for the price we agreed.
Meanwhile, I knew someone who had a house on the market near where we live. I even gave a slightly less than the asking price offer for it. The offer I gave was still above market, but less than asking as the asking price was simply unreasonable. The seller refused to budge. The seller had that house on the market for 10 years at that price, then he died. That unwillingness to negotiate to close a deal, and then enjoy the profits while one is still alive, makes no sense to me at all.
I see no problem with higher fees if the accountant is "unprepared"; if you ask a factory to produce something, and they have to retool for it, of course they will include the costs in the bill.
There are a few confounding issues there. First of all, retooling is a capital cost. The factory can deduct and amortize this expense so there is no need to charge the client unless the retooling is so specific that no other factor offers this service. But if another factory has those tools already, I would play the factory that does have the tools against the price of the factory that does not to get the best price and deal for myself. That is, the factory's costs to retool should not be my problem or my expense and I would work to make it so.
But for an accountant, this is not a physical tool the accountant is buying. You are instead paying them to learn a skill. Skills are not really capital costs. They can be easily and immediately transfered to any other account and client. It would be like paying a doctor to go to medical school just to be able to do my surgery. So again, no, I will not pay for their education. Education is an investment they should pay for themselves so as to offer a better business skill and portfolio to their prospective clients. Especially for them to "learn on the job" as they will make mistakes and I am not going to pay for their mistakes at my expense.
But if a company cant spare 40000 for accounting, where else can they turn but to such accountants? They exist because there is a market for them. Capitalism, baby!
Capitalism means supply and demand. If a company can not spare 40000 HUF, and there is a demand for less expensive accountants from small businesses, then any accountants willing to enter that niche will find plenty of clients and will clean up. That is, they then supply the demand. Recognizing such niche business opportunities has been my business expertise for decades. Have done well exploiting these "forgotten" domains. 