Self Employed/Freelance workers

gabriella

gabriella

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Hi

Are there any self employed people/freelancers out there who have experience of working through a limited company (aka managed limited company/composite/umbrella company)?

I am after some information to compare the above route with going as a sole trader. I am about to set up as self employed and need to check a few things out + thought 'there must be someone on the site who knows about this'!!

If anyone can help me, please can you PM me through the site??

Many thanks

Gabs xx

PS Don't panic, I am not going to venture into the world of computers just yet!!
 
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When setting out in business, you will probably be setting up on your own, using your own personal capital to get started. If this is the case you will be known as a Sole Trader. The sole trader is the most simplest business to develop as it initially consists of only you (the one man band), and has very little legal formalities, obligations or constraints attached to this form ownership as opposed to other forms; in fact it is just a case of informing the tax inspector and contributions agency of your intentions and you can begin to trade. You also need only a small amount of capital and you're off!
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http://www.businessbureau-uk.co.uk/new_business/sole_trader.htm


http://www.fastlinksolutions.co.uk/limitedc.htm

Yep, started in 1985 ... never really worked under an "umbrella" of another company though.

However, I did go on a 6 week coarse, free government sponsored, and learned a few things as to what was legally expected from me. So much so that I actually registered for VAT ... my business was such that although I paid VAT on materials, paper, I could not charge VAT on the product, menu's manuals and such, as they were VAT exempt ... always seemed to get a check from the VAT as opposed to paying any. Well most of the time. ;)

Give me a PM if you to pick my brain, retired two years ago. :D
 
Have been trading as a sole trader for, um, four years now. Just about to register for VAT.

Don't really know what I'm doing tbh, lol, I do have public liability insurance in place, keep books, just about to find an accountant to hopefully get some advice.

And on an upnote, today I won two big contracts/jobs, a CCTV system and a public address system for a new school building.

Tendered/quoted in December and November respectively.

Sometimes, things go well :)
 
floppybootstomp said:
And on an upnote, today I won two big contracts/jobs, a CCTV system and a public address system for a new school building.
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Nice one Tony :D
 
Well done Floppy, good on you. :thumb:

VAT is pretty simple ... you are an un-paid tax collector for the government ... I used to have a simple program for an Amstrad PCW (you know, the wordprocessor) feed in 3 sets of numbers and out came an answer. A minus answer and I get a check, a plus answer and I pay them a check. :D

An accountant is a very good investment ... and tax deductable. :thumb:
 
I can provide some law notes etc.. or outline the advanatges and disadvantages of the main reasons on which route to take, i'm currently studying A-Level BS (God Help)


Just think;

How big will the company be/think about expansion
Amount of time you have to put in
Capital readily available or do you need to look at other finance options

Cant really think of anything else at present, my first point i think really helps to decide which business ownership you decide to take :thumb:
 
muckshifter said:
Well done Floppy, good on you. :thumb:

VAT is pretty simple ... you are an un-paid tax collector for the government ... I used to have a simple program for an Amstrad PCW (you know, the wordprocessor) feed in 3 sets of numbers and out came an answer. A minus answer and I get a check, a plus answer and I pay them a check. :D

An accountant is a very good investment ... and tax deductable. :thumb:
Click to expand...

Just be careful choosing an accountant. Ask around. John's accountant last year (he's an artist) missed something in her first preperation of the tax return (which was sent out to us for approval b4 being submitted so we caught it luckily). She then re-did the form... & charged John for the time spent fixing her own mistake. In the end the tax refund (including the refund on the accountants fees) was about $5 more than the accountants fees. We're doing it ourselves this year. Then, I suspect, after one year spent wading through the mess of small business tax returns, that we will get a better accountant next year :rolleyes: But nevertheless, check around for accounting software, there is some good stuff out there if you can get some that's UK appropriate. And that is what the accountants use after all :)

Also, check out the local tax regs. There are likely to be many things that you are entitled to claim for that the tax dept won't tell you about & that your accountant won't bother with due to the paperwork involved. Although you may decide not to go after them for the same reason it is still good to be able to make the choice. We decided to go with some & flag the rest.

The main thing to remember is to keep the books meticulously, use a seperate bank account for ALL your business transactions, even when you're just setting up & have a bottomline customer base & for what might seem like the most trivial of purchases, & always put aside a percentage of your business income to cover taxes right from day one, regardless of what your income is.

Something else we learned, when you set up your business account put both your name & your company's name (eg John Kendrick trading as Kendrick Art) That way if someone makes a cheque out to your business but puts your personal name on it instead it can still be deposited in your business account directly. Keeps it all right & tight for the taxman & saves hassle.

I'm with mucks on the sole trader option... definitely much more straightforward and you're not answerable to anyone but yourself. It can be scary when you're setting up & building your client base but you had the guts & determination to take that computer course & stick with it despite all the mega workload at the start. You should do fine :) What will your new business be? I know you've got a lot of people behind you here :thumb: :D :thumb:
 
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floppybootstomp said:
Have been trading as a sole trader for, um, four years now. Just about to register for VAT.

Don't really know what I'm doing tbh, lol, I do have public liability insurance in place, keep books, just about to find an accountant to hopefully get some advice.

And on an upnote, today I won two big contracts/jobs, a CCTV system and a public address system for a new school building.

Tendered/quoted in December and November respectively.

Sometimes, things go well :)
Click to expand...

Congrats flops :D :thumb: They sound like good ones :D
 
Flops,

Congrats on your winning the bids. Some time back you did mention you do not have much to do and it had a reflection in your postings, now hopefully it will be the other way around :D
 
floppybootstomp said:
Have been trading as a sole trader for, um, four years now. Just about to register for VAT.

Don't really know what I'm doing tbh, lol, I do have public liability insurance in place, keep books, just about to find an accountant to hopefully get some advice.

And on an upnote, today I won two big contracts/jobs, a CCTV system and a public address system for a new school building.

Tendered/quoted in December and November respectively.

Sometimes, things go well :)
Click to expand...
Nice one Flopps, good for you mate! :)
 
Awesome!

My Dad is a Freelance contracting software engineer - working for Postill Systems LTD (he's self employed)

He finds contracts at places like Lucent, Siemens, Motorola, Astrium - places like that.

Damned IR35 tax law, anyone that gets caught up in that gets screwed over royally.
 
You need good IR35 insurance is my opinion at the moment and I am busily looking into that.

Gabs xx
 
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