Am I being shafted by Umbrella accountants?

[IlCrYpTeDaTa]

Hey guys, I moved to an Inside IR35 contract after some pressure from my client’s client (they insisted all of their suppliers’ vendors be Inside). Anyway, I agreed only after a rate increase, having done the calculations. However, 3 months in and my pay has been up and down. First month good, 2nd month ok, 3rd month shockingly low. The monthly pay doesn’t seem to match what I earn that month, but looks like it’s on an average earning level (the accumulation of earnings divided by total number of months worked), so if I have a bumper month and invoice £12.1k I’m only getting £5.7k pay. 3 months total £33k divided by 3 months according to salary calculator gives £6.6k per month).
My question is...are there accountants who can check whether what I’m getting paid is correct? Although I’m mildly ok with the average payment idea I do worry that I’m paying a bit too much and that the pay doesn’t seem to match the salary calculators. Seems quite a bit lower than expected and puts me in an awkward situation of wanting to find better opportunities.

[eek]

What is the name of the umbrella firm and are they FCSA / Professional Passport listed?

How are they doing holiday pay, is it being advanced or is it working on an accrual basis?

Beyond that - what does your personal tax account at HMRC say?

[northernladuk]

The monthly pay doesn’t seem to match what I earn that month,

Just to be annoyingly pedantic your monthly pay is exactly what you earn a month. You are employed now. The rate from the client is the umbrellas as they own the contract and you earn the money the umbrella pays you.

It's just a point so you use the right terminology. What the client pays is eroded by the agents cut and the brollys charges so what you think you 'earn' in your comment above is probably never what you think anyway.

But that point aside. Your first step is to understand exactly what is happening at the brolly. Anyone else can only guess what is going on so you are wasting peoples time telling half a wooly story. They are your employer and are responsible for your pay so go speak to them and get them to explain the situation to a point you fully understand. Don't come off the phone until you are happy with what's going on. It could be something obvious and could end the situation right there without a load of pointless running around. It usually does. When they've done that and something doesn't ring true then you can go get other advice.

As important as 'ask your accountant' is for LTD guys, it's even more important to 'ask your umbrella/employer' first as they are fully responsible for all aspects of your pay.

[northernladuk]

BTW this is an accounting question so could have gone in the Accounting/Legal section but there is also an Umbrella specific forum in there for these questions. There are quite a few posts from people who are confused by their payslips in there. Browsing those might find something that is exactly the same as your situation which should help.

[Lance]

Hey guys, I moved to an Inside IR35 contract after some pressure from my client’s client (they insisted all of their suppliers’ vendors be Inside). Anyway, I agreed only after a rate increase, having done the calculations. However, 3 months in and my pay has been up and down. First month good, 2nd month ok, 3rd month shockingly low. The monthly pay doesn’t seem to match what I earn that month, but looks like it’s on an average earning level (the accumulation of earnings divided by total number of months worked), so if I have a bumper month and invoice £12.1k I’m only getting £5.7k pay. 3 months total £33k divided by 3 months according to salary calculator gives £6.6k per month).
My question is...are there accountants who can check whether what I’m getting paid is correct? Although I’m mildly ok with the average payment idea I do worry that I’m paying a bit too much and that the pay doesn’t seem to match the salary calculators. Seems quite a bit lower than expected and puts me in an awkward situation of wanting to find better opportunities.

same client, same work, moved to inside?
I'd worry less about whether you're being paid correctly, and more about the inherent risks of being in such a position.

Also. Slightly pedantic here, but have they applied pressure, or have they issued an SDS with an insider IR35 determination?

[spritz]

Hey guys, I moved to an Inside IR35 contract after some pressure from my client’s client (they insisted all of their suppliers’ vendors be Inside). Anyway, I agreed only after a rate increase, having done the calculations. However, 3 months in and my pay has been up and down. First month good, 2nd month ok, 3rd month shockingly low. The monthly pay doesn’t seem to match what I earn that month, but looks like it’s on an average earning level (the accumulation of earnings divided by total number of months worked), so if I have a bumper month and invoice £12.1k I’m only getting £5.7k pay. 3 months total £33k divided by 3 months according to salary calculator gives £6.6k per month).
My question is...are there accountants who can check whether what I’m getting paid is correct? Although I’m mildly ok with the average payment idea I do worry that I’m paying a bit too much and that the pay doesn’t seem to match the salary calculators. Seems quite a bit lower than expected and puts me in an awkward situation of wanting to find better opportunities.

I had a similar issue with an umbrella once. I had put the figures through the HMRC calculator and they were not aligned. I had asked for an explanation from the Umbrella and they had then corrected an error on their end and adjusted accordingly. As a practice, I now do this every time I receive a new payslip from them. so far so good