First contract - another permie newbie!

[northernladuk]

I've absolutely no idea how to keep records, receipts, pay myself dividends and the like. Am I stressing unnecessarily about things I employ an accountant to help with?

Be very careful. You are a director of a LTD company and this is your job now. The bits you do on a client site are easy, anyone can do that including permies. Your job is to run your business and you have a legal duty of care to run it properly so you MUST know how to do it. As a director of a company it's also up to you to understand everything about rules and regulations about your business including IR35.

On top of that you must not employ your accountant to run your company for you. There is a problem floating around called MSC legislation and a lot of contractors are in trouble because their accountants have been doing more than they should to run their customers business so now, more than any time in contracting it's critical YOU run YOUR business. You cannot just get on site to do techy stuff and leave everything else to your accountant.

Everything you've mentioned is covered ad infinitum in thousands of guides and if you've got questions on the detail it will have been covered on here hundreds of times.

Get an idea. You are legally responsible now as well as MSC Legislation hovering about. You should be stressing. You've a lot to do very quickly. It's your business so it's your job to go out and learn and it's all out there for you.

[northernladuk]

6 months initial, 1 year renewal potential.

This means nothing, particularly the potential bit. You can get canned on the spot. We've got a post from someone that got binned off while sitting in reception on their first day. There are no guarantees in contracting. If they have a need you'll get work, if they don't you are done on the spot. No notice, no cotton wool. Saying that not even if there is work. You'll go just for your face not fitting. Completely forget potential, total red herring. Work the day, add it to the timesheet and be thankful. I've literally seen grown men crying in the clients office that expected potential promises and get walked out the door 10 mins after being told they aren't needed.

Am I being harsh? Yes I am. It's what I do. My take is if you can plan for, be prepared and can deal with the crap then you'll have an easy time. If you float in without a care you'll have a long bumpy career. It's just my way. Take from it what you will

[malvolio]

Concerning registering for VAT. Would be useful for you to read up on this topic, also gives information on the Flat Rate VAT scheme.

https://www.contractoruk.com/vat

If you are planning to purchase significant company assets (laptops, servers, phones) then this will be helpful.

Flat VAT is pointless for a contractor and will cost you money...

[JustKeepSwimming]

I've absolutely no idea how to keep records, receipts, pay myself dividends and the like. Am I stressing unnecessarily about things I employ an accountant to help with?
!

A good accountant will certainly get you most of the way. You do need to have a good grasp of the basics not least to make sure your accountant is doing the right thing.

Don't get suckered into the old stories about people expensing their new TV or 'HMRC compliant scheme to increase take home pay'.

[RobScott]

Hi all!

Landed my first contract, coming from permie land. Outside IR35, around 500 P/D. 6 months initial, 1 year renewal potential.

I'm over the moon, and of course all the usual feelings of being underprepared and imposter syndrome is kicking in already!

I've done so far:

- Accountant engaged
- LTD setup
- Business bank setup + FreeAgent linked
- PI/PL policy taken out
- Contract with recruiter signed
- Contract pending from client
- IR35 review pending contract
- Worked out rough gross and will set up vanguard SIPP to keep corp tax down in time

Of course the next steps are mainly for my accountant to help with VAT registering etc - but I'm finding already everything a bit overwhelming, does this go away quick enough with a few months time?

I've absolutely no idea how to keep records, receipts, pay myself dividends and the like. Am I stressing unnecessarily about things I employ an accountant to help with?

Hoping for some words of wisdom from the elite!

Outside IR35!
ensure client is responsible to pay the NI.
after few months, they might change it to inside IR35

[eek]

Outside IR35!
ensure client is responsible to pay the NI.
after few months, they might change it to inside IR35

WTF are you on about - if it's outside IR35 NI isn't involved....

[RobScott]

WTF are you on about - if it's outside IR35 NI isn't involved....

FYI: end client is responsible for determining your status
end client should stick to its words

[eek]

FYI: end client is responsible for determining your status
end client should stick to its words

The behaviour of the contractor may be the reason the contract is inside.

Equally you can change the determination up to the point the end client pays the first bill which can (depending on the t&cs between the client and the agency) be 90 days after the first involce was sent which on monthly billing could be a total of 4 months (extreme example but it's possible).

[RobScott]

The behaviour of the contractor may be the reason the contract is inside.

Equally you can change the determination up to the point the end client pays the first bill which can (depending on the t&cs between the client and the agency) be 90 days after the first involce was sent which on monthly billing could be a total of 4 months (extreme example but it's possible).

some agency works with 80/20 ratio meaning they pay me 80% of the monthly invoice based on the days i worked. 20% is paid on the monthly deliverables they set working alongside the client to reach monthly objectives.