New(ish) to contracting - advice please

[TraceRacing]

Hi all, just joined the site as I'm in the enviable position of being offered a role I can either take as a contract or a permanent position.

I contracted for a few months a couple of years ago but am currently a permie. During this contract I used an umbrella company but this time round I'm thinking of going the whole hog and setting up a limited company.

If you could give a newbie 1 piece of invaluable advice, what would it be?

[Wanderer]

If you could give a newbie 1 piece of invaluable advice, what would it be?

Read the First Timers Guide linked to on the right side of this page --->

[DodgyAgent]

Hi all, just joined the site as I'm in the enviable position of being offered a role I can either take as a contract or a permanent position.

I contracted for a few months a couple of years ago but am currently a permie. During this contract I used an umbrella company but this time round I'm thinking of going the whole hog and setting up a limited company.

If you could give a newbie 1 piece of invaluable advice, what would it be?

Get an agent

[Sockpuppet]

If you could give a newbie 1 piece of invaluable advice, what would it be?

Give me the names of your 2 referees and we can go from there.

[SimonMac]

Read the First Timers Guide linked to on the right side of this page --->

WWS

Get an agent

Give me the names of your 2 referees and we can go from there.

[Pondlife]

Apart from the value you'll get from the first time guides and the rest of the forum (search is your friend), I would have to say that the best advice I can probably give is to make sure that YOU understand exactly what is happening with your (or your co's) money at all times.

Try and keep as few people and a shorter period of time between the point you do work and that money being under your control. This means (IMVHO) that a straight forward Ltd Co is the best way to operate. A quick preview of the other threads in accounting/legal will give you a few pointers as to what could happen if there are any other steps than... you do work for someone, you invoice them & they pay that invoice into an account you control. After that what you do with it is up to you entirely.

[TraceRacing]

Thanks for the advice so far.

I don't understand why "get an agent" is good advice. Surely they just take the cream off the top so to speak?

Not sure about the 2 referees bit, but will research that.

[northernladuk]

Hi all, just joined the site as I'm in the enviable position of being offered a role I can either take as a contract or a permanent position.

How is that enviable? Sounds like sentence with 4 wasted words on the end

[TraceRacing]

Well, it took a couple of hours to research "the 2 references" and I read all 40 odd pages. I never realised the scams they pull, so thanks for the heads up.

I also worked out what tulip is...so not a wasted evening!

[Freamon]

I also worked out what tulip is...so not a wasted evening!

Yeah...