Newbie posting

[SlipTheJab]

Indeed but they've hardly gone above and beyond with the customer care which fits with their on going rep on here.

Granted, they do seem quite intransient!

[northernladuk]

Indeed but they've hardly gone above and beyond with the customer care which fits with their on going rep on here.

[SlipTheJab]

And Paystream were mentioned in the Umbrella AND Accountants awards this year...... Wonder how they managed that

I can't see from what info the OP has provided that Paystream are to blame here, at the end of the day if you've signed a contract for services with them then you have to abide by it (you did read what you were signing didn't you?). Looks like it going to cost you a few hundred quid, pay it and move on.

[northernladuk]

And Paystream were mentioned in the Umbrella AND Accountants awards this year...... Wonder how they managed that

[ContrataxLtd]

Hey guys,

So they've refused to help further unless I pay a minimum of three months of fees plus more to close the business which I just don't have the money for.

So I've only had five weeks of trading, doing a return on that couldn't be too difficult right?

Is anyone able to point me in the direction to figure this out? I'd really appreciate any help I can get.

Hi Behemoth

I don't know if you can PM yet (admin can you allow this?) but if you can drop me a PM and I'll try and help you out with this one, I'm sure something can be sorted out which is probably much cheaper than Paystream.

Martin
Contratax Ltd

[LondonManc]

Hey guys,

So they've refused to help further unless I pay a minimum of three months of fees plus more to close the business which I just don't have the money for.

So I've only had five weeks of trading, doing a return on that couldn't be too difficult right?

Is anyone able to point me in the direction to figure this out? I'd really appreciate any help I can get.

Hadn't you already paid them to set the company up?

[Behemoth]

Hey guys,

So they've refused to help further unless I pay a minimum of three months of fees plus more to close the business which I just don't have the money for.

So I've only had five weeks of trading, doing a return on that couldn't be too difficult right?

Is anyone able to point me in the direction to figure this out? I'd really appreciate any help I can get.

[LondonManc]

They didn't really ask me much to be fair. the recruitment agency new the guys at paystream by name and contacted them directly to let them know I'd be calling. It all felt pre-arranged. I had no idea about how to do this so I just went with what was recommended.

I certainly wish I had gone for the umbrella option now but hindsight is 20/20 and there's no way I could have known it would have gone the way it did.

Sales commission. Fancy that. Social engineering at its finest unfortunately.

Hi all,

So update, despite only actually running for five months PayStream are claiming there was a minimum of three months contract with them. I was told at the beginning the first two months were free but now apparently that means the additional three months are still chargeable outside of that time. Plus they'll charge me a bit more to close the company and a bit more to do the taxes.

I am absolutely certain I was NEVER told about this minimum three month period. Absolute nightmare.

I actually worked for all of five weeks. This is a total nightmare. I wished I had gone with an umbrella option at the get go. Had I been told about this minimum three months thing I probably would have.

So as far as I know the remaining money in my business account is for tax and therefore I cannot use that.

I have no idea what to do here.

If you don't have it in writing, it didn't happen.

In terms of tax, you'll be able to offset some against the company costs. If you're still paying them for the accounting services then you should be able to get them to do the closing company accounts. There are some good guys on here who will be able to advise you in detail about what you need to do.

[Behemoth]

I know I shouldn't make assumptions, but if you were as open with Paystream as you have been here, did they not try to set you up under their Umbrella first? would have been the logical step i'd have thought.

Agreed with the above, give them a call and see if they can be flexible, no harm in asking.

Nope. I was told it was an option but was told I'd be better off with the limited company. I was told by Hays that's the best option. I went with the advice given.

I've spoken to them today and it looks like I'm getting the hard line of "Pay as much as we can possibly justify or sod off".

[Behemoth]

Hi all,

So update, despite only actually running for five months PayStream are claiming there was a minimum of three months contract with them. I was told at the beginning the first two months were free but now apparently that means the additional three months are still chargeable outside of that time. Plus they'll charge me a bit more to close the company and a bit more to do the taxes.

I am absolutely certain I was NEVER told about this minimum three month period. Absolute nightmare.

I actually worked for all of five weeks. This is a total nightmare. I wished I had gone with an umbrella option at the get go. Had I been told about this minimum three months thing I probably would have.

So as far as I know the remaining money in my business account is for tax and therefore I cannot use that.

I have no idea what to do here.

[Behemoth]

I know I shouldn't make assumptions, but if you were as open with Paystream as you have been here, did they not try to set you up under their Umbrella first? would have been the logical step i'd have thought.

Agreed with the above, give them a call and see if they can be flexible, no harm in asking.

They didn't really ask me much to be fair. the recruitment agency new the guys at paystream by name and contacted them directly to let them know I'd be calling. It all felt pre-arranged. I had no idea about how to do this so I just went with what was recommended.

I certainly wish I had gone for the umbrella option now but hindsight is 20/20 and there's no way I could have known it would have gone the way it did.

[moggy]

I know I shouldn't make assumptions, but if you were as open with Paystream as you have been here, did they not try to set you up under their Umbrella first? would have been the logical step i'd have thought.

Agreed with the above, give them a call and see if they can be flexible, no harm in asking.

[northernladuk]

<Had a gig, now I don't, rest of it is irrelevant to the question snip>

So by this point I had been looking for looking for a role for a few months before getting this one and then unemployed again. I found a full time role a month or so later and am now in full time PAYE employment.

Now however, I still have the Ltd. Company to deal with. I stepped away from Paystream once I lost the contract and so I need to sort thing all out. Part of me wants to keep it going so I can use it for adhok consultancy work and the like but the numbers I'd be pushing through would be tiny in all honesty. How easy is this to do?

Then, what steps do I need to take to close this beast down? I have kept the amount of money back for tax reasons but I'll need to pay that, so I'll need to figure out how to do that too.

You could give paysteam a call to see if they may extend a bit of courtesy to you being an ex customer. Maybe knowing your figures they could give you a preferential rate to do it for you? Reading all that I'd probably advise paying someone rather than doing it yourself. See how much they want to complete the close down.

Any advice would be greatly received. Is there some sort of online guide for newbies like me?

Newbie guides are in all the links to the right -->

[Behemoth]

Hello all!

I'm brand new to the contracting world and, to be honest, it's been a bit of a misadventure. I fell into it actually as I was really looking for a new full time job, more as that's what I've always done than by design, and I was actually called by a consultant at a recruitment firm.

I was approached for a Business Analyst job for a financial institution by a recruiter. They had an interviewee drop out and called me asking if I'd be interested. I explained I was an IT engineer / manager but they assured me my skills would match up. I had nothing better to do that day as I was still looking for work at the time so I went along with very low expectations.

I arrived at the interview early but my interviewer was about 45 minutes late which meant I had sat there waiting for around an hour. In this time the next hopeful turned up and we got to talking. They had experience in the financial world and so I felt I was really out of place.

The interview went extremely well, despite the interviewer being quite harassed, and I went to great pains to stress my background in IT. He told me they had IT projects and I'd likely fit in fine there and I was offered the role a few days later.

After a lengthy process to be checked and get compliance paper work and e-learning passed I was in.

I used paystream because the recruiter suggested them as their preferred partner and set up a Ltd. Company. All was dealt with and despite some carry on to get everything up and running I was sorted.

After I got my laptop partially built and introduced to my manager we popped into a meeting to discuss things. I explained my experience and we discussed the project in detail. At this point I realised the position they'd placed me in had absolutely NOTHING to do with IT. I couldn't believe it! I was working in a role about financial regulation and changes specifically with the regulation of mortgages. Having no experience in the financial world I very much struggled with this but I soldiered on. It turned out as I joined this project was running several weeks behind schedule and it was on a tight deadline due to a government set date to be compliant by. The team were under tremendous stress to get the job done.

By week 5, despite having picked up a huge amount of the industry very quickly, they decided they needed to find someone with more industry experience and let me go. I genuinely think If I had another couple weeks I'd have been fine, but well these things happen.

So by this point I had been looking for looking for a role for a few months before getting this one and then unemployed again. I found a full time role a month or so later and am now in full time PAYE employment.

Now however, I still have the Ltd. Company to deal with. I stepped away from Paystream once I lost the contract and so I need to sort thing all out. Part of me wants to keep it going so I can use it for adhok consultancy work and the like but the numbers I'd be pushing through would be tiny in all honesty. How easy is this to do?

Then, what steps do I need to take to close this beast down? I have kept the amount of money back for tax reasons but I'll need to pay that, so I'll need to figure out how to do that too.

Any advice would be greatly received. Is there some sort of online guide for newbies like me?