General newbie questions...

[NotAllThere]

Fair enough. But now you are a contrator...

Don't do it again!

Unless you can't get a loan, don't live off credit cards.

[blacjac]

Presumably you didn't have enough personal cash to pay off the credit card? I often settle my company expenses months after they've been incurred.

Correct

I quit my permie job with no contract and no savings

Got my first contract before my permie notice ran out, then lived off credit cards for a couple of months till the contract money started coming in!

[NotAllThere]

Presumably you didn't have enough personal cash to pay off the credit card? I often settle my company expenses months after they've been incurred.

[blacjac]

mcskiver, I'd be interested to hear whether you bought or leased a laptop in the end.

I've recently formed a ltd company and landed my first contract, but I don't have the money for a much needed laptop at the moment and thought leasing one at a low monthly cost might be the way to go.

My accountant at SJD hadn't come across anyone leasing their laptop before when I asked, but the info I found here made it look like a viable option.

If anyone else has experience of leasing laptops etc through their Ltd company I'd be interested to hear from them.

I was in the same position as you, I bought a laptop with my personal credit card and sumbited as an expense claim to my Ltd (i.e. it was the company's laptop from the start).

Then every month I submited an expense claim for "Credit card interest due to non payment of expenses" to my Ltd until my Ltd had enough in it to pay all my outstanding expenses.

This was all done with guidance from my accountant.

[NotAllThere]

Thanks everyone - great advice for a beginner and no flaming!

I can't believe it.....

Me either. When did I fall into this parallel universe?

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible you complete ****ing ****** with **** for ******.

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

You can lease laptops through Dell. My feeling is that they would be obsolete before the end of the term though.

Raeblob,
Seems strange that your accountant hasn;t heard of anyone leasing through their Ltd. Its a common business practice. Quite expensive but it does help with the old cash flow.

[raeblob]

mcskiver, I'd be interested to hear whether you bought or leased a laptop in the end.

I've recently formed a ltd company and landed my first contract, but I don't have the money for a much needed laptop at the moment and thought leasing one at a low monthly cost might be the way to go.

My accountant at SJD hadn't come across anyone leasing their laptop before when I asked, but the info I found here made it look like a viable option.

If anyone else has experience of leasing laptops etc through their Ltd company I'd be interested to hear from them.

[mcskiver]

Thanks everyone - great advice for a beginner and no flaming!

I can't believe it.....

In terms of the leasing, I was under the impression that leasing a laptop meant I didn't have to cater for anything like depreciation, and the full amount of the lease was just deducted from my Corporation Tax at the end of the year? Whereas if I buy a laptop, only the taxable bit of the cost would be saved (i.e. around 30-40% of the cost)?

[malvolio]

Who are you, and what have you done with Mal???

No sarcasm, no abuse - you feeling OK?

I'm his Mum. Anyway, take a look in Business/Contracts...

[TheFaQQer]

http://www.contractoruk.com/first_timers/index.html

http://www.pcg.org.uk/cms/index.php?...ownload&gid=27



HTH

Who are you, and what have you done with Mal???

No sarcasm, no abuse - you feeling OK?

[malvolio]

...so please take it easy!

I have the general gist of the Ltd vs umbrella discussions, and have operated through an umbrella company (Parasol) for about 6 months now.

I want to set up a Ltd company now, and have a new 4-week contract starting next week. The contract has been sent to Parasol, but do I still have time to switch to a Ltd company for this contract? Or should I just use the time to get my Ltd company sorted?

I need a laptop for this new contract, and was thinking that leasing through my Ltd co. might be the best option, but i'm not sure I have time for any of this to be sorted out this week.

Also, can anyone recommend a particular co. for tax advice / general accountancy services? Should I just use a local firm or is it better to use a firm that specialises in contractors such as SJD?

Any advice appreciated...

http://www.contractoruk.com/first_timers/index.html

http://www.pcg.org.uk/cms/index.php?...ownload&gid=27



HTH

[TheFaQQer]

...so please take it easy!

I have the general gist of the Ltd vs umbrella discussions, and have operated through an umbrella company (Parasol) for about 6 months now.

I want to set up a Ltd company now, and have a new 4-week contract starting next week. The contract has been sent to Parasol, but do I still have time to switch to a Ltd company for this contract? Or should I just use the time to get my Ltd company sorted?

Probably - you should be able to get an off the shelf company pretty quick, or get an accountant to set one up sharpish for you.

I need a laptop for this new contract, and was thinking that leasing through my Ltd co. might be the best option, but i'm not sure I have time for any of this to be sorted out this week.

Why not just buy it? No idea why you would want to lease a laptop - you may need some trading history to get one? I'd just buy it and be done.

Also, can anyone recommend a particular co. for tax advice / general accountancy services? Should I just use a local firm or is it better to use a firm that specialises in contractors such as SJD?

There are plenty that are recommended on here - search for one. There is a debate periodically about whether you should have a local accountant or one that specialises etc. etc. - each to their own. My accountant is local and knows a lot.

[mcskiver]

...so please take it easy!

I have the general gist of the Ltd vs umbrella discussions, and have operated through an umbrella company (Parasol) for about 6 months now.

I want to set up a Ltd company now, and have a new 4-week contract starting next week. The contract has been sent to Parasol, but do I still have time to switch to a Ltd company for this contract? Or should I just use the time to get my Ltd company sorted?

I need a laptop for this new contract, and was thinking that leasing through my Ltd co. might be the best option, but i'm not sure I have time for any of this to be sorted out this week.

Also, can anyone recommend a particular co. for tax advice / general accountancy services? Should I just use a local firm or is it better to use a firm that specialises in contractors such as SJD?

Any advice appreciated...