I have certainly had contracts where I could have taken on another contract 95% of the time but we all have to attend meetings and clients are going to be asking why you can't make one.
We are also in a fairly unique situation at the moment with work from home. Most of the contracts I am looking at are remote at the moment and some may stay that way but I imagine the drift back to offices is going to accelerate come spring which will make doing two at once tricky (unless paid by deliverables).
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Reply to: 2 Contracts at same time - Outside IR35
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Previously on "2 Contracts at same time - Outside IR35"
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HMRC seem to think so, as well quite a few clients now they have to make the decisionOriginally posted by ensignia View Post
Essentially everyone is a bum on seat contractor then?
I think we've always said, well some of us have, that there are many many roles that are no way outside. Plenty of gigs in big pharma long gigs, banking etc that went on 5 years plus for example. Those people have been looking over their shoulders from day one. Nothing wrong with applying IR35 where it clearly fits but the new legislation will hopefully now push clients to start using/treating contractors as contractors. Granted swathes have been moved inside but anyone with a hole in their bum could see they were anyway.So, IR35 was a good thing then it would seem...
But either way not really, you can be truely outside but still be tied to client times. Many of the offshore bods are and they are consultancies which should be outside. Not every engagement needs to be or can be delivering a product in your own time.
Last edited by northernladuk; 22 January 2022, 17:51.
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No but the point is that if you have a contract where you are expected to be available between 9 to 5, it's very hard to run a second identical contract at the same time.Originally posted by ensignia View Post
Essentially everyone is a bum on seat contractor then?
So, IR35 was a good thing then it would seem...
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You need to take your own advice. Look at the scenario in detail, what you are delivering, what's the contract say and so on and then you can answer the question. Of course you are allowed one client but it comes down to the details of the engagement. If you are booked 9-5 with a client then you are not available for a new client. It's not hard.Originally posted by Eirikur View PostWhy do people keep asking this question? I have a company am I allowed more than one client? Just think for a second.
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AS have I. What you have to be very clear on is that you can't book the same hour to two different clients*; that's where the risk lies. As long as you keep a strict separation and record your time honestly and accurately there's no problem.Originally posted by Eirikur View PostWhy do people keep asking this question? I have a company am I allowed more than one client? Just think for a second.
* Actually not strictly true; if you are writing a piece of code that is equally applicable to both, for example, then you can, but in all honesty should perhaps pro rata the charge between them.
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Why do people keep asking this question? I have a company am I allowed more than one client? Just think for a second.
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For the majority of contractors seeing WFH as an opportunity to double bubble it's a really bad idea because they can't be honest with the client about why they can't make the 0930 stand up that clashes with the 0930 stand up their other client(s) want them to be at.
If you're using client kit, you have multiple diaries to keep in sync to ensure they don't double book you!
There is nothing illegal about having multiple clients, that's how pretty much all businesses run. What you could come a cropper with are your contractual terms and being found in breach of those.
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There is one trick that I do use though, whilst I tell the clients everything (they don't care - they just want projects delivered) - I never tell the agency that I am a consultancy until the client is hooked inOriginally posted by northernladuk View Post
Cannon situation is so different it's not worth him coming in every thread on this. He's not a bum on seat contractor, or at least not all his gigs are and he's obviously double billing his clients and they wouldn't be happy with it but he's experienced enough to get away with it and not let it bother him.
Him popping up on these threads saying he does it with absolutely no detail is of little use to the OP's posting as he's a world apart from them in situation, experience and attitude to risk. I am sure he does what he does quite successfully but it is not in context with the question being asked by these types of posters.
Agencies see consultancies as competition and prefer lone contractors.
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I'm not sure what details you are expecting? All my clients know that they are not my only client. In fact I tend to bring that up during the interview process. I also explicitly state that I have people working for me (who I am free to move between the projects if I want to). If people weren't happy with the service they just would can the services of my consultancy or wouldn't extend contracts. Also I get done in my 8 hours of work what other devs get done in a week so there is that too. Bottom line is my advice to anyone on this forum is if you think you are good and you are good - do whatever you want and don't listen to the naysayers of this forum. Need I remind the answers I got when I posted about going contracting straight from uni? Had a bunch of grey hairs convincing me that contracting is some incredibly difficult thing to do that only few are destined for. The reality is that there is a tulip load of money in it and it's easy to do if you have more than 2 brain cells.Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
Cannon situation is so different it's not worth him coming in every thread on this. He's not a bum on seat contractor, or at least not all his gigs are and he's obviously double billing his clients and they wouldn't be happy with it but he's experienced enough to get away with it and not let it bother him.
Him popping up on these threads saying he does it with absolutely no detail is of little use to the OP's posting as he's a world apart from them in situation, experience and attitude to risk. I am sure he does what he does quite successfully but it is not in context with the question being asked by these types of posters.
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Cannon situation is so different it's not worth him coming in every thread on this. He's not a bum on seat contractor, or at least not all his gigs are and he's obviously double billing his clients and they wouldn't be happy with it but he's experienced enough to get away with it and not let it bother him.Originally posted by WTFH View Post
But you don't bill 3 clients each at 16 hours per day.
Him popping up on these threads saying he does it with absolutely no detail is of little use to the OP's posting as he's a world apart from them in situation, experience and attitude to risk. I am sure he does what he does quite successfully but it is not in context with the question being asked by these types of posters.
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I wake up at 9 and go to bed at 3am. So yeah I bill 16 hours a day. There are exceptions where I do stuff on the weekend to cover for the time I missed during the week.Originally posted by WTFH View Post
If you are billing on time and bill each client for an 8 hour day, then you're in trouble.
If you're billing for the time you work, and each one is being billed for the amount of time you spend working for them - that would be OK, but then you are billing on what you are delivering, not just on an 8 hour day.
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If you are billing on time and bill each client for an 8 hour day, then you're in trouble.Originally posted by cannon999 View Post
How? I work with 3 clients and bill all of them on time.
If you're billing for the time you work, and each one is being billed for the amount of time you spend working for them - that would be OK, but then you are billing on what you are delivering, not just on an 8 hour day.
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