Reply to: Who to chase for Payment.

[breezeblocker]

Late invoice payment

A better way might be www.due2pay.co.uk, it's a cool register of companies paying invoices late. It's realtime stuff not like other credit referencing.
They send emails and faxes reminders to your customer........... then if they don't pay, other suppliers will see !. Another good idea is their WATCH LIST, put a company on that and the moment anybody lists them as a late payer, bingo, you get an email and you can email them as well to get their slant. Love it.
A whole lot cheaper than solicitors and you get the watch list to boot.

[ASB]

We are working on an idea to protect monies that belong to the contractor rather than to our business. We are meeting with our solicitors and our bankers next week to run through the various options open to us.

I'm curious. Surely accountant can - in the same as solicitors and estate agents etc run client accounts. Nicely ring fences the clients money.

I don't see why you can't just operate in this way to segregate the cash and then cross charge to the account "your" portion of the clients monies. surely it's just a matter of transferring payment at the instant they arrive to the designated client account - or better still getting the payments automatically routed there in the same way a solicitor or estate agent.

This seems so blindingly obvious I don't see why people don't do it. I guess you'll probably be about to tell me.

[mikeyboy]

Ok, money arrived in the bank today. So as promised, time to name and shame.

** Polaris LTD **

May they rot in hell with my Bank Manager!

[Zen Contracting]

Thank you for that feedback. We will also, running alongside the umbrella business, be providing a full service solution for those contracting via their own limited companies. Our focus will be on price and service (mainly service) but again I'd be interested in hearing what you'd look for in a provider.

We are a small, flexible and innovative accountancy practice so we are open to ideas.

Regards.

David.

[NotAllThere]

I'd be very interested in hearing about the other objections that you have to using an umbrella.

Thanks.

David.

As Malvolio says. Also, even if the brolly could legitimately provide me with the same net income as I get through a ltdco. I still wouldn't use it, because I like to control my money. But with good dunning procedures, and "my money" protected, it could be more attractive if I had an IR35 caught contract.

I'm not UK resident, and have no plans to work in the UK. However, if I did get a contract for a few months in the UK (i.e. not long enough to make me tax resident), it has occured to me that a brolly might possibly provide a good way of getting paid, without having to set up a UK company, since some agencies won't deal with a non-UK ltdco.

[malvolio]

I'd be very interested in hearing about the other objections that you have to using an umbrella.

Thanks.

David.

The obvious one is not about the umbrella per se, it's about IR35. If you are outside IR35 (and that should be almost all of us...), then why would you want to use an umbrella and pay 15% or so tax that you don't need to pay?

Your potential customer base is in two parts - the very few freelance contractors that are genuinely IR35 caught, and a larger group that probably aren't but can't or won't work out how not to be and pay up anyway. And even inside IR35, there is benefit to running your own company vs an umbrella, dependent mostly on how much you pay for accountancy services.

Anyone who understands IR35 and related matters would have no need for an umbrella. However, if you could work a way to be an umbrella that runs LtdCo Salary/Divvy payments without becoming an MSC, you would have something unique. I suspect, though, that is not an option.

[Zen Contracting]

A step in the right direction. If you can also build in protection for the money I've earned that's in your care, so that if you go bust, I don't lose out, then you'd have a product which would override most of my objections to using a brolly in the first place.

I'd be very interested in hearing about the other objections that you have to using an umbrella.

Thanks.

David.

[Zen Contracting]

A step in the right direction. If you can also build in protection for the money I've earned that's in your care, so that if you go bust, I don't lose out, then you'd have a product which would override most of my objections to using a brolly in the first place.

We are working on an idea to protect monies that belong to the contractor rather than to our business. We are meeting with our solicitors and our bankers next week to run through the various options open to us.

[SmithsonianWA]

No shock there!
As I said, I haven't been contracting long. But I used FileTravel when I was working in the UK and they paid promptly without me ever having to worry about the Client's payment arriving with them. That was weekly pay though, so the sums weren't quite so large.
With the international nature of this contract I expect delays within the banking system as the Agency are in UK , I'm in Belgium and the Brolly are in Denmark. But 6 weeks delay in payment is taking the pi$$!

Hi MikeyBoy...

Can you email me thsglobal on gmail.com?
I'm in Belgo as well... in the middle of changing contracts... I can see who the brolly is.. but interested in the others.. hopefully you've been paid now!

Cheers,

Tim.

[NotAllThere]

This is my first post on this forum. I'm an accountant who is in the process of setting up an umbrella and limited company accounting service for contractors. One of the services that we will offer to our customers, as part of the weekly price, will be a strong and robust credit control function.

Watch this space as I'll be posting more on out plans over the coming weeks and months. We hope to launch in early 2009.

Regards.

David.

A step in the right direction. If you can also build in protection for the money I've earned that's in your care, so that if you go bust, I don't lose out, then you'd have a product which would override most of my objections to using a brolly in the first place.

[Zen Contracting]

I did a quick look over the umbrella companies advertised on CUK, and NONE of them, (surprise surprise) have any mention of what they'll do if payments are late.

This is my first post on this forum. I'm an accountant who is in the process of setting up an umbrella and limited company accounting service for contractors. One of the services that we will offer to our customers, as part of the weekly price, will be a strong and robust credit control function.

Watch this space as I'll be posting more on out plans over the coming weeks and months. We hope to launch in early 2009.

Regards.

David.

[Bob Dalek]

Damn right. I'll also "name and shame" the Agency as soon as the money's in the bank.

Pleased for you - it's quite difficult to get by without money, I find.

[mikeyboy]

AFTER he's got his money in the bank. I realise it's selfish, but if a lot of their contractors get Agency B removed it might leave them not getting paid as Agent B goes down the tubes.

Damn right. I'll also "name and shame" the Agency as soon as the money's in the bank.

[KevinS]

AFTER he's got his money in the bank. I realise it's selfish, but if a lot of their contractors get Agency B removed it might leave them not getting paid as Agent B goes down the tubes.

Agree 100%.. Look after numero uno and all that..

[TykeMerc]

Excellent result!! Let's hope it's not just a fob off..

If you know any of AgencyB's other contractors, let them know what you have done and urge them to do the same..

AFTER he's got his money in the bank. I realise it's selfish, but if a lot of their contractors get Agency B removed it might leave them not getting paid as Agent B goes down the tubes.