For years it has been a dream for me working for myself without a useless boss riding with a carrot and stick on me. I have been preparing taking Microsoft certification exams to underline my developer skills and experience. I felt being close to my goal, however last Friday the surprising redundancy hit me hard and my plans shattered.
Now without a job; I think I just have to push the fast forward button on my plans. I have been reading this forum and website for a month. Very interesting tips and advice.
I think i would prefer going the Ltd way, despite the fearful IR35 dragon in my way. I think I take the chance. I have a few questions to you experienced guys and hope you can give me some good advice.
1) A contractor friend is telling me to start my Ltd. ASAP and having everything ready in case someone is interested, since it took him 3 weeks until his CV was noticed and he got his first contract - that was about 6 months ago. But here I have read the advice not starting anything until you have your first contract. This is in total contradiction to what my mate is telling me.
It is better to do it in advance of your contract start date, so you have everything ready and can focus all your energy and time on your new contract.
but then again maybe they just want the business....What is your advice on this?
2) If your previous answer was starting the Ltd asap, should I as well buy a laptop and software licenses I need for development to be prepared, next to all paperwork for Ltd? Or is it usually the case that the client has its own computer at my service for development? Could it be that some clients don't even wish that I connect with my own laptop to their network and get the latest of their code into my machine? So shall I invest in own equipment or not? Or shall I do it after I got a contract?
3) Where could I find a good accountant? Would you recommend SJD Accountancy? Would they be qualified enough to defeat the IR35 dragon?
4) SJD Accountancy claims contracting as Ltd. pays off around 10% more than going with Umbrella. Not sure if the risk of IR35 is calculated here and how much it would be if you are caught within IR35.
However, the questions is once IR35 has kicked in for a contract, does it mean the whole company is on black list, or does it only apply for the duration of the current contract and the next contract needs to be judged from scratch?
Many thanks for these and any other advice you have for me,
H.
