Reply to: Choice of 4 umbrella companies which one????

[NotAllThere]

You completely missed my point, I wasn't arguing on financials. My point was that if you are on the bench for 6 months and paying an accountant £140 per month for doing f*** all, ...

You're not paying an accountant £140 a month. You're paying him £1680 a year - he just allows you to pay it monthly for his and your convenience.

If you're really concerned about paying the accountant when you're not working, then find one who'll charge you on a time and materials basis.

[nomadd]

ive been told i can only choose between 3 umbrella companies for my next contract. i have been using crystal umbrella which were fine but are not acepted my this agency.

any suggestions?

cheers

I went with these guys: http://www.brolliesgalore.co.uk

Never had any problems with them. Highly recommended.

Nomadd

[Waldorf]

I wonder if Prosperity 4, Sunday Solutions etc were ever on these lists?

I would vote for a limited company option - no question.

[SuperZ]

ive used parasol before but not too keen as i think they ripped me off abit.

What made you think they were ripping you off? Did you think they were fiddling the figures, or just a case of you not being able to claim that much on expenses (or similar?). Would be interested in hearing why you think they were ripping you off.


IMO, accoutants will cost approx the same as an umbrella co. One umbrella co years ago tried to charge me a % of my earnings after I had been with them for 3 months - told them to F right off. (it would have cost me £250-350 a month on a good month.

[malvolio]

OK, I have nothing against umbrellas and the people who use them. Everyone runs their life the way they want. But there are as many people getting the hump about the "your own limited is the only way" merchants as there are about "umbrellas are just so easy and straightforward" ones. They are easy and straightforward of course, but the point I'm making is that they are also the least efficient in terms of net income by any measure and not so much an IR35 defence as a total capitulation to a bullying and highly unfair tax regime. Plus the signs are that they will soon be losing some of the few advantages they do have, like relaxed expense regimes.

Nothing to do with the PCG either. To each their own, obviously. I just know where I stand.

[Ruse]

Umbrellas have their place, it's all a matter of how people want to order their affairs, how much effort they want to put in, their attitude to minimising tax, what their financial situation is even how long people think they will contract for.

I fail to understand the outright hostility some posters have to umbrella users, it's their choice and their business how they choose to handle their incomes.

At last, I'm relieved to see their is still some common sense on this forum.

[TykeMerc]

Umbrellas have their place, it's all a matter of how people want to order their affairs, how much effort they want to put in, their attitude to minimising tax, what their financial situation is even how long people think they will contract for.

I fail to understand the outright hostility some posters have to umbrella users, it's their choice and their business how they choose to handle their incomes.

[Ruse]

Another good reason why people use umbrellas. Accountacncy fees. I mean £140 a month is iniquitous (it's also out by a factor of 50% burt let's not argue that point).

So 15% net income gain through YourCo on the average £300 a month contract over 6 months is (300*120) * 0.15 = £5400. Take off £100 a month difference between acountancy and umbrella fees (although there's a wild over-estimate IME), you only gain £4800 tax free net. So, what was your point again?

Argue on convenience, fear or IR35, laziness or ignorance of the rules, but not the finanicals. They don't work.

You completely missed my point, I wasn't arguing on financials. My point was that if you are on the bench for 6 months and paying an accountant £140 per month for doing f*** all, you have spent £840 for no reason at a time when you least want to be shelling out extra cash. In the past few years I have alternated between permie, contracting and on the bench so Umbrellas just made more sense for those periods when I was contracting. I wasn't arguing that if you are in contract continuously over a number of years that Umbrellas are better financial sense than Ltd Co, they aren't and never will be. My point was simply that Umbrellas have a place and time.

So you can get down off your PCG high horse now.

[Ruse]

Utter bollocks!

An accountant will give you far more for your money ie tax advice for starters. Brollies are for temps, pure and simple.

Not so, your point is subjective as is mine. I had 3 separate accountants all of whom were supposedly "IT contracting specialists" none of them once ever offered me any tax advice. When I sought advice I subsequently found that in a number of cases the advice given was simply incorrect.

[MPwannadecentincome]

Utter bollocks!

An accountant will give you far more for your money ie tax advice for starters. Brollies are for temps, pure and simple.

do they give tax advice for the same money, most of the threads I have read on CUK have implied most accountants do nothing pro-actively and the danger of asking is that you could get charged more?

Other posters: one other point about the financials in the comparison between Ltd and Brollies and the use of accountants - please factor in the insurance costs otherwise you are comparing apples with pears.

[BolshieBastard]

I would ignore the tiresome posters who constantly post saying you must use a Ltd Co and not an Umbrella. Brollies have a place in contracting ( I have used brollies and Ltd) and have been useful and effective to thousands of contractors. Accountants can be expensive if you want them to do VAT, 2 payrolls etc as well as annual return. I had a quote of £140 a month recently which is a joke. Brollies are only a small fraction of this and hence very useful if you have periods on the bench as you only pay when you earn.

Like you I didn't find Parasol particularly good, most recently I used Atlantic who were fine, have all the dispensations and follow the rules carefully. My favourites were Norla but they have now stopped their brolly service.

Utter bollocks!

An accountant will give you far more for your money ie tax advice for starters. Brollies are for temps, pure and simple.

[MB99]

Hays and Big Blue?

Is it also for BB? 'Waiting for a PO' by anychance?

[malvolio]

I would ignore the tiresome posters who constantly post saying you must use a Ltd Co and not an Umbrella. Brollies have a place in contracting ( I have used brollies and Ltd) and have been useful and effective to thousands of contractors. Accountants can be expensive if you want them to do VAT, 2 payrolls etc as well as annual return. I had a quote of £140 a month recently which is a joke. Brollies are only a small fraction of this and hence very useful if you have periods on the bench as you only pay when you earn.

Like you I didn't find Parasol particularly good, most recently I used Atlantic who were fine, have all the dispensations and follow the rules carefully. My favourites were Norla but they have now stopped their brolly service.

Another good reason why people use umbrellas. Accountacncy fees. I mean £140 a month is iniquitous (it's also out by a factor of 50% burt let's not argue that point).

So 15% net income gain through YourCo on the average £300 a month contract over 6 months is (300*120) * 0.15 = £5400. Take off £100 a month difference between acountancy and umbrella fees (although there's a wild over-estimate IME), you only gain £4800 tax free net. So, what was your point again?

Argue on convenience, fear or IR35, laziness or ignorance of the rules, but not the finanicals. They don't work.

[Durbs]

Brollies have a place in office temping ( I have used brollies and Ltd) and have been useful and effective to thousands of office temps.

Now put the kettle on Sandra and i've got a nice stack of photocopying for you afterwards, there's a good girl, pat, pat.

[Ruse]

ive been told i can only choose between 3 umbrella companies for my next contract. i have been using crystal umbrella which were fine but are not acepted my this agency. the 3 are:
jsa (giant)
parasol
360
ive used parasol before but not too keen as i think they ripped me off abit.

any suggestions?

cheers

I would ignore the tiresome posters who constantly post saying you must use a Ltd Co and not an Umbrella. Brollies have a place in contracting ( I have used brollies and Ltd) and have been useful and effective to thousands of contractors. Accountants can be expensive if you want them to do VAT, 2 payrolls etc as well as annual return. I had a quote of £140 a month recently which is a joke. Brollies are only a small fraction of this and hence very useful if you have periods on the bench as you only pay when you earn.

Like you I didn't find Parasol particularly good, most recently I used Atlantic who were fine, have all the dispensations and follow the rules carefully. My favourites were Norla but they have now stopped their brolly service.