Reply to: Worst Umbrella Company - Parasol

[Gramski]

At the moment they are saying no - the list has just 4 umbrellas on it.

They're being really arsey about it as well.

Can have a go if you like? Its project people.

Sorry to hijack the question but I'm in a similar position with Project People. Have you managed to persuade them to use an umbrella that is not on their 4 so called "preferred" list?

[psychocandy]

psychocandy will they consider any not on their list. We work with some agencies who don't outwardly publicise they work with us, but on ocassions will agree to it??

At the moment they are saying no - the list has just 4 umbrellas on it.

They're being really arsey about it as well.

Can have a go if you like? Its project people.

[lucyclarityumbrella]

psychocandy will they consider any not on their list. We work with some agencies who don't outwardly publicise they work with us, but on ocassions will agree to it??

[psychocandy]

Crap - just post the list on your other thread - oh and insist on clarity because they are an FCSA registered umbrella

And I understand they're the same group as Nixon Williams. I left those idiots in Feb because they were so useless.

[eek]

How are parasol these days?

One of the preferred ones that agency are trying to force me to use.

Crap - just post the list on your other thread - oh and insist on clarity because they are an FCSA registered umbrella

[psychocandy]

How are parasol these days?

One of the preferred ones that agency are trying to force me to use.

[css_jay99]

Call Lucy at Clarity and get her working on the agent to get on the PSL and then go with them. Sorted.

Clarity is on the list

[eek]

Call Lucy at Clarity and get her working on the agent to get on the PSL and then go with them. Sorted.

ASL (Approved Supplier List) - PSL's often require money to pass hands (and let's not go there because oh boy that's going to be an interesting story going forward).

[northernladuk]

Now I'm not sure if I should stick with Parasol or not considering the complaints on the forum. Just about to change client and this could run for some time. I would like to dip into SIPP's at some point this year and put a bit more into pension

I spoke to Parasol (as well as Paystream) on this and both said not an issue though very scanty on the details, more so when I was told no additional charges.

Call Lucy at Clarity and get her working on the agent to get on the PSL and then go with them. Sorted.

[css_jay99]

Now I'm not sure if I should stick with Parasol or not considering the complaints on the forum. Just about to change client and this could run for some time. I would like to dip into SIPP's at some point this year and put a bit more into pension

I spoke to Parasol (as well as Paystream) on this and both said not an issue though very scanty on the details, more so when I was told no additional charges.

[eek]

I'm with parasol at the moment and 1st IR35 contract ever. Coming from a ltd setup previously where I used SAGE Payroll products, I understood my tax affairs and know what was paid and remitted to HMRC.

But now with Parasol, I can't even understand the payslip. I tried working it out on paper but the hacking fiasco and late/irregular payments over that period just convoluted the process of reconciling the figures to make sure all is as expected.

Parasol's problem is that until they move payroll provider their old systems are a complete hodgepodge of different systems (from my experiments it seems one system calculates gross pay, and that figure is then used for payroll before another system them picks up the pieces to reconcile the lot). And that reconciliation won't appear on your pay slip / summary it's only revealed when you check your pension pot.

I noticed as well that work invoices for worked t client between 21st March to 3rd April went into 2022-2023 tax yer. I accept that the invoices won't have been paid but surely it should go under previous tax year.

Tax is due on the day payment is due / made (except for weird exceptions that don't matter here). So as payment would have been post April 6th then the tax is based on post April 6th figures

Granted, I have not had major issues apart from the hacking scandal which could potentially happen to any company but it will be good to know I can change umbrellas at anytime during a contract without financial repercussions. How easy is it changing Umbrellas?.

It would be nice if all these brollies provide a demo login to see what's under the bonnet.

Changing umbrellas depends on the agency more than anything else. Some make it easy others make it impossible (for reasons that could be sane or could revolve around PSL agreements).

[css_jay99]

I'm with parasol at the moment and 1st IR35 contract ever. Coming from a ltd setup previously where I used SAGE Payroll products, I understood my tax affairs and know what was paid and remitted to HMRC.

But now with Parasol, I can't even understand the payslip. I tried working it out on paper but the hacking fiasco and late/irregular payments over that period just convoluted the process of reconciling the figures to make sure all is as expected.

I noticed as well that work invoices for worked t client between 21st March to 3rd April went into 2022-2023 tax yer. I accept that the invoices won't have been paid but surely it should go under previous tax year.

Granted, I have not had major issues apart from the hacking scandal which could potentially happen to any company but it will be good to know I can change umbrellas at anytime during a contract without financial repercussions. How easy is it changing Umbrellas?.

It would be nice if all these brollies provide a demo login to see what's under the bonnet.

[MrContractor]

A follow-up to Parasol sucking; I'm still being charged a margin when having asked for weeks now to try and get it removed.

Phone lines put you on hold for hours after directing you to Live Chat....you go to Live Chat and they use generic names, promising that they have to move this to email you and then of course, they never get around to emailing you.

Pensions get opted out from and then they still keep taking it from my paycheck.

Tax code was also updated over a week again, I'm still on D0 for some reason.

These cowboys are just really the worst.

[Wilf]

I've received an email and a text message from these dodos today:

We havenâ?Tt heard from you since your assignment ended, so we wanted to find out your current plans.
If youâ?Tre taking a break from contracting, you can resign from Parasol and request your P45 by logging into MyParasol and clicking My Details and Resign from Parasol. If youâ?Tve not yet finalised your plans, there is no rush.
We are obliged to give you notice of our intention to terminate your employment so, if we don't hear from you in 4 weeks, your employment with Parasol will come to an end.
If contracting is likely to remain your long-term future, we would be happy to welcome you back at any time. We offer a flexible solution to contractors who have assignments inside and outside of IR35 through one of our accountancy solutions which includes umbrella employment whereby we won't apply our usual margin.

I clicked on the MyParasol link and guess what? 404 not found.

[gizzmo]

My agency moved me from Parasol to Paystream after the hacking debacle. Parasol was my first experience of an umbrella. I have now had my first payroll from Paystream this week and OMG - what a contrast. Like night and day. The payslip is so much clearer, the salary sacrifice done as it should be on the day rate before deductions.
Parasol's was so complicated I had to build myself a spreadsheet in order to check the calculations each month and keep track of the pension amounts etc - which was very hard as they did it on fixed amount each month on which they added back the NI - but if you earnt less then the salary sacrifice etc changed each month by a wierd percentage which they could never explain how they worked it out.
Happy to be with Paystream now (so far at least) - they seem a much more professional outfit.