• Visitors can check out the Forum FAQ by clicking this link. You have to register before you can post: click the REGISTER link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. View our Forum Privacy Policy.
  • Want to receive the latest contracting news and advice straight to your inbox? Sign up to the ContractorUK newsletter here. Every sign up will also be entered into a draw to WIN £100 Amazon vouchers!

goUmbrella Review - AVOID

Collapse
X
  •  
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    goUmbrella Review - AVOID

    So, I started a contract start of February and signed up to goUmbrella as they were one of the cheapest around and offered no other fees such as closing. I thought how hard can it be to sort out pay for you.... How very wrong I was...

    So first week they were excellent and everything was set up very quickly and all went well! That was all that went right...

    So first, my first payslip they didn't put any of my expenses through, an error on their part.

    Next, I had the wrong tax code (not their fault) but when it was sorted they left my old tax code on the form so it was unclear as to what I was actually paying.

    After this I was due a tax rebate from the tax I had paid (my first job in the tax year). They seemed incapable of reading how much tax I had paid off the previous payslip and paid me a portion back and declared I had got it all back... I was owed around £80... This was then sorted within the next few weeks.

    Next, with the new expenses changes, my colleague on the same contract as me with a different Umbrella company was able to sign a disclaimer saying he could claim expenses as he wasn't working under supervision from his end client. No such option was offered. Not only this, but not one communication was sent out about the expenses changes. After emailing just 2 or 3 days before they did not have a solution (my colleague had received notice of this 2 weeks prior and already sorted his out). It was sorted out after the new tax year...

    Which brings me onto my next point. Communication is terrible! You receive one email with the invoice but nothing to say you have been paid and the pay advice isn't uploaded till 2 days later! In addition to this, the dashboard is so poorly designed that it says last 4 weeks pay advice however it actually shows the first 4 weeks and then doesn't change.

    My final point few points really just made me lose any faith I had in the company. They reduced my pay rate by £10 a day and paid me on a reduced rate. If I hadn't been keeping such a careful eye on them due to my prior problems they would not have paid me this and it would have gone straight into their account and stayed! It amazes me how their systems can actually allow them to do that?! In addition to this as I had informed them I was leaving they increased the margin to £27.50 from £11.99, which it says in the contract they are allowed to do, but after all the issues I had with them I felt it was seriously poor customer care.

    In conclusion, my advice is to avoid them like the plague! I was paying them to do a job and they were just not doing it at all! And then increasing their cut and paying me wrong is just incredible in my eyes. So make up your own mind but not recommended! I signed up to this forum specifically to warn people about this establishment


    Edit: I didn't choose these because they were cheapest. I had read good things about them and saw them score highly in league tables: https://www.freelancesupermarket.com...umbrellas.aspx
    Last edited by blues1143; 22 April 2016, 10:12.

    #2
    I hope you've given Contractor Umbrella a ring. They will sort you out. They post on here regularly so communication won't be an issue.
    'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
      I hope you've given Contractor Umbrella a ring. They will sort you out. They post on here regularly so communication won't be an issue.
      I have decided to become a sole trader. One good thing that has come out of this is I now know how to do all my own accounts!

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by blues1143 View Post
        I have decided to become a sole trader. One good thing that has come out of this is I now know how to do all my own accounts!
        How's that work then? Going direct? Agencies don't deal with sole traders.

        Took me six years to get my CIMA, and now you can do all you own accounts in less than one day, good luck with that.
        Last edited by stek; 22 April 2016, 08:44.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by blues1143 View Post
          I have decided to become a sole trader. One good thing that has come out of this is I now know how to do all my own accounts!
          Bearing in mind you don't understand the legislation about engagement I very much doubt you can do your own accounts.
          'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

          Comment


            #6
            Bookkeeping for sole traders (from Bookkeeping for sole traders - Startups.co.uk: Starting a business advice and business ideas) ..

            1) Keep track of monthly income and expenditure, which means holding on to all invoices and receipts
            2) You’ll also have to talk to HMRC about National Insurance contributions; the easiest way to handle these is by setting up a Direct Debit. The amounts involved are quite small
            3) A spreadsheet will suffice, containing columns for income, expenditure and VAT (if you’re VAT-registered)
            4) Fill in the Tax Return form each year
            5) Calculate the amount of tax owed yourself or send the form to HMRC and have them do it for you
            6) Should take no more than a couple of hours each month


            Bookkeeping for Ltd .. a different kettle of time consuming, painful fish requiring an accountant

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by stek View Post
              How's that work then? Going direct? Agencies don't deal with sole traders.

              Took me six years to get my CIMA, and now you can do all you own accounts in less than one day, good luck with that.
              Yes I am going direct. I don't have an agency so to speak.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by SunnyInHades View Post
                Bookkeeping for sole traders (from Bookkeeping for sole traders - Startups.co.uk: Starting a business advice and business ideas) ..

                1) Keep track of monthly income and expenditure, which means holding on to all invoices and receipts
                2) You’ll also have to talk to HMRC about National Insurance contributions; the easiest way to handle these is by setting up a Direct Debit. The amounts involved are quite small
                3) A spreadsheet will suffice, containing columns for income, expenditure and VAT (if you’re VAT-registered)
                4) Fill in the Tax Return form each year
                5) Calculate the amount of tax owed yourself or send the form to HMRC and have them do it for you
                6) Should take no more than a couple of hours each month


                Bookkeeping for Ltd .. a different kettle of time consuming, painful fish requiring an accountant

                Yes! I have already made a spreadsheet that creates invoices and calculates all my tax a NI so each week I press a button and all my accounts are sorted! And Stek, I have been looking into this for months, I know its not simple but its really not that hard either. I know plenty of people who do it.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by blues1143 View Post
                  Yes! I have already made a spreadsheet that creates invoices and calculates all my tax a NI so each week I press a button and all my accounts are sorted! And Stek, I have been looking into this for months, I know its not simple but its really not that hard either. I know plenty of people who do it.
                  Excellent... What could go wrong.
                  'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
                    Excellent... What could go wrong.
                    Have you got any advice for me? What have I got to look out for?

                    Comment

                    Working...
                    X