New umbrella company required!

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

The margin we take is £27.50 a month. Using Geoff's example of a £500 a day contractor working 20 days in a single month the employment costs would be £1,126.60.

Ok now I'm confused - Steve, can you confirm - are the only deductions you make for your fee of £27.50 per week and an amount which will be repaid as holiday pay? It is a given that there are employment costs equivalent to Eer's NIC's but previously you had stated that you also make deductions for SMP, SPP, SSP and AWR payments but now you seem to be saying that is not the case.

[Steven@Parasol]

Ok now I'm confused - Steve, can you confirm - are the only deductions you make for your fee of £27.50 per week and an amount which will be repaid as holiday pay? It is a given that there are employment costs equivalent to Eer's NIC's but previously you had stated that you also make deductions for SMP, SPP, SSP and AWR payments but now you seem to be saying that is not the case.

Hi Lisa, we do make those deductions yes but I asked our payroll team to make a calculation based on the example Geoff gave and that is the figure for employment costs that they came back with.

It does vary on a case by case basis so if anyone is confused or concerned we are encouraging them to give us a call or they can contact me with their contact details and I'll arrange for them to have a conversation with the team here and we will go through it with them based on their individual circumstances.

[geoff from contracta IOM]

Hi Lisa, we do make those deductions yes but I asked our payroll team to make a calculation based on the example Geoff gave and that is the figure for employment costs that they came back with.

It does vary on a case by case basis so if anyone is confused or concerned we are encouraging them to give us a call or they can contact me with their contact details and I'll arrange for them to have a conversation with the team here and we will go through it with them based on their individual circumstances.

You have me lost too , if Lisa and I who work in accountancy are struggling to figure it out how is a contractor expected to ?

And by my calculations the employement costs you have listed as being for 10 K PM as listed above don't seem to even cover employers NI let alone anything else ?

[Steven@Parasol]

You have me lost too , if Lisa and I who work in accountancy are struggling to figure it out how is a contractor expected to ?

By giving us a call or contacting me directly to arrange a phone call at a time convienient to them so that we can talk them through it based on their own individual circumstances.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Hi Lisa, we do make those deductions yes but I asked our payroll team to make a calculation based on the example Geoff gave and that is the figure for employment costs that they came back with.

It does vary on a case by case basis so if anyone is confused or concerned we are encouraging them to give us a call or they can contact me with their contact details and I'll arrange for them to have a conversation with the team here and we will go through it with them based on their individual circumstances.

But the calculation provided to Geoff is not then accurate surely?? I can only assume that deductions for SMP, SSP, AWR etc are calculated as a percentage of gross pay so presumably if you know the gross you should be able to calculate the deductions???

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Erm

[geoff from contracta IOM]

The silence is deafening !

[lonewanderer]

Ive heard Giant is a bit full on and they call you all the time, Parasol is good but never ever use NASA Consulting

[ickyboo3]

I have read this thread with great interest.
I use Parasol and had to call them today in the hope of clarifying a new deduction on my parslip.
At first I thought it was another mistake.
In August, i raised 2 timesheets because i changed contracts and the first/second half of the month were with different companies.
In short, the combined 'Parasol Margin' for these 2 added up to over £350.
When i emailed to query this i learned 2 things:
- There had been a 'technical error' and my account had been credited to adjust this down to the usual £112 (no explanation just a credit)
- That the 'Parasol Margin' was used to cover things like sick pay and holiday pay.

Now... after the call today, i can (sort of) confirm that this Parasol Margin is just the old 27.50/week and that the new other amount (over £400 but i only worked 9 days last month!) is there to cover sick + hols etc.
Clear? well not really - why the swapping of names for charges within a month.
I asked if this was a fixed amount. Yes came the reply. So, to confirm i said that when i work a 25 day month, it will still be £405... err well no it is a percentage. (and not a fixed amount).
I asked if i could get some holiday pay for my break last month and the rep said that Parasol do not hold it, they just pay it straight back. I was left wondering why they charge me for something and then repay me all in one slight of hand.
Anyway, it turns out that if i do a full month of 20 days, i could get charged well over a grand.
I have never been paid for when i am sick or when i am on holiday.
Actually, i'm a pretty good saver so i could take care of this all myself.

In summary, i have used Parasol for years now, and they have been no bother at all.
But... if i am still confused after calling, then what's going on.
I am left feeling like I've just seen a card trick but cannot work out how they did it.
Trust is very important to me.
I do not want something for nothing but nor do i want to be mislead.

You are certainly not alone in this.

[Steven@Parasol]

I have read this thread with great interest.
I use Parasol and had to call them today in the hope of clarifying a new deduction on my parslip.
At first I thought it was another mistake.
In August, i raised 2 timesheets because i changed contracts and the first/second half of the month were with different companies.
In short, the combined 'Parasol Margin' for these 2 added up to over £350.
When i emailed to query this i learned 2 things:
- There had been a 'technical error' and my account had been credited to adjust this down to the usual £112 (no explanation just a credit)
- That the 'Parasol Margin' was used to cover things like sick pay and holiday pay.

Now... after the call today, i can (sort of) confirm that this Parasol Margin is just the old 27.50/week and that the new other amount (over £400 but i only worked 9 days last month!) is there to cover sick + hols etc.
Clear? well not really - why the swapping of names for charges within a month.
I asked if this was a fixed amount. Yes came the reply. So, to confirm i said that when i work a 25 day month, it will still be £405... err well no it is a percentage. (and not a fixed amount).
I asked if i could get some holiday pay for my break last month and the rep said that Parasol do not hold it, they just pay it straight back. I was left wondering why they charge me for something and then repay me all in one slight of hand.
Anyway, it turns out that if i do a full month of 20 days, i could get charged well over a grand.
I have never been paid for when i am sick or when i am on holiday.
Actually, i'm a pretty good saver so i could take care of this all myself.

In summary, i have used Parasol for years now, and they have been no bother at all.
But... if i am still confused after calling, then what's going on.
I am left feeling like I've just seen a card trick but cannot work out how they did it.
Trust is very important to me.
I do not want something for nothing but nor do i want to be mislead.

You are certainly not alone in this.

HI ickyboo. Can you email me your full name please and I can look into who you spoke to and have someone follow up with you.

Thanks

Steven