Yet another newbie

[vwdan]

It seems to be the done thing to post an intro, so "hello". I'm Dan and after much soul searching over the last few months, I'm in the process of biting the bullet and moving into contracting. I've been in permanent FTE since my first IT job, 10 years ago and apparently people think I'm pretty good at it so here's hoping I can pull it off! So, the house deposit has now become a warchest. My boss is expecting my letter of resignation early next year (We've yet to agree a formal end date, though he knows I'm leaving of course) and now I just need to spend a whole bunch of cash to get my business off the ground.

And then I hope and pray!

I've worked for IT Companies (Rather than companies with IT) for the last 8 years so I'm hoping most of the contracting world will be familiar - I already spend the vast majority of my time stuck by myself on random sites across the country, with random people so I'm no stranger to fending for myself and travelling.

[Clare@InTouch]

Welcome

[gws]

Welcome! But wot's all that money you're planning to spend? You'll need a limited company, of course - not sure how much they are these days but £200 should cover it. Apart from that, you can leave signing up with an accountant until you're actually earning. For now, the prime thing is to land that first contract before spending out too much - but the market's boyant so you should find something soon.

One tip I seem to remember from when I started, if you get an off the shelf limited company, don't activate it (assuming it isn't already) until you are actually ready to trade, as the first accounting date comes a fixed period counting from that date, so no need to pay accountant's fees earlier than needed! And familiarise yourself with IR35 before the first contract, to avoid missing stuff you should be doing. I went back into contracting recently after a long break, and missed a couple of tricks.

All the best!

[vwdan]

Welcome

Thanks Clare

Welcome! But wot's all that money you're planning to spend? You'll need a limited company, of course - not sure how much they are these days but £200 should cover it. Apart from that, you can leave signing up with an accountant until you're actually earning. For now, the prime thing is to land that first contract before spending out too much - but the market's boyant so you should find something soon.

One tip I seem to remember from when I started, if you get an off the shelf limited company, don't activate it (assuming it isn't already) until you are actually ready to trade, as the first accounting date comes a fixed period counting from that date, so no need to pay accountant's fees earlier than needed! And familiarise yourself with IR35 before the first contract, to avoid missing stuff you should be doing. I went back into contracting recently after a long break, and missed a couple of tricks.

All the best!

Cheers gws. I was being slightly hyperbolic, but I need things like a new laptop, insurance PCG etc, though now you say it, I agree that I may aswell hold off on a lot of those until I land my first job.

[mkrbIT]

Hi vwdan,

I was just wondering how you got on, I am in a similar position and have similar background and I am pretty much going forward into contracting from permie.

cheers

Michael