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04 Mar 10 - 06:22 PM (#2856262) Subject: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: skipy As of 1 April I will be self employed, basically doing the same job that I am now any advice from any self employed out there will be most welcome. Skipy |
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04 Mar 10 - 06:31 PM (#2856267) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: artbrooks I think that you should institute a very liberal sick leave and vacation policy. |
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04 Mar 10 - 06:33 PM (#2856270) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: CarolC Become incorporated and get a good accountant. I don't know much about the tax laws in the UK, but in the US, doing this saves a TON of money. |
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04 Mar 10 - 06:45 PM (#2856278) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: GUEST,mg if you are in US...set some of your house aside only for business..can't be used for other stuff..and you can write all sorts of things off. Put a sign on your car and I think you can write stuff off too on that...mg |
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04 Mar 10 - 06:46 PM (#2856279) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: maeve Skipy is in England, as I recall. Skipy- No advice, but lots of encouragement from us here in Maine. Best of luck in your endeavors! maeve |
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04 Mar 10 - 06:48 PM (#2856281) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: skipy Thanks all above, yes U/K. Want to ensure that I pay every penny I need to & not a penny more or less! Skipy |
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04 Mar 10 - 07:27 PM (#2856318) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: GUEST,number 6 my advice is exactly what CarolC advised. 30 years ago I didn't take that advice ... boy did I learn a lesson. Good luck on your endeavors. biLL |
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04 Mar 10 - 07:31 PM (#2856321) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: Leadfingers Keep receipts of ANY expenditure that assists 'The Business' and DONT claimfor anything you cant prove is legitimate expense ! |
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04 Mar 10 - 08:03 PM (#2856353) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: Paul Burke Remember that you need to keep ALL accounts- every record of payment and expenditure as regards your work - for 5 years. Don't let the smallest business- related invoice or receipt get lost. Keep your accounts monthly at worst, so you know exactly your position if someone asks. Employ an accountant to do your annual accounts and tax return. And enjoy your freedom. |
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04 Mar 10 - 08:13 PM (#2856364) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: skipy Thanks Paul I am listening & learning. Skipy |
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04 Mar 10 - 08:23 PM (#2856376) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: Bobert I've been self employed since 1980 and have learned a couple things about it... First, be prepared to work longer and harder... Seesm to go with the territory... Second, be mindful that you will now have to pay twice as much into Social Security (that is if you work in the US)... B~ |
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05 Mar 10 - 04:25 AM (#2856561) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: Dave the Gnome Watch for the IR35 legislation - If you are doing the same job I guess it is long term? In which case HMRC may deem you to be still employed by the organisation you work for and still liable for PAYE and NIC. May be worthwhile you working for an umbrella comapany rather than being self employed. Look into it anyway. Cheers DeG |
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05 Mar 10 - 08:19 AM (#2856683) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: SINSULL Working from home, Skipy? One of the hardest parts of it is self discipline. Arise at the same time every day. Shower and dress as if going to an office. DO NOT ALLOW FRIENDS TO INTERFERE IN YOUR WORK TIME. Some will think you are available for coffee or a chat. Plan your day with breaks and lunch and stick to it. It is not for everyone and can get lonely. That lunch can be at a local restaurant with a friend or maybe a business lunch - you can write them off. Simple business diary/folders are available to help you keep track of expenses. Invest in a good one and use it or hire an accounting service. |
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05 Mar 10 - 08:50 AM (#2856701) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: GUEST I agree. Absolute self disipline. You must be on top of the paperwork at all times and know your cashflow position at the end of every day. Personally, if I were to go back to self-employment it would be in a strictly cash business. Credit customers are an absolute pain; mine were estate agents, ie, members of the criminal fraternity. Biggest mistake I ever made. |
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05 Mar 10 - 09:29 AM (#2856730) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: GUEST, topsie A big bonus is that you are spared the dreaded 'office party' at Christmas - you can, of course, have one on your own. |
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05 Mar 10 - 09:46 AM (#2856739) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: Dave the Gnome be mindful that you will now have to pay twice as much into Social Security (that is if you work in the US)... True in the UK as well - If you are paying yourself from your own limited comapny you have to pay both employer and employee national insurance contributions:-( Best is to not pay yourself and live off comapny dividends but you realy do need an accountant to sort stuff like that out. D. |
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05 Mar 10 - 10:28 AM (#2856770) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: Bonzo3legs It's still worth forming a company, as there are tax savings to be made, and you can walk away from it. It's quite easy really - pay yourself a salary up to the amount where National Insurance starts - currently £5,400 or so. This is tax deductable in your accounts. Then take a dividend calculated to take your gross pay up to the amount where Higher Rate Tax starts. There will be no personal tax or national insurance payable, of course Corporation Tax at 21% will be paid on your company profit. Never bring a car into the company - just charge 40p per mile for first 10k miles and 25p thereafter. You should use an accountant, you will need to give him bank statements, copy sales invoices and all paid bills, in order to prepare accounts in the prescribed form, and will deal with a number of deadlines thrust upon us. If your sales reaches £68,000 in any 12 months you must register for VAT. It may pay to use the Flat Rate Scheme, under which you charge your customers VAT as normal at 17.5%, but pay VAT to HM Revenue & Customs at a flate rate (see VAT Notice 733) calculated on the VAT inclusive amount of your sales. |
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05 Mar 10 - 10:29 AM (#2856771) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: Bonzo3legs The car mileage relates to business mileage only of course. |
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05 Mar 10 - 10:32 AM (#2856777) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: GUEST,KP I've been doing this for 15+ years. My thoughts (UK specific) 1. Get a good small business accountant. They won't cost much, will keep you out of trouble and will tell you about tax allowances etc (did you know you can claim a portion of your domestic fuel and lighting if you are working from home?) 2. Keep all your business receipts and maintain a simple cash flow spreadsheet or cash book. Reconcile it to your bank account every month. 3. Network like mad. Build an interesting one or two line description of what you do so you can tell people clearly and succinctly. Go to networking events and meetings, get people's business cards, and follow up with a call or an e-mail. 4. If you can, keep an office area distinct from the rest of your home. Get up and 'go to work' very clearly. On the days where its just not going well, or no-one is available to talk to you, make a positive decision to go out and get fresh air ('if you're going to goof off, goof off positively') 5. There is quite a lot of help and quite a few grants for people starting new businesses in the UK. Go to your local Regional Development Agency, your Local Learning and Skills Councils, Business Link to see what's on offer. 6. Contrary to popular legend, I've always found the tax and VAT people quite helpful when you go to them with a genuine issue or question. 7. Take plenty of exercise, keep fit and look fit. You have to sell yourself over and over again, and people make fairly instant judgements about you almost the minute you walk in the door to make your pitch. 8. Unless you really need a laptop, get a decent desktop computer and screen, and a comfortable chair. You can't afford to get backache. In addition desktops tend to last longer (you don't drop them) - I've only just bought my 4th (Mac) desktop since 1992. Best of Luck KP |
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05 Mar 10 - 10:34 AM (#2856779) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: Dave the Gnome 's what I do as well, Bonzo! You can also claim £5 a day unreceipted subsistance or £15 a day if you do more than 12 hours. I did end up paying too little VAT in the first year as I misinterpreted it as paying the flat rate on pre-vat sales - It isn't. It's on sales AND vat. Easily sorted though. |
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05 Mar 10 - 10:42 AM (#2856791) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: gnu Great advice, especially about routine discipline. I like to set my watch to chime on the hour to remind me it's time to get up and walk around for five minutes. I like to go outside, even if only for one minute. Most important to me is to have a cheap PC connected to the internet and a "good" PC (latest purchase) separate. When I want to send or recieve work related things, I use a Flash to transfer between PCs. Of course, regular work correspondance and such can be done on the internet PC. |
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05 Mar 10 - 10:50 AM (#2856804) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: Mr Red The only problem working for yourself is you dun gotta get along with yer boss. How do you like yerself? Dress optional? Seriously, have you investigated umbrella organisations? They handle the IR53 (or whatever they call it now) and you can claim petrol money for the journey to work for 2 years or 2 years per location if you change the location or work for more than one company. They needs post codes! There are theoretically other things you could claim for but in my experience it doesn't wash with the Inland Revenue so the Umbrella Guys have given-up the fight on most things expenses, for non MP's anyway. Do you really really need a duck house? |
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05 Mar 10 - 10:51 AM (#2856805) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: Midchuck I like the Dave Barry line: "The best thing about working at home is that you don't have to get dressed until 4:30 in the afternoon when the Pizza delivery guy arrives, bringing breakfast." Not true, of course, if your business involves seeing clients or customers, or going out on calls, etc. - but funny. Peter |
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05 Mar 10 - 11:04 AM (#2856816) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: Dave the Gnome I used these guys when I contracted though an umbrella company. They did what it says on the tin:-) The only reson I moved was to have more control over my pension. Which I have not done anything about... |
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05 Mar 10 - 11:17 AM (#2856827) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: *#1 PEASANT* I like using the term "self unemployed" as I tend to choose to do thankless under compensated work. |
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05 Mar 10 - 11:47 AM (#2856842) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: Lox There is something important missing. Exchange no money until the contract has been agreed TO YOUR SATISFACTION, and signed and witnessed. Negotiation is about you and your counterpart both getting what you want/need and how to achieve this together. Some compromises have to be made, but not on key objectives. Research should tell you the "right price" before you even enter the room, so you can take or leave deals with confidence. A genuine person will have no problem pretecting themselves and you with a solid contract. Make no exceptions! |
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05 Mar 10 - 12:39 PM (#2856880) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: John MacKenzie Think carefully before you either. Register for VAT, or become a limited company. |
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05 Mar 10 - 02:47 PM (#2856969) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: s&r See an accountant before you start. Find out the system he recommends for bookkeeping, and use it. Enter your books regularly. File receipts and documents so you can find them. Get the right insurance for your needs. A good accountant will advise you on whether to register for VAT or not (usually not) and whether to form a company (not always an advantage and increases paperwork). If you have any form of partnership particularly friends/family have a proper partnership agreement drawn up. Good luck. Stu |
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05 Mar 10 - 03:02 PM (#2856983) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: 3refs Don't let the boss catch you "eyeballin" the dog! A good boss will catch you just lookin! |
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05 Mar 10 - 03:11 PM (#2856990) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: Gurney It was the bookkeeping that scared me when I started 14 years ago. After a while I learned how to set up ledgers in Excel so that the arithmetic and GST(VAT) were calculated automatically. See if you can find someone who will give you a copy of a set templates for three ledgers, invoices, estimates/quotations, etc. I just give the accountant my stuff at the end of the year, and he's happy with them. The only other times I see him is when I do a job for him. Sorry, my stuff is no use to you. I'm in NZ. Wrong rates. |
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05 Mar 10 - 03:54 PM (#2857015) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: gnu I went to an accountant first year. Cost me $650 and I had to do the logging under his scheme. Never went back. Fact is, if it's not required by law, do it yourself. With the internet and the packaged accouting programs, ya CAN do it. I had the feds crawl up my... books... and the audit was fine. As long as ya don't cook the books, yer cool. |
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05 Mar 10 - 06:32 PM (#2857123) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: s&r I found the value of an accountant was knowing the rules and regulations, particularly with allowable expenses. The people I know who find accountants expensive are the ones who don't keep the books properly. My accountant said he made a good living out of people who came into his office with a shoebox full of receipts and a worried expression. I estimate that using a good accountant saved me many times his fees. Stu |
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05 Mar 10 - 07:08 PM (#2857156) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: CarolC gnu, are you incorporated? |
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06 Mar 10 - 12:18 PM (#2857625) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: Sooz Get in touch with HMR and C - believe it or not, they don't want to charge you more income tax than is absolutely necessary! The run FREE seminars for "Becoming Self Employed" and "Your first Self Assessment Form". I found both of these absolutely briliant. The Tax Man who ran them even sent me away with his email address in case I needed further information. You can book on-line. |
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06 Mar 10 - 12:35 PM (#2857637) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: GUEST CC... I was incorporated. I dissolved last fall. |
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06 Mar 10 - 01:43 PM (#2857684) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: Rasener Skipy Having been self employed for many years until health issues upset the apple cart, I would add the following. Make sure you have a lump sum of money set on one side for the first 6 months to make sure you can pay the bills in case things are slow. Make sure you are covered for public liability insurance. If you can use spreadsheets, it is very easy to keep daybooks for all your sales invoices, purchase invoices, profit and loss account and balnce sheet etc. If you need any templates, then Pm me with your e-mail address. I still do the books for my wife and file my wifes self employment returns online. I don't use accountants as i already have that background. Keep every invoice filed with the spreadsheet printouts so it is easy to check everything. Obviously if you do not have an accounting background, tidy daybooks with all the invoices makes it a lot easier for an accountant to do the results for you and will save you a lot of expense. Get private medical insurance, so that if you need to go into hospital, you can do that at a time that suits you and your work. Cheers Les |
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06 Mar 10 - 02:35 PM (#2857725) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: VirginiaTam I had my own business once. Domestic services, cleaning houses and offices, walking dogs, pet and house sitting, etc. Business got too big for me to do alone and so I hired some people to take on some of the work. Bad idea, they learned how to do the job, got to know the customers, quit working for me and stole my clients by undercutting my price. Happened to me 5 times and I always paid my employees much more than any other maid service and well over minimum wage. Typically, I charged $12.00 an hour for the job, the worker made $8.00 and I provided the equipment and cleaning supplies. I was such a schmuck. |
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06 Mar 10 - 03:18 PM (#2857767) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: CarolC You were able to do the corporate taxes yourself, gnu? I wouldn't even try. Maybe it's a lot more complicated here in the US than in Canada, but I feel confident I would make a mistake that would land both me and JtS in jail if I tried to do our corporate taxes myself (including the Social Security and Employment Insurance withholding, and all of that other payroll stuff), or we would end up paying a lot more than we need to. I do all of the other bookkeeping myself, though, and I really suck at it, but the accountant tells me what he needs and I give it to him and he does his magic at tax time. I just finished with the '09 taxes a couple of days ago. |
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06 Mar 10 - 04:06 PM (#2857808) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: gnu I assure you, CC, it's no less complicated. Fact is, once you have the basic spreadsheet set up, ya just gotta keep up with the paprework. Like I said... I went to an accountant the FIRST year. After that, it was just booking the numbers. The real deal is, if your business is not complicated, neither are the books. AND, if you are unsure about anything, you can always ask what you should do. If you do it by email and they don't answer, a registered letter really wakes them up. |
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06 Mar 10 - 04:25 PM (#2857823) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: gnu Here's sommat skipy.... As I type, I have a digital voice recorder 12" from my right hand. I also have a camcorder in back of me which is focused on my phone. The phone has a display of the calling number, time and date. And, I place "today's" newspaper in front of the camcorder. I have an answering machine set to seven rings. When I leave my office, I engage the camcorder. You do the math. Legal? I dunno. But, it sure works sometimes. Even for other than work. Ya never know who might call. Could be some idiot ya met on the internet at a folk and blues site that ya thought was cool and then found out was a freak. Safety first I always say. |
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06 Mar 10 - 04:33 PM (#2857828) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: CarolC It's not the spreadsheet that I have trouble with. It's understanding the tax law so that I can know what kinds of things can be claimed and what can't, how the government wants all of that presented, which forms are needed for what, and how to use them. And also knowing how to do all of the corporate red tape. The spreadsheet is easy. We pay our accountant to know and understand tax law. Something tells me that tax law is a lot less complicated in Canada than it is in the US. |
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06 Mar 10 - 05:02 PM (#2857849) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: akenaton Most important thing after a good accountant, is don't think you are going to make any money! Anything you do make, through your hard work or jiggery pokery will be swiftly removed by HM Revenue and Customs. Dont register for VAT ......avoid that like the plague! Be prepared to work weekends and holidays.....not for the money, but just to get your customers/clients off your back. Keep a photo of your wife and family handy, so you can remember what they look like! After a while its not so bad....just like a great big treadmill really......keeps ya fit. Cheers Ake.......(S/E over 40 yrs) |
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07 Mar 10 - 12:20 AM (#2858072) Subject: RE: BS: Soon to become self employed any advice? From: Gurney Hell yes, Ake. You work MUCH harder for yourself than you would for an employer. I'd add: Find out what locals in the chosen field charge, and charge a similar amount. You have to remember 'downtime.' |