Contractor outside of IR35: Umbrella or limited company, accountant or DIY?
I've been a contractor for 3 months and have had Giant, an umbrella company, process my pay. I take home under 60% of what I make despite claiming (very humble) expenses. I have just won a new contract on a lot of money so want to make sure I do the right thing and don't get ripped off. I've been told that my contract definitely falls outside of IR35 and has been especially written that way. I'm thinking I should go limited company and do the company formation myself, or would I be better getting an accountant to deal with everything for me or a specialist online contractor accountant service or something. I've found so much conflicting information online but it's all biased, before I started last time Giant gave me a quote telling me I'd get over 75% before I started and that was clearly rubbish! What do you guys do/ recommend? Any responses gratefully received! :) PS. I'm based in Berkshire so any accountants etc. around there even better!
United Kingdom - 2 Answers
People Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
Answer 1 :
I would go and speak to 2 or 3 accountants - any good firlms will be willing to offer you an hour of their time to explain the pros and cons of each alternative and to tell you what their fees are. I have to say that putting the company and PAYE stuff in the hands of a good, local accountant will save you loads of hassle, fines, etc.
Answer 2 :
Whether you need a company or not depends to a large extent on what work you do. If, because it's your fault (mistake etc) something goes wrong, what could it cost in terms of injury to other people; wasted materials etc? If the answer is "a lot", form a limited company, then any mistake will cost you no more than the company's assets. Without a company you would pesonally be at risk. If not much is at stake, just be a sole trader - the annual cost is less than the cost of running a company. Either way get yourself an accountant. They can advise finally on which way you ought to go.Dig out a few names from Yellow Pages then, before you call them, go and have a look at their business premises. Discard those that operate from home or a shabby looking office. Disregard those with very large, plush-looking offices (they'll charge hefty fees). Make sure the name plate has the letters ACA or FCA or ACCA after the name. From the resulting shortlist select one that you like the look of and give them a call. For the sort of advice you will need they should all be quite capable - yours is a common situation. Do ask about the accountants' fees (though it won't actually cost you as much as they quote because you will be able to deduct them from what you'll have to pay income tax on). Also, get clear with them what record-keeping you'll need to do. Poor records result in an accountant having to spend more time, which leads to higher fees.
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Saturday, April 28, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Can I refuse to pay my accountant?
Can I refuse to pay my accountant?
i have been charged for lots of things that my accountants have done for me - but they have never indicated to us that there would be a charge - for example my accountant sent me an excel spreadsheet to use as he thought it would help keep track of business. today i recieve a bill for £420.00!. Am i within my rights to refuse to pay as at no time did he tell me there was a fee. If he had I would have refused it. Too make it worse his spreadsheet was not as good in my opinion as the one I was using that I downloaded from the internet for free!
Other - Taxes - 7 Answers
People Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
Answer 1 :
What does your contract with them state? Did you sign anything when you first went to them? Did you not ask if there was a fee?
Answer 2 :
UK? You could. Check the contract. It may be a case of them using misleading information. If the spreadsheet was not fit for it's purpose, then you may have a claim under the supply of goods and services act. You need to write a letter of complaint to the accountant as soon as possible. Be prepared to write three letters, if you don't get a satisfactory response to your complaint. Trading standards may be able to shed some light on this for you. Just as an afterthought, I don't know if the financial ombudsmen might be able to help you. Check their website below.
Answer 3 :
I wouldn't try it, any way surely you realise that accountants don't work for nothing
Answer 4 :
They did a service for you, you have to pay them. Of course, you could refuse, but they could sue you for fees, and they would win. As long as they weren't negligent in their work for you, the accountants did nothing wrong, regardless of the outcome. If you want to punish them for their bad work, just switch accountants. How could you not know they were going to bill you?
Answer 5 :
Dear (Accountant), I am "returning" the Excel spreadsheet. I have deleted all copies from my computer. First, I am not using it. I found that the one I was already using met my needs. I looked at it because you recommened it to me. Second, I was not aware that you were planning to bill me for it. Frankly, it's not as good as the ones available on the internet for free and had I known you were planning to bill me for it--let alone 420GPB-- I would have declined immediately. ...
Answer 6 :
If you asked for the spreadsheet, you have to pay. If he just gave you the spreadsheet out of the blue (i.e.: unsolicited), you don't have to pay. He can NOT force you to use his product, and if you refuse to use his product, you are not required to pay for it. Either e-mail him, or call him, and advise that you have no intention of paying for unasked-for and unused product. You evaluated the product, and deleted it as inferior to product you had already obtained. If he insists on being paid for work not requested, or inappropriate software or hardware "suggestions" fire him. I know one store owner here who knuckled under when his accountant told him flat-out to NOT do cash-backs, because HE doesn't like them, and that he would charge extra to process them! I suggested to the owner that he can the guy and hire a new accountant! Good Luck
Answer 7 :
I don't think accountants and solicitors have to give you schedule of charges when you employ them. although you should have am agreement of service. Are they Chartered Accountants, or members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. If they are I am sure they qwill be acting in accordance with the regulations. If they are not then I would query it. £420 sounds a lot for a spread sheet!
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i have been charged for lots of things that my accountants have done for me - but they have never indicated to us that there would be a charge - for example my accountant sent me an excel spreadsheet to use as he thought it would help keep track of business. today i recieve a bill for £420.00!. Am i within my rights to refuse to pay as at no time did he tell me there was a fee. If he had I would have refused it. Too make it worse his spreadsheet was not as good in my opinion as the one I was using that I downloaded from the internet for free!
Other - Taxes - 7 Answers
People Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
Answer 1 :
What does your contract with them state? Did you sign anything when you first went to them? Did you not ask if there was a fee?
Answer 2 :
UK? You could. Check the contract. It may be a case of them using misleading information. If the spreadsheet was not fit for it's purpose, then you may have a claim under the supply of goods and services act. You need to write a letter of complaint to the accountant as soon as possible. Be prepared to write three letters, if you don't get a satisfactory response to your complaint. Trading standards may be able to shed some light on this for you. Just as an afterthought, I don't know if the financial ombudsmen might be able to help you. Check their website below.
Answer 3 :
I wouldn't try it, any way surely you realise that accountants don't work for nothing
Answer 4 :
They did a service for you, you have to pay them. Of course, you could refuse, but they could sue you for fees, and they would win. As long as they weren't negligent in their work for you, the accountants did nothing wrong, regardless of the outcome. If you want to punish them for their bad work, just switch accountants. How could you not know they were going to bill you?
Answer 5 :
Dear (Accountant), I am "returning" the Excel spreadsheet. I have deleted all copies from my computer. First, I am not using it. I found that the one I was already using met my needs. I looked at it because you recommened it to me. Second, I was not aware that you were planning to bill me for it. Frankly, it's not as good as the ones available on the internet for free and had I known you were planning to bill me for it--let alone 420GPB-- I would have declined immediately. ...
Answer 6 :
If you asked for the spreadsheet, you have to pay. If he just gave you the spreadsheet out of the blue (i.e.: unsolicited), you don't have to pay. He can NOT force you to use his product, and if you refuse to use his product, you are not required to pay for it. Either e-mail him, or call him, and advise that you have no intention of paying for unasked-for and unused product. You evaluated the product, and deleted it as inferior to product you had already obtained. If he insists on being paid for work not requested, or inappropriate software or hardware "suggestions" fire him. I know one store owner here who knuckled under when his accountant told him flat-out to NOT do cash-backs, because HE doesn't like them, and that he would charge extra to process them! I suggested to the owner that he can the guy and hire a new accountant! Good Luck
Answer 7 :
I don't think accountants and solicitors have to give you schedule of charges when you employ them. although you should have am agreement of service. Are they Chartered Accountants, or members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. If they are I am sure they qwill be acting in accordance with the regulations. If they are not then I would query it. £420 sounds a lot for a spread sheet!
Read more other entries :
Saturday, April 7, 2012
What should i do if my accountant goes missing with my books the day before tax payment deadline ?
What should i do if my accountant goes missing with my books the day before tax payment deadline ?
About 8 weeks ago i took my books to my accountant to give him plenty ot time to sort it out before my tax is due to be paid (tomorrow). I called him last week to find out when it would be ready and he said he'd call me earlier this week. He didnt call so i phoned him yesterday (fri) and this morning but got no joy and left him a message on his answerphone to call me. So far he hasnt called and I dont hold out much hope of any joy tomorrow (due day). The wife and myself are a partnership so this involves filing 3 tax returns.I assume if we are late then we'll have 3 x penalty fines. Is there anything i should or could do to avoid paying the fines as theres nothing we can do if the accountant goes missing . TIA Thanks for replies ,and to be fair i'm pretty sure nothing untoward has happened, he took over from his father and has been operating for many years. For all i know something serious might have happened to him so i don't want to get too carried away involving police etc. I 'll try to get hold of him tomorrow and if not phone the tax office and ask for an extension. Its our first years tax returns so we have nothing from a previous year to gauge any payment.although i have worked out roughly what we will have to pay. tringy -why did you say id have to pay the fine on the partnership one? I know it requires special software to submit it, is that why? My ( soon to be ex) accountant told me the individual returns are just the partnership one split in two I'm thinking at the moment to just file our individual returns . Phew ! Finally got hold of him and hes already submitted the return. I was dreading spending the rest of the day trying to sort out them myself. Thanks for replies
United Kingdom - 5 Answers
People Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
Answer 1 :
you should probably get a new accountant
Answer 2 :
File for an extension. Include a check for estimated tax payment : look at your 2008 payment, and raise or lower that amount by the same percentage as your guesstimated revenues for 2009 - you will then be liable only for interest and penalties on any amount still due, not the full tax amount. Get a new accountant, and put a lawyer onto the old one.
Answer 3 :
contact the tax office yourself and explain to them whats happenend,they will help you with everything ,give them the name off your accountant ,because they have to be registerd with them , i would also contact the police , the accountant is in breach if they do not keep in contact with you ,also check or freeze your bank account .
Answer 4 :
No point in asking HMRC for mercy - the rules state you must file and pay your tax on time. If you pay the tax due by the due date, even without filing your return you cannot be fined. As you dont even know the amount of tax due, I would suggest that you make a payment by tomorrow roughly the same as last year's. At least this will stop interest being piled on to the tax. All you can then do is try and track your accountant down and demand that he pays any fine and interest you are charged (or at least deduct this frm his bill)....and then find another accountant. EDIT: You cannot ask for an extension - it doesnt matter what the circumstances, its down to you to get your SA in on time.
Answer 5 :
Pay what you think is due. That will reduce the penalty on two of the returns. You're going to have to pay the fine on the partnership one but I would ask the accountant to cover that. You could appeal the fines but as you only gave the accountant the records at the beginning of December I doubt your circumstances would count as a reasonable excuse.
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About 8 weeks ago i took my books to my accountant to give him plenty ot time to sort it out before my tax is due to be paid (tomorrow). I called him last week to find out when it would be ready and he said he'd call me earlier this week. He didnt call so i phoned him yesterday (fri) and this morning but got no joy and left him a message on his answerphone to call me. So far he hasnt called and I dont hold out much hope of any joy tomorrow (due day). The wife and myself are a partnership so this involves filing 3 tax returns.I assume if we are late then we'll have 3 x penalty fines. Is there anything i should or could do to avoid paying the fines as theres nothing we can do if the accountant goes missing . TIA Thanks for replies ,and to be fair i'm pretty sure nothing untoward has happened, he took over from his father and has been operating for many years. For all i know something serious might have happened to him so i don't want to get too carried away involving police etc. I 'll try to get hold of him tomorrow and if not phone the tax office and ask for an extension. Its our first years tax returns so we have nothing from a previous year to gauge any payment.although i have worked out roughly what we will have to pay. tringy -why did you say id have to pay the fine on the partnership one? I know it requires special software to submit it, is that why? My ( soon to be ex) accountant told me the individual returns are just the partnership one split in two I'm thinking at the moment to just file our individual returns . Phew ! Finally got hold of him and hes already submitted the return. I was dreading spending the rest of the day trying to sort out them myself. Thanks for replies
United Kingdom - 5 Answers
People Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
Answer 1 :
you should probably get a new accountant
Answer 2 :
File for an extension. Include a check for estimated tax payment : look at your 2008 payment, and raise or lower that amount by the same percentage as your guesstimated revenues for 2009 - you will then be liable only for interest and penalties on any amount still due, not the full tax amount. Get a new accountant, and put a lawyer onto the old one.
Answer 3 :
contact the tax office yourself and explain to them whats happenend,they will help you with everything ,give them the name off your accountant ,because they have to be registerd with them , i would also contact the police , the accountant is in breach if they do not keep in contact with you ,also check or freeze your bank account .
Answer 4 :
No point in asking HMRC for mercy - the rules state you must file and pay your tax on time. If you pay the tax due by the due date, even without filing your return you cannot be fined. As you dont even know the amount of tax due, I would suggest that you make a payment by tomorrow roughly the same as last year's. At least this will stop interest being piled on to the tax. All you can then do is try and track your accountant down and demand that he pays any fine and interest you are charged (or at least deduct this frm his bill)....and then find another accountant. EDIT: You cannot ask for an extension - it doesnt matter what the circumstances, its down to you to get your SA in on time.
Answer 5 :
Pay what you think is due. That will reduce the penalty on two of the returns. You're going to have to pay the fine on the partnership one but I would ask the accountant to cover that. You could appeal the fines but as you only gave the accountant the records at the beginning of December I doubt your circumstances would count as a reasonable excuse.
Read more other entries :
Sunday, April 1, 2012
which is better - Doctor or Chartered Accountant or engineers?
which is better - Doctor or Chartered Accountant or engineers?
doctor pros : saves lives of people by doing many things that are usually too disgusting for normal people. which is a very important thing. because no matter how much you spend, you can never replace a life. has worked really hard to get where they are. chartered accountant ; makes and saves millions for people and companies if you work for a big company. engineer : almost everything you see when you look around has been engineered in someway. from important and beautiful landmarks (eg - Eiffel tower) to things that you use everyday ( a pen or pencil) has been engineered. i think engineers are the best kind of people. because almost everything in the world has been engineered someway. without engineering we would still be living like people used to in 10000 years ago. eg - inventing a wheel has changed the world massively. inventing a wheel might have happened by accident but is was a very innovating idea. what engineers do, changes the world. the whole world is based on engineering. anyone who can study well can be a very brilliant doctor or chartered accountant. but engineering is not just about studying. it is about being innovative, being inventive, achieving engineering perfection and being passionate. yet they do all this and still is underpaid. now to the question. which is the better career? dont just say engineering because that is what i like and thinking i would pick you as the best answer. the best answer goes to one who explains the most about why they thing their choice of career is the best
Other - Careers & Employment - 2 Answers
People Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
Answer 1 :
I love being an engineer, but I'm not sure I could explain why. Lots of differnet things to do, new tasks to learn, the people that know what I am, and understand what engineers are (ie not mechanics) respect me. Yes we are underpaid, relatively speaking, but not awfully so - and I can honestly say I have enjoyed the majority of my days at work.
Answer 2 :
I think that being an engineer would be the best job out of the three. I think it would be great to be a doctor, seeing different patients every day and making great money, but then there are also risks...and a person's life is involved. I would also never, ever be able to be a doctor because you have to cut up a cadaever in med school and give people shots; both things I would never be able to stomach. So the medical field is out for me. Being a chartered accountant would also probably be a pretty good position, monetarily speaking, but again, they hold a lot of responsibility with something that is a pretty touchy subject for most people: money. If you lose other people's money, or mess up their accounting, you're in big trouble. Just watch C-SPAN for 5 minutes and it becomes clear: all of the people they are holding responsible for the economic crises are the accountants of those big companies. Not only that, but crunching numbers all day just seems really, really boring. Being an engineer would be very rewarding because most of the time, you can create without risk. You come up with an idea, you plan it out, you build it, then you build it again and again, a million times maybe, just to make it better. It requires passion and patience. Depending on which engineering field you choose, you can make really good money. Petroleum and chemical engineers are the highest paid, I actually think both are in the top 50 when it comes to highest paying careers, and they also take the least time in school when you consider the schooling required for doctors and CPAs. Just 4 years to get your bachelor's in engineering, then you're making 90k a year. Not too shabby.
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doctor pros : saves lives of people by doing many things that are usually too disgusting for normal people. which is a very important thing. because no matter how much you spend, you can never replace a life. has worked really hard to get where they are. chartered accountant ; makes and saves millions for people and companies if you work for a big company. engineer : almost everything you see when you look around has been engineered in someway. from important and beautiful landmarks (eg - Eiffel tower) to things that you use everyday ( a pen or pencil) has been engineered. i think engineers are the best kind of people. because almost everything in the world has been engineered someway. without engineering we would still be living like people used to in 10000 years ago. eg - inventing a wheel has changed the world massively. inventing a wheel might have happened by accident but is was a very innovating idea. what engineers do, changes the world. the whole world is based on engineering. anyone who can study well can be a very brilliant doctor or chartered accountant. but engineering is not just about studying. it is about being innovative, being inventive, achieving engineering perfection and being passionate. yet they do all this and still is underpaid. now to the question. which is the better career? dont just say engineering because that is what i like and thinking i would pick you as the best answer. the best answer goes to one who explains the most about why they thing their choice of career is the best
Other - Careers & Employment - 2 Answers
People Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
Answer 1 :
I love being an engineer, but I'm not sure I could explain why. Lots of differnet things to do, new tasks to learn, the people that know what I am, and understand what engineers are (ie not mechanics) respect me. Yes we are underpaid, relatively speaking, but not awfully so - and I can honestly say I have enjoyed the majority of my days at work.
Answer 2 :
I think that being an engineer would be the best job out of the three. I think it would be great to be a doctor, seeing different patients every day and making great money, but then there are also risks...and a person's life is involved. I would also never, ever be able to be a doctor because you have to cut up a cadaever in med school and give people shots; both things I would never be able to stomach. So the medical field is out for me. Being a chartered accountant would also probably be a pretty good position, monetarily speaking, but again, they hold a lot of responsibility with something that is a pretty touchy subject for most people: money. If you lose other people's money, or mess up their accounting, you're in big trouble. Just watch C-SPAN for 5 minutes and it becomes clear: all of the people they are holding responsible for the economic crises are the accountants of those big companies. Not only that, but crunching numbers all day just seems really, really boring. Being an engineer would be very rewarding because most of the time, you can create without risk. You come up with an idea, you plan it out, you build it, then you build it again and again, a million times maybe, just to make it better. It requires passion and patience. Depending on which engineering field you choose, you can make really good money. Petroleum and chemical engineers are the highest paid, I actually think both are in the top 50 when it comes to highest paying careers, and they also take the least time in school when you consider the schooling required for doctors and CPAs. Just 4 years to get your bachelor's in engineering, then you're making 90k a year. Not too shabby.
Read more other entries :
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