going self employed?

[Sir Trev]

Originally Posted by Littlepeahead

Upside - you can take a day off whenever you fancy. Downside, if that's 6 weeks when you hurt your back you don't get sick pay. Same when it rains. Or you run out of work. Or no one needs you for 3 weeks over the festive period. No paid holiday either. So factor in how many days/weeks a year you may lose, plus a couple of weeks you want to take as hols and then see if you can make it work.

And get a private pension!

This.

I went Ltd company self employed two years ago when I got fed up with inaccurate job descriptions and employers that thought they owned me. As above get proper accounting advice and set your hourly or day rate to allow for reasonable down time. If you can I'd also suggest building a cash buffer of a couple of months or more to tide you over just in case.

I work through agencies which is usual for my profession so getting paid is not too much hassle. It has worked out well for me but Lady Poppy does worry every time I'm between contracts so make sure your family is on board.

My dad's been Ltd company self employed most of his life. I started a company, but didn't manage to get it off the ground. I would second (third?) the accountant bit. Set yourself up properly, get the company set up, invoice properly, even if you are doing work for a mate. That way, if the don't pay in 90 days, you can take them to small claims. If they don't pay take them to small claims, even if they are a mate. Also if you are a Ltd company, you can also advertise your services directly.

But most of all get a decent accountant. My dad's old one was rubbish and effectively has cost my dad in the region of 180k over the last decade through not getting him the tax breaks he is entitled to.

[Heorot]

When looking for an accountant, do not go to a national company, find a good local one. Chat with local shop owners to see who they use and recommend. That's what I did when I went IT contracting 25 years ago. The reason is that the national companies seem to work for the taxman, local independents work for you and, as LPH said, they will ensure that you can claim for the things you're legitimately entitled to.

[DomP]

Thanks so much for your encouragement and words of warning.

[Adam Ef]

Be prepared for the times when you're self unemployed too. Depending on what you're doing your flexible time off days that you look forward to can become days where you worry about where the next job is coming from. It can be quite difficult to have relaxing down time. What seemed like the opportunity to pick and choose days can in reality sometimes become a 24-7 worry, unless you're busy working, and then you're not having days off if you want to take all the work you can while it's there.

Depends on the trade you work in though.

[Trev B]

My brother in law,was on the books for years as a bricky,had no choice but went self employed,doing ok,but said he would go back on the books tomorrow if he could,but that's not paying like it did 12-15 years ago,good luck anyway mate !!!

[Littlepeahead]

Also, make sure you don't have an allergy. A guy I went to school with set his heart on being a thatcher then discovered that he spent the whole day with eyes and noise streaming so much he couldn't do any work!

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by DarrenSV650S

All the self employed agency guys are panicking just now because the tax rules are about to change soon, meaning they can't claim for petrol and other expenses. So they would be just as well going on the books.

Really? In what industry?

[DarrenSV650S]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Really? In what industry?

Electricians working as temps through an agency. I think they said it's happening in a couple of months. I don't know much else about it

[Sir Trev]

Originally Posted by DarrenSV650S

Electricians working as temps through an agency. I think they said it's happening in a couple of months. I don't know much else about it

Do a Google search on contractor expense changes 2016. Self employed and ltd co contractors will no longer be able to claim travel and subsistence in certain situations. If in doubt talk to your financial adviser.

I echo the sentiments about using a local indie accountant. One with experience of similar industries and people/companies like you are what you need to look for.