Become A Contractor

Have you ever thought about becoming your own boss in charge of a limited company, well the idea isn't as far fetched as it sounds.

The first step is to become familiar with the multitude of online job boards available to you. You should be able to register your details free of charge and then receive job alerts by email.

Once you find your contracting job, the fun really starts. At this point you should seriously consider finding a reliable local accountant. An accountant will provide advice regarding setting up limited companies, will show you how to administer your VAT and choose the best VAT scheme in order to save vital cash. Apart from a little fuss with Companies House each year, that's more or less it in terms of finances. Keeping a cashbook would be ideal, but contractors tend to have very few transactions so its often worthwhile just giving the whole lot to the accountant, telling him to get on with it for a small fee.

The only issue that warrants very careful consideration indeed is the dreaded IR35 legislation. IR35 is very complicated and should be considered for each and every contract that you embark upon. Failure to do so could result in a large unexpected tax bill which could put you into financial difficulties. In my opinion, professional advice regarding IR35 is a must and is money well spent.

Finally, if you feel really adventerous, you could build yourself a website advertising your services. There really is no substitute to a high search engine ranking to attract clients and so unless you have good search engine optimisation skills, you'll probably find yourself paying out substantial amounts of money to improve your rankings.