Specialist contractor accountants are very important to all contractors, whether new to the industry or experienced. Contracting without one can severely affect your take-home pay at the end of the month so it’s vital that you get in touch with one to ensure that you’re fully covered.
Brookson brings you the top 4 reasons why you need a specialist contractor accountant and how it can enable you to get the most out of your monthly income.
1. Legislation
When it comes to contracting, there’s a whole bunch of contracting specific legislation that could affect you and your finances. Whether it be at work or how you go about managing your finances in your leisure time. It’s essential that you have the basic knowledge of what they are and how they could affect you.
This is where specialist contractor accountants are hugely helpful, as they have up-to-date knowledge on contracting legislation, ensuring that any updates are taken on and passed across to you.
A legislation many contractors have to worry about if they work as a limited company is IR35, tax legislation brought about by HMRC to tackle ‘disguised employment’. Where a contractor works for a client essentially like a full-time employee but also has the financial rewards of being a contractor.
Whether you’re caught by this, intentionally or not, you face losing your contracting benefits, meaning you’ll be much worse off at the end of the financial year.
It’s essential you speak to a specialist contractor accountant because of this. A high-street accountant designed to be flexible to all businesses will not necessarily have the IR35 legislation knowledge that you require as a contractor.
2. Experience and knowledge
You never know how each month is going to go as a contractor, some months you’re extremely busy, traveling the country to complete work for different clients. Other months are slower, where work isn’t available so you have to rely on savings to get by. This is the life of a contractor, every month is different.
That’s why you need the experience and knowledge of specialist contractor accountant that’s seen all of it before. That’s had hundreds to thousands of contractors that have been through what you’re going through. So when you’re not sure what to do, you have that experience on the phone or through their online portal, to assist you in any way they can.
Without those years of knowledge and experience, you’re facing every day with the risk of coming across something that you can’t deal with currently, whether it be lack of either or both.
3. Online flexibility
When dealing with specialist contractor accountants, such as Brookson, they all understand that the contracting life can be very mobile. You could be around the country every other day so you won’t have time to pop into the accountancy every time you have a question or need your finances looked at.
This is why they provide extensive online portals, that give you access to your latest finances, reports, and reviews that give you the ability to make financial decisions on the go.
This flexibility is not found elsewhere, especially on the high street, who’s services are marketed to a very wide range of customer.
4. Cost
Pricing compared to high-street accountants can also be quite reasonable, as the average price of specialist contractor accountant services hasn’t risen with inflation over the past decade.
Prices can range from £80-£150 per month depending on the services that you require, a price many are willing to pay to ensure their finances are in order. It’s important to take some time to look around the market to ensure you’re getting the best deal, sometimes it’s better to pay a little more to get more services.
Get in touch with a specialist contractor accountant, such as Brookson, today!