Who we help
Contractor accounting that keeps up with your contracts.
Support for contractors working through their own limited company, covering the compliance cycle and the questions that come up between contracts.
- Company accounts and corporation tax
- Director payroll and take-home planning
- Expenses and record keeping between assignments
Overview
The contractor’s year
Contracting through your own company gives you flexibility, and it comes with a set of obligations that do not pause between assignments. Accounts, corporation tax, a confirmation statement, payroll for your own salary and your personal return all continue regardless of whether you are currently on a contract.
Income is often uneven, which makes planning more important than it is for a business with steady monthly revenue. Knowing what to leave in the company and what you can reasonably draw is the question we are asked most.
What you get
How we support contractors
The full company cycle, plus the practical questions specific to contracting.
Company accounts
Statutory accounts prepared and filed, with the position explained rather than simply sent over for signature.
Corporation tax
Computation and CT600 filing, including equipment purchases and other allowances.
Director payroll
A single-director payroll scheme run to schedule, with RTI submissions filed each period.
Take-home planning
An annual look at salary and dividends based on your profits and personal position, not a generic rule of thumb.
Expenses guidance
Clear guidance on travel, equipment, training and home-working costs, and what evidence you need to keep.
Deadline tracking
Company and personal dates held in one schedule, with reminders sent well in advance.
More detail
Off-payroll working: what we can and cannot do
The off-payroll working rules determine whether an engagement should be treated as employment for tax purposes. Responsibility for the status determination sits with the client in many cases, and with the contractor in others, depending on the size and location of the end client.
We will explain how the rules apply to your situation, what a determination means for your company’s figures and how to account for a contract that is treated as inside the rules. Assessing the status of a specific contract is a legal question that usually requires review of the contract and the actual working arrangements, and we will tell you when it needs specialist input rather than guessing.
Uneven income and what to leave in the company
A good year followed by a quiet one is normal in contracting, and drawing everything out in the good year can leave the company short later. Retained profit provides a buffer and gives you flexibility over when income is taken.
We will look at the pattern of your income rather than a single year in isolation, and set out what a sustainable level of drawings looks like for you.
- Keeping a reserve for corporation tax and VAT rather than treating the balance as available
- Timing dividends around your personal tax position where the company’s profits allow it
- Considering pension contributions made by the company as part of overall planning
- Planning for the cost of equipment and training before committing to it
Questions
Common questions
If something is not covered here, ask us directly and we will give you a straight answer.
Tax and National Insurance are generally deducted before the money reaches your company, which changes the figures that flow through your accounts and affects what is left to draw. We will show you how it works in your accounts and what it means for the rest of your year.
Income through an umbrella is employment income and is reported differently from work through your own company. If you do both, we will make sure the two are handled correctly and combined properly on your personal return.
It depends on whether the site is a temporary workplace, and there are rules about the expected duration of an engagement that can change the answer part way through. We will look at your specific arrangements rather than applying a blanket rule.
A company can be closed once its affairs are settled, and the way remaining funds are extracted affects the tax you pay. It is worth planning several months ahead, so tell us as soon as you are considering it.
Get a fee built around a contractor company.
Answer a few questions about your company and see an indicative monthly figure straight away.