Going self employed - things to think about

Jet

For the last couple of years I have been working in an accountants doing bookkeeping work. I've also been doing admin and the books for 2 former employers who didn't want to lose me, I do this on my days off from my regular work, which is part time. I am registered self employed and have been doing this for a while.

I really enjoy the variety of the self employed work and am thinking of trying to get more work like it and dropping the employed work.

I am considering approaching local business and asking if they need a few hours a week/month of admin / accounts / secretarial support.

I would really like some opinions on what pitfalls I could come across.

I am already aware of the need for insurance and also maybe a confidentiality clause if I am working for several local businesses.

I have an idea of what I would like as an hourly rate (as I do already invoice) but would be interested what people on here think I should charge.

So assuming, this isn't such a daft idea, does anyone know where I can get hold of a list of local businesses, preferably without having to pay to access a database?

Any opinions, gratefully received.

Thanks.




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fermi

Moved on OP's request.

sparkle76

Hi Jet,
I do this sort of work - an average is £14-£16 per hour for basic admin, chasing debt, research etc. Doing it full time you need to cover your days off on holiday, days off sick, bank hols etc. So your hourly rate needs to include these costs plus NI & Tax too.

You can contact your local Business Link, they may be able to help re how to get set up full time.

Research on Google and call companies up, if you do it properly you may get good results. personally, I would only contact companies you actually want to work for, remember, it's your choice now.

Perhaps get your existing customers to write up some short testimonials that you can include in any e-mail you send to new prospective clients.

Google Adwords often give free £75 worth of advertising in a voucher code so this may help too.

Make sure your tax returns to date are all correct and you are up to date on any payments. From here on in, keep all receipts and claim back what you can!

Good luck!

Tixy

Also try to keep a good relationship with the accountants you work for and ask them to recommend you if they have any clients who need bookkeeping /admin work that they cannot fulfil or that they cannnot do for cheap enough for the client to be prepared to pay.
I assume that bookkeeping by junior staff at the firm is charged out at around £25? if so there may well be small clients or new businesses they would be prepared to send your way or recommend you to.

Most accountancy firms I know do tend to have 1 or 2 local bookkeepers that they prefer and the fact that you have worked for them should be an advantage.

Pennywise

Presumably you are already registered with either a designated professional body of HMRC directly for Money Laundering Regs and are complying with those regs as regards proof of id for clients, reporting suspicious activities, etc. As a book-keeping "business" rather than being an employee, you are legally required to register and comply as regards Money Laundering regs etc.

Jet

Thanks for the replies. I will contact business link and Tixy you made a good point but as by boss is trying to build up her business, I would think that she probably wouldn't pass anything on, but when the time comes I will certainly mention it.

I was wondering if anyone knows what sort of rates employers are charged for temps? As I suppose that's what I feel I am competing against. I want to offer a fairly flexible approach but also saving the employer the hassle of recruiting and employment agencies, with a cost saving too.

I think my boss does charge my hours out at about £25 per hour, whilst I was thinking of charging more like £11 - £12 per hour, which is still more than I am paid now and I have to travel 18 miles for that. I'm also quite keen to do more admin work (although I know this doesn't pay as well) as I don't like the monotony of entering receipts all day, which is what I dislike about my current job.

I will get the testimonial from the people I do work from now and try and get a list of businesses to write to. Better think about getting some decent headed paper!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Dont forget to factor in bad payers, or even non-payers,

I personally wouldnt give up your regular job, as i still think things are going to get tougher for small independant businesses..

whats do they say,? 'dont bite the hand that feeds you'..

at the moment.. you are under no pressure to find more clients etc, but if you were totally self employed, and you either had loads of work or non at all, would you still injoy your work due to the pressure?

I personally wouldnt employ/ have someone to do my book keeping that approached me, as even with references i dont know them.

I know i am being a bit negative, but i allways look at hte neg side first:rotfl:

Good luck...

paulwf

Your main problem is that you'll probably need A LOT of the "few hours here and there" to add up to a decent salary. £12 an hour isn't going to go very far once you've factored in holiday pay, sick pay, tax and NI so you'll probably end up working much longer hours than before. I expect you'll need to go on training courses and take out subscriptions to at least one piece of commercial software and perhaps more to keep up to date.

I think there could be a market for your services though, my accountant wanted to charge me £200 a month for services that take me 1-2 hours a week so naturally I just keep on doing it myself for now.

A list of existing businesses probably won't be all that useful as most will already have a book keeping system in place. There are new businesses starting up all the time though, get in with the right people (bank managers and commercial solicitors) to get referrals and attend lots of networking events etc

Ballymackeonan

Would your employer be willing to cut your hours - say do 3 days a week for them, and the other 2 days to build your business? Then you have a bit of security for a while, and it cuts her costs as well!

Make the most of the people who already know your work - they all have networks as well, and a personal recommendation counts for a lot more than one from someone who doesn't really know what you can do.

I didn't have the option of going part-time, I started in self-employment due to redundancy. It was getting scary as I had guaranteed work of 1½ days per month, until a week before I was due to leave. Then one of the clients in the firm I was working for had a call from her brother, who was an accountant in Belfast. His best mate had just called him to see if he knew of anyone who could cover a maternity leave - his book-keeper was having a bad pregnancy and would have to leave in a few days. An interview the next day, I started the following Monday, and they took all the time I could give them for 6 months, by which time I was established.

By then, word had got about, and I was getting recommendations from other clients in the firm.

Put a proper value on your book-keeping experience. Try to be familiar with as many computerised book-keeping packages as possible, but particularly Sage (I also got a lot of work sorting out Sage systems where people who'd been trained on Sage but didn't know debits from credits had made complete messes!)

And good luck!

hellonwheels2

Hi Jet (and everyone else)

I would like to re-iterate what Pennywise said about registering for Money Laundering with HMRC or other registered body.

It is COMPULSORY to firstly register as an Accountancy Service Provider with HMRC. You must then register for Money Laundering compliance with either HMRC or a professional body (e.g. Institute of Certified Bookkeepers). Furthermore, if you are an Associate member or higher with ICB, you additional must have a Practice Licence.

The penalties for non-compliance are harsh and the rules are non-negotiable. See the HMRC website for further information.

Helen (Qualified Bookkeeper)