Legal requirements for being self employed?

Macrae88

Hi,

I'd quite like to start doing self-employed work as a bookkeeper. Does anyone know the legal hoops (if any) I'll have to jump through to be able to do this?

Presumably insurance is a must?

I think I'd prefer it to be a Ltd company, but does that mean a lot more work? I'd be hoping to bring people on-board eventually, and starting a 'firm'.

I've also found website like 'people per hour' etc where you can advertise your services, whether it's bookkeeping / programming / data entry etc. Are these sites worth it?

Any advice people could offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

PlutoinCapricorn

The standard advice on here is to start as a sole trader and only incorporate if and when you earn enough to make the extra effort and compliance worthwhile.

However, some potential clients may not want to do business with a sole trader, although most consultants get work on that basis.

Public liability and professional indemnity insurance are something to consider. Will people be visiting your place?

PlutoinCapricorn

This looks interesting:

http://www.bookkeepers.org.uk/Members_Area/Becoming_a_self_employed_bookkeeper

orangeslimes

I looked into this and I think you need to register with HMRC (or be a member of a qualifying professional body) because of anti money laundering regulations. (which was quite annoying because it was something I was thinking on doing on a casual earning extra money basis and it made it probably not worth it)

Probably better to start off a sole trader and become a ltd company later - I don't think there are many benefits when you are small.

directdebiter

Contrary to general belief, running your own company is not extremely difficult and, with the assistance of a good accountant, is no more challenging than any other form of trading. Setting up and running a limited company, where you become a director and shareholder, is a tax efficient way of working and has a number of tax advantages. To be honest it also looks more professional in my opinion if you have a Ltd company.

As PC mentions you will most likely need to look into purchasing professional indemnity insurance as this is a must for any company or contractor offering a service or advice to clients.

It covers you for circumstances such as professional neglect, breach of confidentiality, negligent statement or actions, loss of documents and libel or slander. You might want to look at ContractorUK for more info on PI Insurance ... http://www.contractoruk.com/insurance/professional_indemnity.html - This also has guides to setting up a limited company.

There are lots of places now where you can advertise your services such as elance, peopleperhour an odesk. Although often jobs are of lower value but is a useful way to pick up maybe longer term business. HTH.