Business, Accountants, and 2008
Posted: Tue 8 January, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Customer Services, Own Business, Work-related | Leave a comment »This morning I went off to see an accountant. I’m considering going back to having my own limited company again (in the name of the business, for obvious reasons) and being far more in control of things. There’ve been a few negative experiences in 2007 with the umbrella company I’ve been using, and it seems to be time to take the next step and go back to having my own limited company.
The difference this time though is that I intend to run it all through an accountant, for the simple reason that I don’t want all the paperwork hassles. It seems like a good option to get an accountant to handle the tax paperwork, companies house bureaucracy, and self-assessment tax forms – and not least to make sure that it’s all done right, so that I don’t have to worry about it.
I’m not doing this because I want to try and avoid paying tax or anything – I’m doing it because I want to make sure I do pay the right amount (allbeit paying less than the 40% level) and not leave myself open to IR35, or to nastiness from tax audits and the like.
The visit went well, and I got some good information out of it. I’m going to sound out at least one more accountant as well, just or comparison purposes -there’s no sense in just going with the first person you talk to, after all. But from the information today well, it’s going to make sense to go this route – it’ll save me a whole bundle on tax, but also it looks (by my rough maths) like it’ll also work out cheaper on a monthly basis than the umbrella company has.
And that’s not taking into account the £*cough* they cost me on a disputed invoice too…
Interview Thoughts
Posted: Sat 5 January, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Cynicism, Work-related | Leave a comment »Today, I had an interview with a prospective contract. Yes, it’s Saturday – this had been planned for next week, but the company is apparently in need of someone on short notice, and one other person was being interviewed today, so they asked if I could come today instead.
As it is, it was a two hour drive each way to get to the company, for an interview thing that lasted less than an hour. It could’ve been worse, and distances/times like that is just one of the knock-on things of living in Norfolk (Also known as “The county motorways forgot”) that I’ll have to get used to.
The work itself is certainly doable – it’s nothing long-term, but at least it brings the money in. I can think of better techie things to be doing, but we’ll see what they say.
Still, it’s one hell of a way to kill a Saturday – but hey ho, I’ll find out what the results are on Monday or Tuesday.
Busy
Posted: Thu 3 January, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Geeky, Own Business, Work-related | 1 Comment »Busy, working at home. Client sites to get sorted before deadlines kick in, and doing last minute fixes to problems that occurred to me at 3am.
Aaaargh.
Still, it’ll all calm down again in a bit. Won’t it?
Back to “Normal”
Posted: Wed 2 January, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Cynicism, Own Business, Travel, Work-related | 1 Comment »So yes, it’s January 2nd, which means that things are back to normal work-wise – or at least as normal as they get round here, anyway. Which means I’m back to getting up at about half five, leaving the house by half six, and in to the office about an hour later, depending on traffic. And believe me, that’s hard to do after ten-ish days of not having to get up ’til respectable times.
As it is, my current workplace has decided that they only need me for two days per week during January, so most of the month is going to be spent working on my own bits and pieces, but also looking for a new contract as two days per week (while it pays the bills) is a bit of a joke really, so I need to sort out some ‘proper’ work as well as all the bits I do extra.
Other than that, it looks like I’m going to be driving in during January, rather than bothering with the train. The daily price has gone up to £19, (a 5.5% rise, by my dodgy calculations) which adds up to £38 per week, whereas driving for the two days will take less than quarter of a tank, which comes to something like £25 per week. If I’m organised, I’ll get a free parking place at the office on those days, so even that won’t be an issue or any extra cost.
All told, yes, things could be worse – even just the two days per week will pay all the general bills, so anything else is a benefit. (No, not benefits, just a benefit) At the same time I get a lot more freedom to develop my own business and private stuff a lot more, and see how that goes. So it could be worse – I’d just rather be a bit more organised about these things, personally.
Still, new year, new start, and all that guff. See how it works out, but I’m definitely going to be checking out what’s available for other work, believe me.
2007 Review
Posted: Mon 31 December, 2007 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Animals, Domestic, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, House Purchase, House Work, Own Business, Thoughts, Work-related | Leave a comment »In a lot of ways, 2007 has been a very long year – yet in others it seems to have raced past.
It’s been a year of many changes too – just before 2007, we moved to Norfolk, and now we’ve bought a place there too. So two moves in thirteen months, as well as doing the initial preparation on the new place (and continuing to do other work on it since moving in) and the work on the garden, and getting a mortgage for the first time, along with a whole bundle of bits that make me look a whole lot more grown-up than I did this time last year. Oh yeah, and three chickens.
Along the way, I’ve managed to stay in the same workplace all year, but also done a whole bundle of work for smaller clients, which has (in general) gone really well, with the exception of payment hassles from one client. But all told, a busy and fairly successful year, which will be the foundation for a lot of work in 2008. I’m going to be changing main workplaces in 2008 as well, but that’s something for another post.
During the year I’ve also bought my first car, and already added 15,000 miles to it – and there’s already a lot more driving planned for 2008, including a trip to Ireland in June, which reminds me, I must check my car insurance policy at some point and double-check the mileage on it, as well as the cover for non-UK driving. Still, that’s something for Jan 2nd, or sometime soon after.
It’s been a busy year, and I think 2008 will be busier – but hopefully a bit calmer at the same time. Lots of things to do, but the plan is definitely to have more leisure time (or at least time to get out and do other stuff) too, so let’s see how that goes. I’m vaguely optimistic…
’twas
Posted: Wed 26 December, 2007 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Festering Season, Geeky, Own Business, Work-related | Leave a comment »
And that’s it. Done for another year. All I can say is “Thank chuff for that“.
I do have some ideas for next year, and the 2008 Festering Season may just be improved by use of Scroogians.com – if only I could think of what to do with it. I bought it a year ago, and have been completely stumped since then.
I did think that it could be used as a sort of “No fecking Christmas crap ’til December” thing, or maybe just a bunch where people could say Humbug together. But I just don’t know.
All suggestions will be received and/or considered.
All Done
Posted: Thu 20 December, 2007 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Work-related | Leave a comment »And that’s it. No more working in Cambridge ’til January.
Blimey.