What Contractor Accountants Do

By Author: William Pollard
Total Articles: 160
Comment this article

Contractor accountants provide accounting services to people who work as freelancers or contractors for other people. They are not to be confused with regular business accountants or accountants who provide services for the self-employed. Their service is a specialist service designed for people who work for firms on short-term contracts, which in some cases can last for months rather than carry out a single short-term job for private individuals such as painting a room.

What Type of Workers Use Contractor Accountants

Workers from all industries need to use this type of accountant; however, there are some industries where the majority of people who work in them are contactors. Good examples of this are those who offer consultancy services, or those who write computer software.

Many builders also work as contractors, being employed for the duration of a specific job. Many of the builders who built the 2012 Olympic venues were contractors rather than long-term employees of the companies who were responsible for building these venues.

Demand For Contractor Accountants Increases

In recent times, ...
... demand for contractor accountants has increased. There are several reasons for this, but one of the biggest was the introduction of the IR35 tax laws in 1999. This turned the world of freelancers and contractors upside down with many of them suddenly finding themselves categorised by the tax office as regular employees rather than contractors. This led to many of them being asked to pay PAYE tax and not being able to claim for expenses. The net result was far higher tax bills and difficulty in getting new contracts.

Up until this point, many freelancers had the necessary skills to manage their own tax. But, these new tax rules changed all that making it essential for the majority of them to employ contractor accountants. They do so because those accountants understand the tax law inside out and save them thousands every year in tax. For example, they know how to word a contract, to avoid being seen by the taxman as a regular employee and having to pay PAYE tax and not being able to claim back expenses.

Freelancers and Contractors are a very experienced firm of contractor accountants. If you are considering working as a contractor contact us for free, no obligation advice.