Yep, I think I was a sole trader for perhaps 5 years or so. There's no legal reason that I know of where you have to go with a company over a sole trader, that would be more of an accountant structuring decision.
I just happened to hit a recruitment company that for some reason would only deal with a company, or I had to be PAYG. So I went PAYG for a few months while I set up a company. It's nice having a company, if only for making one feel like you mean business. Like, yes, this is a thing. Down the track if you want to go down the route of hiring staff etc, it's a necessity, but not if it's just you. The insurances I have are public liability and professional indemnity. I contacted the ACA (which I was a member) and they recommended me an insurance company who have a number of policies that suit our kind of gig, all packaged up and ready to go. When signing a contract they (the recruiters) usually ask for a copy of your certificate of currency. btw, this is not advice... hehe just sharing what I've done in the past. Do your own homework and due diligence etc. 😉 ________________________________ From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Tom P <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, 23 June 2019 10:12 AM To: ozDotNet Subject: Re: [OT] Contracting advice for payroll On Sun, 23 Jun 2019 at 11:07, Stephen Price <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Depends on your long term plans mostly. When I started I went with a management company. They took care of me being paid as well as insurances. After a year or so I investigated the insurance myself and started using Harvest for timesheet/invoices. That took the overheads from 4% of my rate down to $1300 a year for insurance (And Harvest has a cost but it's like $80 or something) Were you operating as a sole trader at this point when you took out the insurance yourself? I only went to a company structure when one company would not deal with a sole trader. It's not necessary in most cases but if you have to go that way then a good accountant (I use and recommend RSM) can handle 95% of that for you. I'm now permanent and am enjoying not switching roles every year or so but would go back to contract, it all depends on the role not the $$. Good luck! ________________________________ From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> on behalf of Tom P <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Sunday, June 23, 2019 8:28:54 AM To: ozDotNet Subject: [OT] Contracting advice for payroll Hi folks This is the first time I will be in a contracting role. I've done some digging around payroll options but wanted to check with any contractors here about their experiences and recommendations. There seems to be three options: (1) PAYG where the recruitment agent does it all, (2) set up my own company, or (3) use a management company. Any advice from the contracting pros? Thanks Tom
