Consultancy Business

[Chris4444]

Hi,

I am in the process of setting up as a consultant in the Engineering Sector and have had varying advice as to whether to be a limited company or sole trader. I will speaking with an accountant on the ins and outs but was wondering if anyone out there was in the consultancy business and had any experiance they could share?

Thanks.

[elainec100@cheapaccounting]

look at the sticky on limited v sole

and here on business structures:

http://www.franklyaccounts.co.uk/gettingstructure.php

[David Griffiths]

One of the key factors here is going to be the kind of contract that you undertake, and your client's view of things. If you are on long term contracts you may find that the client will not deal with you as a sole trader because of the risk, real or perceived, that the Revenue will try to reclassify you as their employee.

If you are working for an agency, then it is pretty well guaranteed that they will only deal with a limited company.

If you are only going to work for one firm at a time, you'd probably be best advised to talk to them about the matter, before you spend time researching things, only to find that there's only one acceptable outcome