Take home pay examples

Other Contractor case studies include:

For more details about 'How much can you earn as a contractor' visit our NEW page.

Case study - Take home pay Umbrella and Limited Company

Umbrella option 

Steve - opted for using an umbrella company that charged him a monthly fee of 5% of his earnings (fee's can be as high as 10% of the invoiced contract amount).

Steve's decision to use an umbrella company was based on:
1. It was his first contract;
2. He wasn't sure if he'd be contracting for long;
3. He was a little worried about the paperwork involved in running his own ltd company.

After his first year of contracting Steve reviewed his finances:

Contract Value Invoiced £65,000
Expenses £6,000
Umbrella Fee -£3,250
Income tax and Employers/Employee NI: -£20,492
Total Deductions: -£23,742
 
Take home pay: £41,258

Limited Company Option 

Julie - had previously worked through an umbrella company and decided that it was time to go limited, a number of her friends had already made the move; Julie used SJD Accountancy whose fees are £120 plus VAT.

After one year of working through her limited company, Julie reviewed her finances:

Contract Value Invoiced £65,000
Expenses £8,000

Julie's claimable expenses are a little higher than Steve's as they include her accountancy fees along with other expenses she can now claim as she's working through her own limited company. Click the following link to read SJD Accountancy's Contractor Guide to Expenses.
 

Accountants fee: -£1,340
Income tax, Employers/Employee NI and corporation tax: -£15,094
Professional Liability Insurance -£350
Total Deductions: -£16,784
VAT Flat rate scheme savings £1,446
Interest from bank account £360
Take home pay: £50,022

Both Steve and Julie are outside IR35, if Julie had been inside IR35 her take home pay would have been £46,076

Obviously, Julie had more paperwork to administer, however she feels the extra effort was worth the increase in her take home pay and control over her finances.

Working through your own limited company isn't right for everybody, especially those who are only planning to contract for a short period or those with low contract values. Also, as mentioned, there is some administration that you must personally take care of.

However, the administrative side doesn't take that long, and once you get into the swing of things it does become easier. Many people find working through their own limited company is extremely rewarding and would never go back. A testament to this is we very rarely hear of clients throwing the towel in and going back to using an umbrella company.

To see what's involved in working through a limited company verses an umbrella company visit our Limited vs Umbrella page.

For all other life stories, visit our Life as a Contractor Case Studies hub here, or click on the links below:

For an illustration of what you could be taking home visit our Limited company business calculator which includes full tax planning provisions.

If you have any questions about contracting or would like further advice please call our new business team on 01442 275789 or email newbusiness@sjdaccountancy.com.

Appoint SJD Accountancy and never worry about your tax or accountancy affairs again!

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SJD Accountancy are the UK's largest specialist provider of fixed fee, Limited company accountancy services to contractors; we've been acting for contractors across the UK since 1992 and have more than 15,000 clients.

We are the only national specialist firm of contractor accountants with offices nationwide. SJD Accountancy has more qualified staff than any other firm in our market with qualifications from the following major tax and accountancy bodies - ATT, AAT, CTA, ACCA, CA, ACA and FCCA.

  • Unlimited face to face meetings. This is a unique service only SJD Accountancy offers - unlimited face to face meetings across the UK - tax is complicated and sometimes only a meeting will do.
  • UK's largest contractor accountants with more qualified staff. No call centres, no outsourcing, no automated call handling. Simply telephone, email or meet your own dedicated accountant face to face.
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  • All inclusive low cost fixed fee accountancy package which includes completion of accounts*, payroll bureau, dividends and corporation tax computations, personal taxation, free bookkeeping software, your own dedicated accountant* and all company returns for a fixed fee starting from £120 plus VAT per month. Check our packages for more detail.

If you have any questions about contracting or would like any further advice please call our new business team on 01442 275789 or email: newbusiness@sjdaccountancy.com. Our new business team is open Monday to Thursday (8am to 8pm), Friday (8am to 7pm) and Saturday (10am to 4pm)

Appoint SJD Accountancy and never worry about your tax or accountancy affairs again.

Form your own limited company with SJD - our same day online company formation service includes company bank account set up, VAT/PAYE registration and advice on optimum share structure. 

You may also find the following pages, guides and case studies useful:

*If you would like us to complete your company year end accounts we simply ask that you have been a client of SJD for one year or have made 12 monthly payments. All accountants are part or fully qualified.