As a contractor or freelancer, choosing an accountant for your company is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. With so many firms to choose from it is vital you get it right from the start. Opting for a specialist contractor accountant is likely to result in a more hands on approach with tailored ongoing support throughout the year. Traditional high street accountants may not have the relevant skill set to advise on the forever changing legislation’s affecting contractors and freelancers such as IR35.

If you are on the fence on whether to appoint a high street accountant or hire a specialist contractor accountant, here are four top reasons you should consider the latter.

Saves Time and Headache

A specialist contractor accountant will ensure that your accounts are updated on an ongoing basis to give you a clear vision of your income and how to allocate your finances. Contractor clients are usually provided with online software which keep track of income and expenditure. If you are lucky enough to be using one of the widely used cloud accounting software packages such as FreeAgent, you can save yourself a great deal of time and effort. FreeAgent allows you to raise invoices, and upload your expense claims on the move providing a real time snapshot of your business. This gives you more freedom and time to do what really matters.

Maximise Your Take Home Pay

As a contractor operating through your own limited company you have a lot more flexibility over how you withdraw funds from your company. Your contractor accountant can advise on the best way to structure your withdrawals to ensure you are operating most tax efficiently. Regular reviews are also likely to be carried out to ensure you are maximising every opportunity such as ensuring you have claimed for all expenses which you are entitled to claim.

Advise on Your Finances

Statistics indicate that 30% of businesses fail within the first two years and 50% within 5 years. No one plans to fail but if you have the support of an experienced accounting team, they can provide invaluable advice on your finances so you can avoid many pitfalls. Your specialist accountant will provide advice to help you remain tax compliant and keep you abreast of how much you can safely withdraw without leaving your accounts in the red.

Help with IR35 Review

As a contractor in the private sector, you are required to prove that your contracts are not caught by the IR35 rules. Of course, you could always attempt to do this on your own but the best way to comply with IR35 is to make use of professional experts.  When you engage the services of a specialist contractor accountant, they will review your contract and analyse your working practices to provide an opinion as to whether they believe you are inside or outside of IR35.

How can Nexus help?

As specialist contractor and freelance accountants, our team has years of experience in the contractor market. If you would like to find out more about how a specialist contractor accountant can help you, please call our help desk on 0161 791 1674.