SAIL International are contract accountants in the UK.

We have a team of specialist limited company contractor accountants, dedicated to looking after your requirements. With eighteen years of experience we are perfectly set up to look after your needs no matter what industry you are in.

Special Offer – Transfer from your existing accountant for free:

• Free initial consultation
• Free limited company set up
• Access to dedicated consultant
• Full service offering – we do everything for you
• Cloud-based system
• Professional team with over 15 years experience
• Winding down included*
• Low cost packages

*Not included in ‘No Frills Package’.

We have a range of packages to suit your requirements. From lower cost packages for those who are cost conscious to value added packages for professionals looking for that extra level of service. You can view our packages here.

Please complete the contact us form and we will get hold of you to discuss your requirements.

Limited companies generally offer contractors the most tax efficient way of working. They are often best suited for longer term contracts and those billing over a certain minimum amount.

Working under a Limited company banner can be very rewarding. You could, in some circumstances, take home up to 85% of your salary working through a Limited company. It is not suited to everyone as IR35 and managed service company legislation must be considered.

Your SAIL Account Manager is here to help you to take full control of your finances offering you complete peace of mind.

A limited company is a useful structure for a number of reasons:

• As a separate legal entity you have the ability to structure salary, dividends and other payments to make your take home pay more efficient.
• You can deduct valid business expenses to reduce your corporation tax bill.
• In some instances you can register and benefit from the Flat Rate VAT Scheme, enhancing your take home pay.
• With planning you can benefit from other savings to improve your overall position.

As a Limited Company, this can depend on a number of factors, including whether you decide to register for the Flat Rate VAT scheme or not. You can speak with one of the SAIL team who will be able to get you started, or use our online calculator for an immediate indication.

A specialist limited company contractor accountant provides several clear advantages:

• We keep up to date with changing legislative requirements so you don’t need to.
• We take away the admin hassle of looking after your limited company.
• We provide online access to your account and regular status updates so you can always see what is happening in your company.

The limited company structure is not for everyone and there are risks. These risks are manageable, but it often depends on the individual circumstances of a client. The main risks are:

• Your business practices or tax legislation changes to make the limited company structure less efficient.
• Personal circumstances change e.g. you invoice a lot less than normal making it too expensive to run a limited company.
• IR35 legislation applies to deem the limited company relationship one of employment requiring additional taxes to be paid.

Please talk to one of our consultants if you wish hear more. We even have an IR35 Insurance type product to help you manage your risk.

Limited company accounting and company secretarial administration is not without its statutory or regulatory pitfalls. It can also be quite an administrative burden. SAIL International was started to remove this burden from contractors and allow them to focus on what they want to be doing while allowing us to focus on what we are great at.

There are some standard conditions which apply around the approach you need to take to your company. These include, at a high level:

• You need to start a new limited company (cannot bring an old company with uncertain history).
• You need to use SAIL as your accountant.
• You cannot have been audited for IR35 previously or paid a deemed payment under IR35.
• You must follow our IR35 guidelines (will be provided to you) which include, at a high level:
  • You must have an IR35 suitable contract between your company and your client (we charge £100 for a contract if you do not already have one available).
  • You must nominate a person who could perform the services if you cannot.
  • You should show what equipment your company is going to provide to assist you with performing the service.
  • You should not enter into open ended contracts and on each renewal of a contract with the same client should consider the impact on IR35. You should document consideration at the rollover. No single contract should be greater than 6 months.
  • You should not receive employee like benefits from your client e.g. leave pay, company car, allowances, pension, medical aid… unless your contract allows for repayment of expenditure actually incurred.
  • You should be aware of the SDC requirements and show application of these principles to their limited company arrangements (SDC = Supervision, Direction and Control). More info on SDC is available here.

IR35 became effective from 6 April 2000. The legislation was designed to deal with “disguised employees”. Disguised employees are individuals believed to be taking advantage of a business structure when they should have been taxed as any other employee. IR35 remains a difficult and contentious piece of legislation. While there is guidance on whether IR35 applies, the reality is each situation needs to be judged on its merits. All contractors need to be aware of the rules and to understand how to position themselves so that the substance of their working arrangements is taken into consideration.

Some, but not all, of the key issues to be considered include:

Control
A worker will generally not be an employee unless there is a right to exercise control over the worker. This may be a right to control what work is done, where or when it is done, or how it is done. Actual control is not paramount; it is the right of control that is important.

The Right to Get a Substitute or Helper to do the Job
Personal service is an essential element of an employment contract. Does a person have the freedom to choose whether to do the job themselves, or hire somebody else to do it, or provide substantial help? If they do have this freedom, they are probably self-employed.

Mutuality of Obligation
Is your client obliged to find you more work to complete when you have finished the original project? A contractor via a personal service company will do the work they have been contracted to do, completing the project with no expectation of further work. An employee would expect further work to be allocated to them.

Financial Risk
Individuals who risk their own money by, for example, buying assets needed for the job, bearing the running costs, paying for overheads and materials, are almost certainly self-employed. Employees are not usually expected to risk their own capital. Financial risk could also take the form of quoting a fixed price for a job, with the consequent risk of bearing the additional costs if the job overruns. The risk of making a loss is a very strong indicator of self-employment.

Opportunity to Profit
A person whose profit (or loss) depends on the capacity to reduce overheads and organise work effectively may well be self-employed. People who are paid by the job will often be in this position. For example, a person who quotes a fixed price may well be able to complete the task ahead of schedule or at a lower cost than originally envisaged. People who provide their own materials may be able to profit by getting a good price on the materials or by charging more for them.

Length of Engagement
By itself, the length of a particular engagement may have little importance in determining employment status, although it is more likely that an employee will have an open-ended contract.

Part and Parcel of the Organisation
At one time this was considered to be a test of employment or self-employment, but it is now viewed as one factor to be considered with all the others. Establishing whether a person becomes ‘part and parcel’ of a client’s organisation can be a useful indicator in some situations. For example, someone taken on to manage a client’s staff will normally be seen as an integral part of the client’s organisation and this may be seen as a strong indicator of employment.

Employee-type Benefits
The presence, in a contract, of benefits such as paid leave, membership of firm’s pension scheme, right to car park space, canteen facilities and so on is a good indicator that an employment relationship exists. A contract of employment may also contain access to a grievance procedure and the worker may be subject to disciplinary procedures.