I'm a freelance copywriter and marketing contractor and I have written and commented for Freelance UK on various related subjects over the last few years. I was apalled to see that no-one responded to your post! What must you think of us all??
I'm assuming it's too late to assist you with this article now but thought I'd drop you a note anyway, in case I can be of assistance on similar things in the future. I've been freelancing for 8 years now and my clients are mostly all small businesses in the main, primarily in the technology sector as that is my client side background.
Anyway, please do give me a shout you think I could help at any point :o)
Great question! Loved all of Rizzo's comments 🙂 Here are a few from me . . .
More holidays - this sounds really bad and like I'm not really focusing on work, but the joy of being a freelance writer is that I can do it anywhere! So what if I have to take two hours away from the pool to go to my hotel room and write a press release? It's worth it!
Taking my son to school - and picking him up! I'd say 'going to assemblies' as well but they don't seem to have them any more . . .
Not sitting on the M1 and M25 for half my day.
Being able to make tea 'just for me'. I always used to keep out of the office 'tea club' - I made my own when I wanted one, and was happy if they didn't make me one when each person went to do their 'trayful of the day' - but somehow I was still branded anti-social!
Definitely being at home for the parcels - the only slight downside is that I end up with everyone else's from the cul-de-sac as well!
Being a 'lady who lunches' on occasion. I think I'm a long way off being a full time one, but it's nice to pretend once in a while!
Being able to actually get on with the job in hand, especially on a Monday morning - not having to spend an hour or more chatting about 'what I did at the weekend' for fear of being told I'm anti-social - again!! I think you don't realise just now much time employees waste until you get paid by the hour as a freelancer :)
Being able to skive for a couple of hours here and there, but telling all your clients that you're in a meeting with another client - even though you're actually getting your hair done, or having one of those lunches!
The holidays and being able to spend more time with my son are still top of my list though . . . 😃
From what I can gather, a standard rate seems to be about £95 per month for a limited company, which would be just under £1,140 a year - and that's going to be more complicated I guess. So £700 sounds about right for a sole trader.
Having said that, depending on your business model it is possible to do your accounts yourself and then just get an accountant to do your tax return. I keep my own books and I do my own (flat rate) VAT returns and just pay my accountant a one-off fee every Summer to do my tax return - works a treat! But as I said, it's all down to how complicated your business model is . . .
It sounds like the time has come to formalise your business offering a little more! Ideally you need a small website in which you can showcase work samples online, and then you need to contact anyone and everyone who might require your services and direct them to your website for more details.
Question: - My main question is is it correct to simply put on my documentation "I am not vat registered" and that is all I need to do?
Yes, this is all you have to do. In fact, you don't even need to do that, just don't add any VAT and they will work it out for themselves! There is no legal requirement either way.
Question: - In order to do this would my company have to be registered as a LTD company and if I am vat registered under the "flat rate" scheme can I only claim 11.5% back as opposed to 15%?
You do not have to be registered as a limited company in order to be VAT registered. I'm a sole trader and registered for VAT about three years ago when I hit the threshold, but have never registered as a limited company.
When you register under the flat rate scheme, you explain your business to HMRC and they decide what category you fall into, and hence what rate you pay. For example, they classed me as an 'advertising consultancy' which was about the closest option (I'm a copywriter) which means I pay 9.5%, now 8.5% since the VAT rate went down. Interestingly, even though that dropped by 2.5%, my rate only dropped by 1% so I ended up 1.5% worse off!
With the flat rate scheme, you pay x% (whatever they decide) based on your VAT INCLUSIVE billings, not on your before-VAT billings. Which again doesn't work in the freelancer's favour. So, for example, if you invoice someone £1,000 plus VAT, the invoice amount is £1,150 and then you pay (using my rate as an example) 8.5% of that figure, which would be £97.75. So in effect you make a profit of £52.25. Not bad, but then of course you have to declare that as income and then they tax you on it! So they get you every which way :)
Question: - After registering online to become self-employed how soon afterwards can I register for VAT?
Straight away if you want to, although you don't have to at all, unless you're likely to hit the threshold. This is based on a rolling year, so if in any month your billings for that month mean that you would have invoiced more than £67k (or whatever the figure is) in the last 12 months, then you have to register. I think they give you a month's grace but that's about it.
Question: - If I register online for the flat rate vat how long does this take before I get a VAT registration number?
I seem to recall it took about two weeks.
Question: - And am I right in charging my client full 15% vat if I am registered under the flat rate vat scheme ?
Absolutely. The 'profit' you make on the difference is your perk for keeping your VAT simple and making HMRC's lives easier!
One other thing to add, depending on what your business is, the flat rate scheme is not always best. If you buy in products or services for which you'd like to claim the VAT back, then it might be worth going for the standard option, but the paperwork is a bit more complicated! The flat rate scheme works best if you are just charging for your time in the main.
You do have to register by law if you bill more than a certain amount in a year. I'm not sure of the exact figure but I think it's over £60k. Other than that, there is no business reason to do it. I never had a client refuse to use me when I wasn't VAT registered.
Having said that, depending on your business, it could be beneficial for you to register on the Flat Rate scheme. This is incredibly easy to manage (I just do a quarterly VAT return which takes 10 minutes) and you can actually make a profit on it. I'm classed as a marketing agency and I charge at 17.5% and pay at 9.5%.
This works as long as you don't buy services in, mark them up and sell them on - in which case you'd need to claim the VAT back on those services, something that you can't do if you're on the flat rate scheme. If, like me, you just bill for your time, then it could be ideal.
Chris Nowak, post: 8038 a écrit : Ok, so your designs are great but your marketing skills are mediocre. How are you going to conquer the world as a freelance?
Inventing a better mousetrap doesn't mean the world will beat a path to your door if they don't get to hear about it.
I want to know whereabouts on the library shelves I'll find the necessary handbook.
It's actually in the marketing section not the design section but it talks about how to find work as a freelancer and much of the advice is transferable! The rest of the marketing section might be useful in places too.
I recently got my fingers burnt after doing a copywriting job for a US company. I was contacted by their marketing exec and asked to quote and then to provide a contract, which I did. I carried out the work over about a month - some £700 worth - ensuring that she agreed each stage before I did it. I then went on holiday for a week and when I got back I found she had left the company and no-one else seemed to know anything about the project. I did eventually get them to pay me, but it took alot of to-ing and fro-ing, plus I think the only reason they did is that I had kept all her emails.
In the future I would definitely insist on a formal Purchase Order as an absolute minimum before carrying out any work. I guess the same really goes for UK work as well, but with overseas stuff it's that much harder to follow up through legal channels if you end up having to.
It's only when you start charging by the hour that you realise how hard it is to account for all your time. The thing I really notice when I have to work on client site on the odd occasion (which I hate doing so I avoid like the plague!) is just how little people achieve in a day . . . it's quite amazing!
You might possibly be falling into the trap of being toooo honest there! Yes, of course it's reasonable to have breaks - sometimes I need to just because my brain is fried - but you might not always be able to convince your clients thay they should pay for that time.
I'd be inclined to be a bit less specific. Using copywriting as an example, basically, in most cases I agree a fixed amount of hours for a project up front, based on how long I know something will take vs what is reasonable to charge. This does sometimes mean you charge less time than it takes (because you maybe need to do some background research of your own) but conversely, if it's a subject you know really well, you might be able to do it very quickly, but can charge a bit more. The value of your work to the client is still the same, but in effect they are paying for all those years of experience that enabled you to do it in half the time that another copywriter would take! In this instance, where you have to indicate time for each element, the same argument applies.
If you are keeping a timesheet - maybe for a longer project or something where the full scope was not known on day one, then again it's a balance of the time you take vs what is reasonable to charge for the work completed in any given timeframe. But in general, I really don't think you need to show things like breaks on a time sheet. When I charge for a day I make it clear that this is seven hours of my time, but whether that's six hours plus an hour for lunch and breaks, or seven hours, or more - is really up to me. Some days I work faster than others!
For something a bit different you could maybe try posting out an unusual item (to tie in with whatever your creative theme is) in a thing called an Airbox. If you've not come across these, basically they are a double-walled plastic sleeve, you place the item inside and then inflate the gap between the two layers of sleeve and seal it.
This then holds the item firmly in the middle whilst also protecting in with a rigid cushion of air all around. They are very distinctive when they arrive through the post and people never just throw them away! They are also very light to post (depending of course on the weight of the item) and not at all expensive to buy. I've heard of them being used to post everything from eggs to Guinness glasses.
Definitely interested in the Restaurants and Bars section. Let me know when you add Milton Keynes to the list! Sounds like an interesting resource you are creating there :)
Amanda, post: 6404 a écrit : I've not done copy writing and to be honest not entirely sure what is involved in it. Is it literally copying text from a book? There seems to be a lot of freelance copy writers on this forum and was wondering whether it is something I should perhaps consider doing or would I need specific qualifications in that area?
Copywriting is basically a writing service, but is usually referred to as 'copywriting' (e.g. writing marketing 'copy' or 'text') to differentiate it from creative writing - e.g. books and stories. There are some grey areas in the middle for things like articles and so on, but this is a rough definition. Copywriters generally write for websites, brochures, adverts, direct mail and the like. I also write case studies, articles and press releases (although I would not style myself as a PR expert!).
With a copywriting service you usually either work from existing materials (often from different sources and in different styles/tones/tenses) or from conversations or 'interviews' with people who have the info you need in their heads! And sometimes a mix of both. From this you craft the copy which then goes into the client's website, brochure or whatever it might be. Making sure of course that grammar, sentence construction, punctuation and spelling are all spot on.
Copywriters also often get involved in editing work, which is basically taking something that someone else has already written (usually someone who is not an expert) and tidying it up. So all the same things with grammar, sentence construction, punctuation and spelling . . .
Good luck with the new venture! I use a similar service already and she charges me £20 per hour, which is the rate we started working at a couple of years ago. I know that for most clients this has now gone up to £25 - so somewhere around that figure would definitely be in the ballpark!
Think you have the answer there! Every reply is absolutely right. If your rates are market standard and other clients are happy to pay them, then don't make exceptions for one client.
From my experience, the ones who try to beat you down on price are usually the ones that becomes the hardest work too!
I'm sure someone will clarify, but I think I'm right in saying that as soon as you start earning money from freelancing, even if you are still working, you do need to register as self-employed with HM Revenue and Customs, and start paying Class 2 national insurance. You also need to keep records of all your earnings and delare them to the tax office as well as your normal income. However, keep track of all your 'business' expenses as well as you can offset these against tax - stationery, IT equipment, mileage to meetings and so on. I normally put 30% of everything I bill into a separate account and that's always covered it so far. That way you never get caught out when the tax bill arrives!
On the insuarnce, I know this is a concern for some people, but it's very expensive and I've never needed it in five and a half years of trading. Anything you create will be approved by the client anyway so they would not have a leg to stand on if they later tried to claim that something you had produced for them had damaged their business in some way. This type of thing is really only an issue for a consultant (for example) where the client could argue that your advice (which they followed) had been at fault and had damaged the business or caused them to lose money.
They do say you should never burn your bridges, so I'd be a bit careful about doing anything which might cause you a problem in your current job, especially if you can't afford to be without it while you're building up the freelance work. I'm not saying you should necessarily openly declare that you're freelancing (unless you think they would be 100% OK about it in which case it's always the best bet) but be very careful to stay 'whiter than white' when it comes to avoiding their clients or doing anything which could be classed as poaching, or attempting to. I'm not sure it would give your existing clients a very good impression anyway.
As to setting up a freelance business whilst employed, the other thing to remember is that if clients are to take you seriously, they are going to want to be able to contact you during the business day. I'm not saying everyone will be put off by the fact that you're working evenings and weekends, but it will make it harder to bring in the kind of work which pays what you need in order to be eventually able to give up work. It's a real catch 22 that all us freelancers face!
I went through the same process when I originally set up as a freelance marketing contractor some years ago. Basically, if you purchase the print then the contract exists between you and the printer. So, if the client defaults in any way, you would still be responsible for paying the bill, which can of course cause huge issues for a freelancer.
I took the decision to put my customers directly in touch with my suppliers (design, print etc.) or to act as an intermediary and charge project management to manage the process - but either way, the financial relationship always exists between my client and the supplier. This saves me getting involved with any credit or cashflow issues, or having to go down the route of taking out insurance (which is costly) to cover me for situations where things go wrong.
The downside is that you cannot charge a 'mark up', which an agency would do, often between 17% and 35%. This is a great money-earner, but in my opinion the positives do not outweigh the negatives! Some freelancers come to an agreement with the printer to 'take a cut' (formally know as commission, but basically a fee for making the recommendation) for the referral, but I have never done this as I feel that part of my role as a marketing contractor is to identify and recommend good suppliers. Fortunately I have a great printing company, with whom I have worked for many years, which always helps when feeling confident enough to recommend them!
Hope that helps, feel free to email me if you need more info.
Have a look at SJD Accountancy - Accountants for Contractors, Freelancers, Consultants and Small Businesses. They specialise in working with freelancers and contractors and there is loads of advice on their site,
On another note, I am a sole trader (not a Limited Company) and have been for 5.5 years and it has never been a problem for me. Managing the finances is an awful lot simpler as a sole trader!
Hi Michelle, and welcome. To be honest, although alot of people on here so make a point of stating what they do in the hope of finding possible business, that's not really what this site is for. It's really aimed at freelancers for info, advice and support, so probably not your main target audience!
There is no need at all, unless you can get one for free from a friendly design agency you know! I've been in business 5 and a half years, and not having one has never been a problem.
What IS useful though is a proper domain name, a small website and some properly-printed business cards (for handing out at meetings and events). I've never needed letterhead or anything like that as all my comms, including invoicing) is done by email!
The key thing is to make sure you have a firm agreement about what you will be getting paid for (and when!) up front. The best bet is to have a simple set of Terms and Conditions that you send out to a new client before you start working with them. Mine clearly state that I charge for all travelling time and all time when I am away from my office, and all travelling expenses, but that overnight stays or whatever can be negotiated individually. I also specify my payment terms, and then if they want to negotiate on these (as some companies do) we discuss that beforehand also. It just means that there are no grey areas when you come to invoice.
The key thing to remember is that you have a right to be paid, and on time, and if they are not willing to work to your terms and Condirtions it's better to know up-front and not do the work, than be left without payment for work you have done. It's a tough call when you are first setting up in business as it's easy to worry that you migh lose the client before the job even starts if you are too 'rigid' about these things, but trust me, these are not the types of clients you really want to have anyway!
Hope that helps. Not sure there is much you can do about your current situation but it's a lesson for the future I guess if nothing else 🙁
If you are working full time you do not need to register as self employed for NI purposes. However, technically you should declare the income to the tax office as part of your overall income for the year.
I've just commented on this on another thread. It's a really tricky one. I'll be honest, I charge £50 per hour, which works out at about £350 (one 7-hour day) for a 1,000 word case study, or £100 (a couple of hours) for a short 250 word article. My clients pay this happily, and I know that other specialist IT writers charge £500+ for case studies! Which is why an 80,000 word website for $500 (as offered on one project-finding site) is just never going to be an option!
If you could offer any tips to companies to enable them to get the best out of freelancers, what would they be?
The main ones we guess would be:
1) Be clear what you want before briefing the freelancer
2) Leave the creative to the freelancer (e.g. refrain from saying "I want the logo bigger on that page, change that to red, use me in the photoshoot" etc)
3) 20 last minute changes were not part of the original costs agreed
4) Please pay me promptly
Are there any other pointers, however small, that may help clients? Are there any further arguments to be had on the above points? Some clients will argue they should input with the creative work as they're the owners of their brands/companies/projects..where's the line in the sand?
We ask because we'll be publishing an article to help clients dealing with freelancers - so now's your chance!
Thanks
Freelance UK
Hiya,
Ok, here goes. This is based on my experience of being a freelance marketer and a freelance copywriter.
1. Pay on time!
2. Expect to pay for meetings after the 'sales process' is complete. That includes all meeting time and travelling time. Basically any time where the freelancer could be doing fee-paying work if they were sat in the office.
3. Give a clear brief where possible or, if defining requirements is part of the process, expect to have your vague ideas consolidated into a firm action plan (working in conjunction with the freelancer) before actual work takes place.
4. Don't spend half an hour on the phone gathering your thoughts and asking for advice, then not expect to pay for that time.
5. Help us with seeking approvals for pieces of work internally within your organisation, or with getting case studies approved by your customers. It saves things dragging on and means that we can get projects invoiced!
6. Be willing to accept (and pay!) part or interim invoices if projects get extended or do not complete on time (and it's not the freelancer's fault).
7. Expect to pay more than originally quoted if you change the brief.
8. Agree to sensible terms of payment - 30 days max, ideally 14.
