Contracting Matters

You may have seen that Parasol are founder members of the Freelancer and Contractor Service Association, a trade organisation that seeks to improve the professionalism and transparency of service providers to Contractors and has what we think is the most rigorous and detailed code of conduct. The code of conduct has many parts to it and actually engages with HMRC on the results (we have nothing to hide) but one of the most important part for Contractors, is the standardisation across members of the payment illustration. I’ve previously written about expenses on my blog and other sites for a good few years now and umbrella expenses still remains a constant point of misunderstanding and abuse. So how does FCSA help in this regard? Well, the members have agreed to standardise on both the substance of the calculation and the presentation of the results, more importantly however is that HMRC have been engaged in the overall process. That does not mean it’s HMRC approved, that will never happen for anyone or anything but when you have businesses out there still selling on inflated levels of expenses it’s a step in the right direction. It also means that service and added value becomes the competitive landscape, surely that’s better for everyone in the longer term.

The FCSA membership will grow and the professional providers that adopt the standard will be protecting Contractors livelihoods – claims of 89% net return still exist but trust me, it is too good to be true.