Setting up a business - confused!

mcc85

Hi, I'm sure this has been asked before but i cant see it.

I do some part time consultancy on exercise and fitness, a couple of hours every other week but i need to invoice the business i consult for to get payment.

I plan on setting up a proper businees towards the end of the year once i get a business plan etc. done up, but for now to set up a legitimate invoice what do i need to register?

I was planning on using my own name but im not sure if i need to register this and if so do i still register myself as self employed?

DubTony

For now, don't worry about registering anything. You dont need to. Getting paid for the work you've done is the most important thing. Use your name and address to head the invoice, and put the clients details on it as well, with a breakdown of charges, or just the agreed price, and you're good to go.

You can sort out all the other stuff when you "start" your business. Good luck.

rina120

This sounds like the same thing I wanted to ask.
I have meet many people who work as contractors for companies, but they are their own company.
Do you know what I mean?
Any idea what resource I can use to try and do that for myself?

For example, a company hires John Smith Contracting, but the only employee at John Smith Contracting is JOhn Smith.
I am told there are excellent tax benefits to do this, but I have no idea where to begin. (And I no longer work with those people any more.)

Thanks in advance!

mcc85

Thanks, thats what i thought.

But do i not need a vat number or an employers number or something along thoses lines?

ir555

Hi Guys,

While the tax/ accounts side of things are inportant - don't get too stressed out over them.

Getting customers and getting paid on time is what is important at this stage of the process.

From my experience the quickest way to sort it all out and relieve yourself from the stress of tax/ accounts is a trip to an accountant. Most will do the first meeting for free...

It is well worth the money and will allow you to concentrate on the parts of your business which you are good at.

p.s. not an accountant but spent the first year worrying/ stressing about tax/ registering/ accounts and looking back it was all a waste of time. Teh time could have been much better spent making more sales. Everything sorted out in no time by the accountant, and looking back was not worth worrying about.

As a poster above mentioned - just keep sending the invoice with your name and address at the top. When you get time drop into an accoutant...

My 2 cents..
D

TylerIE

rina120 wrote: »

This sounds like the same thing I wanted to ask.
I have meet many people who work as contractors for companies, but they are their own company.
Do you know what I mean?
Any idea what resource I can use to try and do that for myself?

For example, a company hires John Smith Contracting, but the only employee at John Smith Contracting is JOhn Smith.
I am told there are excellent tax benefits to do this, but I have no idea where to begin. (And I no longer work with those people any more.)

Thanks in advance!

If you want to use or issue an invoice in anything other than your own name (ie anything other than John Smith) you need to either register a Business name or a Limited Company.

If you register a business name its purely the permission to use that title when conducting business - e.g. to put that name on your vehicles, over your premises or on your paperwork. Any profits that are made are taxed exactly as they would be for John Smith as an individual, as its John Smith the individual who is responsible and behind everything.

If you register as a Limited Company it creates an entity seperate to you which carries out the business. So The company (John Smith Contracting Ltd) will be allowed enter contracts in its own right, to get loans in its own right, and to earn money in its own right. If the company has any financial issues they are seperate to you (unless you sign a guarantee that you will personally cover any expenses of the company).

The limited company will be taxed on its profits at 12.5%, and if you pay yourself or anyone else a salary out of the company this will also be taxed at the rate of income tax applicable to that person. The limited company may be able to treat some expenses as legitimate company expenses, over and that for some people may result in tax savings.

However a limited company requires extra paper pushing and a little more work in terms of accounts and papwerwork that must be submitted to the Companies Registration Office annually. Also if the company fails or you want to finish you cant just forget about it, you are required to comply with a list of statutory requirements in order to wind up the company.

In comparison if you register a mere business name, if you wish to stop using it there are no regulatory issues if you want to stop using it.

Jim from Cork

mcc85 wrote: »

Thanks, thats what i thought.

But do i not need a vat number or an employers number or something along thoses lines?

Fill out your invoice with your name, address and P.P.S. number on the heading and you will be grand.

You are not registered for vat so therefore you will not be charging vat.
As others have said if you want to conduct your business as a name other than your own you should register the name with the CRO.

There is obviously a tax liability if you make a profit so you will need to take care of your invoicing and expenses.