Newly self employed - what do I need to know?

[IHaveAskedYouThriceNow]

I recently started a job and am self employed. I don’t earn enough to pay tax.

What do I need to do in terms of recording hours/pay?
Do I need to self-assess?
Do I record mileage to and from work?
I’ve no idea what I should be doing, so very grateful for any advice!

This is a good place to start...
HMRC - working for your self

Be clear on terms of payment. If you say pay in 30 days say what happens when you pay late.

Set money aside for tax and NI straight away.

Find a good accountant.

Definitely document all expenses all the time! Become obsessive about keeping receipts.

Then document as much as you can be arsed to of the other stuff (eg how much time you spend on each activity - it will help you to not work for minimum wage or less! If you spend 2 days a week marketing your business, this needs to be reflected in your charges)
Set aside tax / NI as you go.
Keep records up to date (a day a month works for me but obvs your mileage may vary)
Give yourself time off.
When you set your rates, remember to include: holidays / sick pay / travel time / how long it took you to accumulate your expertise / marketing time etc
Work out a cancellation policy that works for you. If you can't replace a cancellation within 3 days - charge people for cancelling in this time frame.
Regularly set aside some time to reflect on how you're doing / what practices you might want to change / what you think about exceptions (eg how good a client would someone have to be for you to allow them 3 months to pay?)
Always remember that repeat business is more profitable than finding a new buyer so look after your current clients.
Find mentors / supportive peers.
Celebrate your successes.

A job? Doing what?

Thanks for all this.

I’m honestly not sure if I should be self employed, looking at this. I suspect the boss just can’t be arsed. I’ll have a chat when I’m next in.

I earn at most £6000 a year so don’t pay tax. I certainly can’t justify the cost of an accountant.

If you have a boss, then you are not self employed.

The whole point of self-employment is that you are your own boss, and you sell your time, expertise or products to your customers. You charge them, they pay you. You set your own prices, hours, methods of working, and can send a substitute to work in your place if you wish.

Sounds like your boss is disregarding ir35 rules. If you work at his workplace and call him your boss - does he also set your hours/shifts? If so you should be employed and he/his payroll co should be sorting your tax etc, and paying you annual leave!

Enter your details in here to see if you are truly self employed. If not then take the outputs to your boss (as others have said if you have a boss then unlikely to be SE)

www.gov.uk/guidance/check-employment-status-for-tax

IR35 is about being paid via an intermediary such as Ltd Company so wouldn't impact here (I presume as no mention of a company). This is more to do with employment status.

Talk to ACAS about whether you are self employed or not. Some questions
can you send someone else to do the work ?
how much choice do you have in hours?
do you only work for one client, are you looking for others?
who supplies tools if you use any?

They will be doing it to avoid putting on payroll and paying employers NI, pension and holiday/sick pay

Can I just be self employed and make this work?

If you enter your details into the HMRC questionnaire I linked earlier then this will tell you.

It says employed.
I love the job, it’s convenient, I can set my own hours.
I honestly don’t think he will go down the route of employment, he’d rather pay cash in hand.
I don’t want that as it feels too much of a risk.
Bollocks.

Thats a shame but not surprising unfortunately 😥. Sadly someone else would probably just accept it. Does he have other employees? If so then it wouldn't be too much trouble to add one more (although would cost a bit more). Equally you should have what you are entitled to in terms of pension and sickness/holiday benefits

One more employee, who is already self employed for other work she does.

No idea what to do now.

He’s taking the piss! He’s trying to get out of paying to a pension for you and having to cover other employment benefits like notice period, sick pay, redundancy etc.
what is the work you’d be doing for him?

I’d rather not say, but I’ve a few days to make a decision what to do.
I want to work there but I’m not willing to go cash in hand.

I'd find a job that pays properly (legally) and where you'll get holiday pay, sick pay and the option to join the pension scheme.

By the time you factor those things into your cash in hand set up, I'd bet you'll be earning an hourly rate that really isn't worth it. Remember you'll need to make NI contributions too, if you want to have the full entitlement for your state pension.