Top 5 Benefits of Contracting

Many skilled and experienced workers consider contracting as an alternative to standard office based employment. Read our top five guide to help decide if this is a route that appeals to you professionally and personally.

1. Increased Income

Contractors cite higher earnings as a major factor for switching to contract or freelance work. By setting up a limited company, contractors can:

• Negotiate better rates of pay from their client
• Take on multiple projects concurrently
• Maximise take home pay, for example by offsetting expenses incurred against income

2. Flexibility

A fixed office location and daily commute quickly becomes a thing of the past. Contracting allows greater flexibility over the location you call ‘the office’. It could be as easy as working remotely from a home office or being selective in the next client’s location. Benefits of flexible locations include:

• Less time commuting, more time working and earning
• A home office is ideal for contractors with families
• New environments and changing locations adds variety and discovery

3. Skills & Knowledge

Your existing skill-set positions you as an expert and leader in your field. This increases the longer you work as a contractor. Working across a variety of projects and industries widens your skill-set, knowledge and experience in different areas. This is seen as a huge positive of contracting so you can:

• Test out a new industry on a short term project
• Network in new sectors
• Learn. Add depth to your experience from the variety
• Travel. Take a contract in which the client is located abroad and see the world as you work

4. Choice

Be your own boss and make the right choice for you. Being an independent professional increases your personal and professional choices. It allows you to implement the right decision for you and affords you the freedom to be selective in terms of choice in:

• Jobs and clients
• Working location
• You are the owner, director and decision maker of your own limited company. As a contractor you have the freedom to make the best choice for yourself.

5. Balance

Restore balance to your life. Take a step away from office politics, strictly enforced working hours and minimum annual leave. As a contractor you manage your time and working schedule; this means you dictate how many hours a day you work, where from and when you have time off. For you, this could mean:

• Enjoying free time between projects to enhance your skills
• Personal time and family time: do the school run, hit the gym, play a round of golf or take pleasure in cooking a relaxed evening meal
• Working hours to suit your personal life

So, how can we help?

At Churchill Knight and Associates, we have been helping contractors and freelancers since 1998, which makes us one of the most experienced and professional contractor accountancy service providers.

If you would like more information about switching from employment to contracting then our expert consultants can provide a free, no obligation consultation to discuss your options and find out if contracting will suit you.

For more information, give our consultants a call on 01707 871622, email on enquiry@churchill-knight.co.uk.

You may also like:

• Contractor Payroll Solutions Options
• Top Ten: Why Contracting is Better than Permanent Employment