Choosing the right path for you
Crystal has a pedigree in providing contractors, consultants and freelancers flexible and compliant employment strategies. From setting up and running your own limited company to the hassle free world of joining an umbrella company or even helping you with an international umbrella company option.
Using our knowledge, scope and experience we will make a clear path for your contracting experience. Whether you choose an umbrella company, a PSC (Personal Service Company or Limited Company) or an alternative to maximise your income, we will make your choice crystal clear.
Not all Umbrella Companies are created equal.
An umbrella company is a business that hires agency contractors to work on short-term contracts, usually through a recruitment agency in the United Kingdom. Because the agency’s liability is lessened, recruitment firms prefer to assign contracts to a limited company. It sends invoices to the recruitment agency (or client) and pays the contractor through PAYE whenever the invoice is paid, with the extra benefit of balancing some of the revenue by claiming expenses such as travel, meals, and lodging.
If you utilise a conventional PAYE Umbrella Company, you will be treated as an employee with all of the company’s employee rights. The umbrella firm would bill the negotiated rate (not your pay), deduct an administration fee, Employers National Insurance, and the apprenticeship levy, and then send you an invoice. After deducting the relevant tax and employee national insurance, as well as any pension payments, the umbrella company would pay you via PAYE on the remaining amount.
If the Umbrella company offers expenses (*Subject to SDC) they will do so in one of two ways: by assisting you in filling out a P87 (Claim Income Tax Relief for Your Employment Expenses) at the end of the year, or by agreeing on an amount of claimable expenses with your umbrella company at the start of your contract.
Other contract management tools are available from some umbrella firms. They claim to be entirely compliant with HMRC and to avoid the problems of IR35, however we advise staying away from EBTs, offshore companies, and loan schemes.
Working overseas might be a challenging decision; yet, several umbrella companies have an International arm. The answers will be diverse and will differ from one country to the next.
Choosing the right path for you
Crystal Umbrella has pedigree in providing contractors, consultants and freelancers with a hassle-free, compliant and profitable alternative to setting up and running your own limited company. Using Crystal Umbrella involves considerably less paperwork and general admin that either running your own limited company or working through many alternative umbrella companies due to our cutting edge web portal “My Crystal”.
Why Crystal Umbrella?
Here at Crystal Umbrella contracting life is kept simple and hassle free so you can spend your time and effort elsewhere. Submit your timesheets and expenses via our web portal “My Crystal” and leave the rest to your dedicated account manager. It really is that easy.
Our extensive list of benefits speaks for itself:
- £20 Million of inclusive insurances
- Full statutory employment rights
- Payments processed on remittance
- Dedicated account manager
- My Crystal Web Portal
- Pension & Holiday pay
We made them happy
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It’s a minefield out there with so many different umbrella companies or umbrella type companies, this is the first site that actually helped me decide which one I needed. It turns out, I set up my own limited company, I use an app to send my invoices and collect expenses, I have complete control over all my money and my accountant does the rest. Perfect! Thank you Crystal Choice.
IT Consultant
