We are proud to announce Payments will be made as usual on 28, 29,30 December but there will be limited phone and email support.

Best Wishes for Christmas and the New year from all the team at iBalance!

Thank you for your support in 2011 and we look forward to working with you in 2012!

We are proud to announce Payments will be made as usual on 28, 29,30 December but there will be limited phone and email support.

Please send any receipts to the office by 20 December for expenses on payments between 21 December and 3 January 2012.

Thank you for your support in 2011 and we look forward to working with you in 2012!

Organisations without plans in place have until Christmas Eve – 12 weeks from 1 October – before the first agency worker becomes entitled to the same basic pay as employees.

The main burden for pay compliance falls on agencies, but end-users can be liable for not providing agencies with comparator information. If agency workers put in a tribunal claim, agencies or hirers that are found to have deliberately broken the rules can face an additional award of compensation of up to £5,000 (the award can be split between the two respondents).

iBalance is providing a framework for auditing compliance with the requirements of the regulations either by proving that the worker has similar or better terms than their equivalent permanent colleagues, or by showing that you or the worker is ‘out of scope’ of the regulations.

Where neither of the above options are practical or possible, we can offer workers a ‘Pay between assignments’ contract at no extra cost to them or yourselves.

iBalance is also providing online calculators for temporary work agencies to use in determining equivalent pay rates for their workers.

We can also provide your workers with a free consultation to see if they would benefit by operating through their own Limited company via Tempo Accounting. The legislation specifically excludes contractors who are in business on their own account.

Call Justin on 08450 543 222 if you require any assistance.

If those workers then bring an AWR claim they may risk having their IR35 status challenged by a tax inspector and face significant tax claims exceeding the amount of AWR equal pay they are making.

This, and the likelihood that IR35 will remain for the time being, is the main reason why many people involved in the supply or use of agency workers are taking the view that personal service company contractors are very unlikely to bring AWR claims.

Feel free to contact me support@tempoaccounting.com or call on 0203 137 6462 for further information on how Tempo accounting can help.

Since closing all its high street offices, the government’s Business Link service has been reinvented as a useful online resource for advice on everything from finding a professional mentor, to health and safety regulations and even how to market and sell your products or services. Best of all, it’s completely free.

Read more here…..

Mr Osborne pledged: “We will do whatever it takes to protect Britain from this debt storm, while doing all we can to build the foundations of future growth.”

So, we asked our team which initiatives will have the most impact and benefits for SMEs in the coming year.

Click here to find out more…..

The legislation will be introduced in the Finance Bill 2011, and become effective from 6 April 2011 onwards. The inclusion of anti-forestalling measures that became effective on the 9th December 2010 mean that from now payments of this type fall within the scope of the new measures.

The proposed legislation states that sums earmarked by trusts or other intermediaries will be treated as though it is a payment of income that is liable to PAYE tax.

Because of this ruling we believe that use of an EBT is no longer an option for your contractors.

If your contractors are using an EBT Company, then they should immediately consider their options as they have now been made a target by HMRC and with the wide ranging MSC legislation this could also prove risky for agencies who are continuing to use these services.

Be aware that EBT providers are trying to find a quick solution which could represent further danger!

How can iBalance/Tempo Accounting help?

We will contact your contractors and give them a personalised assessment of their options and the likely impact on their take home pay within a few hours. Click here to request a call back.

The services that we can supply you, subject to your requirements, will all meet the criteria below;

– No off-shore ‘tax avoidance schemes’; UK based services only
– Either limited company or umbrella company services
– No set up or leaving fees and no minimum contract period
– Unlimited advice for contractors by specialist consultants and accountants covering many different technical aspects

Please call 0203 137 64 62 now for a free consultation.

The conventional approach to signing and returning contracts (a combination of post / fax and email) is often the ‘bottle neck’ in an otherwise efficient placement process.

Larger big-budget agencies have been using “electronic signatures” to sign contracts for years, however SignatureSense’s low monthly subscription fee for agencies makes this modern business practice available to even the smallest of companies.

Alan Whitford, industry veteran and founder of RCEuro.com, the Pan European community site for recruiters, commented on SignatureSense:

“I think that this offering should be a ‘no brainer’ for recruitment businesses, where the time lost in the administrivia of contract administration can lead to lost revenue and poor client service.  The electronic signature ‘wrapper’ is ideal for confirming NDAs, Terms of Business and Contractor Agreements, all in real time. We will certainly be using the service for our future agreements at RCEuro.”

Jon Richardson, Founder of SignatureSense added:

“We are really excited to see that Agencies find such a direct benefit in using our service.  It’s only a matter of time before electronic signatures are common-place, so the ‘early adopters’ are making the most of a great competitive advantage.”

Derogation (or ‘Swedish’ Derogation) – Providing workers with 4 weeks half-pay (after working for 12 weeks)

The advantage of the first option is that it is much easier for the worker to understand. The downside is it has some extra work for the agency (but our online process will simplify this).

Its also worth pointing out that Limited companies that are in business in their own account are excluded from AWR, we now provide a Limited company service for contractors and SME’s.

Please also vote on this LinkedIn Poll linkedin.com.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions.

Justin Phillips MIRP – 08450 543 222

With the Agencies Workers Directive now looming iBalance also recognises it is key that Agencies must now work closely with their payment providers to guarantee compliance.

iBalance agreements are straightforward and typically cover the following areas: -

Service levels

We can agree certain key service levels that may be important to you such as:

· Advance payments.

· Payment dates.

· Contract turnaround time for new contractors.

· Special compliance requirements (e.g. working time hours monitoring, pay levels).

· Online services (e.g. online timesheet management branded as your agency).

Contractor discounts

Depending on volume of business, we can provide attractive discounts available exclusively to your agency.

Revenue generation

With sole supplier agreements we can implement fee sharing schemes, where we agree a percentage of revenues go to your agency depending on number of workers. This can be between 15% – 55% of fee income.

If you are interested, could you give us an indication of the typical numbers of contractors you have and an idea on how you would like to structure the agreement? This is with regards to the balance between revenue and contractor discounts. Then we can provide a definite proposal.

Please call or email me if you would like to discuss this further:

Justin Phillips

Justin@iBalance.co.uk

Tel: 08450 543 222