In the UK
Independent consultants trading through their own companies, interim and fractional executives, and boutique consultancies that work with associates.
- My day rate looks healthy, so why does the year not add up?A consultant is paid for the days they bill, not the days they are available, and fixed fees and retainers can quietly turn a good rate into a poor one.Read the lesson
- How much of the money in my consulting company is actually mine to take?In a one-person consulting company part of every invoice belongs to HMRC, and drawing the rest the wrong way can lock cash away for at least a year.Read the lesson
- Is this contract inside IR35, who decides, and what does it do to my take-home?On every engagement through your own company, the client's size, sector and UK connection decide who makes the IR35 call, and a client's SDS can be formally challenged.Read the lesson
- Can I take a success fee for finding investors, or help with a client's visa application?Introducing investors, recommending investments, dealing with HMRC for clients and advising on visas each sit behind a regulatory line, and crossing some of them without permission is an offence.Read the lesson
- The client's contract makes me liable for everything and wants to own my toolkitAdvice contracts hurt consultants in two places: an uncapped or stricter duty than the law implies, and IP clauses that hand over the methods you reuse on every job.Read the lesson
- Placing associates with clients without their IR35 bill coming out of my marginWhen a boutique places associates who work through their own companies, it becomes a link in the off-payroll chain and can end up paying employer NI on their fees.Read the lesson
- How do I win public sector work, and stop depending on one big client?Consultancies win through referrals, a narrow niche and frameworks, and public sector work comes with its own rules on registration, conflicts, payment and IR35.Read the lesson
- Closing my consulting company: strike-off or liquidation, and the claim that arrives afterwardsClosing a consulting company the cheap way can turn retained profit into income, and stopping your PI on the same day can leave a later claim with nothing to answer it.Read the lesson
In the US
Independent consultants, fractional executives and small consulting firms that use employees or subcontractors.
- My hourly rate looks fine, but fixed fees and retainers keep running overYour rate only means something once you count unbilled hours, write-downs and the extra days a fixed fee or retainer quietly absorbs.Read the lesson
- Should my consulting LLC elect S corporation status, and what does that do to QBI and my retirement plan?For consultants, the S election, the phase-out of the qualified business income (QBI) deduction for service businesses and the retirement plan interact, so the headline payroll tax saving is only the start of the answer.Read the lesson
- Can I take a success fee for introducing investors, or advise on a client's 401(k) menu?Investment advice, finder fees, legal drafting, immigration work and health data each sit behind a federal or state line, so check before you take on the work next door.Read the lesson
- The client's MSA wants unlimited liability, a noncompete and everything I have ever builtConsulting MSAs hurt owners in three places: liability and indemnities, ownership of the work, and restrictive covenants that may not be enforceable in your state at all.Read the lesson
- Can my consulting firm bring in other consultants as 1099 subcontractors?A consulting firm that subcontracts consulting work meets the strictest version of the classification tests, especially in California, so check before the first SOW.Read the lesson
- Winning government consulting work without being shut out by a conflictGovernment work rewards consultants who register early, pick the right route in, and keep clear of organizational conflicts of interest.Read the lesson
- A spoofed email diverted a payment, or a claim arrived after my E&O stoppedTwo consulting losses that land in the gaps between policies: a wire sent to a fraudster without social engineering cover, and a claim on old advice after the E&O has lapsed.Read the lesson
What Greymill knows about consulting and advisory · Every Academy lesson