As a contractor, you may be up to speed when it comes to skills and industry trends. But how much do you know about finance?

Being aware of your finances is critical when you’re a contractor, but it’s something that we often overlook. Whether you’re just starting out or have been contracting for years, it takes some fiscal planning to prepare for income ebbs and flows.

We wanted to share some insights into what you should be aware of to make the most of your finances while contracting.

1. Enlist a professional

Unless you are just starting out, in-between assignments and have a lot of free time, doing your finances is already costing you money. Every hour spent doing them is an hour you could spend carrying out paid work and most contractors will find that the extra time they get from taking on an accountant more than pays for the cost of doing so. There are also specialist accountants for contractors who have the knowledge and expertise to advise you on how to make the most of your earnings.

2. Think about how you want to operate

A common question from contractors is whether they should be Pty Ltd or PAYG. Whilst there is no right or wrong choice, there are a few points to consider when selecting an option. Many Talent contractors are set up as PAYG. This gives them the benefit of Talent managing all the time-consuming tasks associated with being a Pty Ltd contractor.

Once you have more time available, you may look into becoming a Pty Ltd contractor. In this case, you would contract through your own proprietary limited company. Depending on your circumstances, this can be more tax effective than PAYG, however setting up and operating a Pty Ltd company can be a time-consuming and costly process. It’s important to speak to your accountant or financial adviser to assess whether this is the right set up for you and complies with ATO legislation.

3. Budget, budget, budget

Budgeting is critical as a contractor. It’s important to plan both your spending and savings to be sure you’ve got money to fall back on when needed. Following the rule of putting 10-20% of your take home pay away as savings can help you reach your saving goals if you can manage it. Consider the use of a free budget tracking app like Pocketbook which allows you to manage your money through linking your bank accounts.

4. Make sure you have a Plan B

As a contractor, taking a break can be hard as you don’t have the benefit of annual leave. Putting money away for a rainy day is especially important when work is not guaranteed. Saving for a sick day or when you are in between contracts will ensure you aren’t left high and dry financially.

5. Set up an emergency fund

An emergency fund gives you further peace of mind for when between contracts or in the event of unforeseen circumstances. At a minimum, you should have three months of living expenses in your emergency fund. This means if you need $3,000 a month to cover your basic needs like your mortgage or rent, utilities, and food, then you need $9,000 in your emergency fund. If you have people who depend on you financially, like children or a spouse, your emergency fund should be six months’ worth of living expenses, at a minimum.

6. Prepare for tax time

One of the great benefits of contracting is the possibility of being able to claim additional tax deductions for business related expenses. This can include an array of items which your accountant can advise you on. This could add up to a few thousand dollars a year.

Also, it’s important to be prepared for any expenses that may arise at tax time. So that this doesn’t come as a shock, be sure to factor this in and open a bank account earmarked for tax and save up for your tax bill. Consider having this in an offset account if you have a mortgage so you can save the interest on your loan.

7. Consider salary sacrificing

Salary sacrifice is an arrangement which enables you to pay for certain goods or services straight from your pre-tax salary. The effect is to reduce your taxable income, whilst giving you tax effective access to a variety of goods. This is something you can utilise as a PAYG contractor and is generally permissible for mobile phones, notebooks, tablets and training courses that are related to your line of work. You also are able to contribute additional payments into your super (thereby lowering your income tax rate).

8. Check your credit history

Do you know what your credit rating is? It is a good idea to check your credit score as regularly as you can. If you do have a low score, there are steps you can take to help improve it. Checking your credit score is free and relatively easy to do. You can check your credit score for free using the national credit reporting bodies (CRBs) listed on the government website. This will help in the event that you wish to apply for a loan.

9. Don’t forget your insurance

Regardless of how you have set up your contracting work, it’s important to be aware of your insurance obligations.  As PAYG you do not need to pay your own insurances (for example WorkCover, public liability), whereas Pty Ltd contractors are required to cover all of their own insurances. Both types of contractors should consider whether income protection insurance is suitable for their needs.

For more information on this, click here.

The information contained in this article is general in nature and has been provided in good faith, without taking into account your personal circumstances. While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the information is accurate and opinions fair and reasonable, no warranties in this regard are provided. Before making any commitment of a legal or financial nature you should seek advice from a qualified and registered legal practitioner or financial or investment adviser.

We understand that securing asset finance as a contractor can be challenging. Here at Talent, we strive to fill that gap for our contractors and provide world-class services that are usually only afforded to permanent employees.

That’s why we’ve partnered with Flare to offer our Australian ENGAGE members a simple a convenient solution, Flare Cars.

About Flare Cars:

By salary packaging your car with a Flare Cars novated lease, you could enjoy significant tax savings as well as GST savings on your car purchase, fuel, tyres, servicing, and maintenance.

If you’re in the market for an electric vehicle (EV) or plug-in hybrid (PHEV), Flare’s car experts can help you benefit from the significant saving advantages of a novated lease while you help the planet. With the introduction of no FBT on eligible EVs and PHEVs, you can enjoy savings only available through a novated lease.

Learn more about contracting with Talent

Levelling up your career with training is undoubtedly valuable, but courses can be costly and require you to take hours out of your weekday – something that’s rarely an option for contractors.

That’s why we’ve partnered with Adapt IT to offer you a SAFe course with a difference – exclusively for Talent contractors and their friends.

About Leading SAFe® 6.0 for Talent:

New to the Scaled Agile Framework®? Leading SAFe® offers you an introduction to the foundations of SAFe, and provides the principles and practices to drive your Lean-Agile transformation with confidence. The course also offers the guidance and tools you need to lead effectively in remote environments with distributed teams.

You’ll learn how SAFe helps you improve quality, productivity, employee engagement, and time-to-market. You’ll come away with an understanding of how to align your entire organisation around the same clear objectives, and how to improve the flow of value and work from strategy to delivery. You’ll learn what makes companies more customer-centric and how to run key SAFe alignment and planning events, like PI planning.

Learn more about contracting with Talent

In harvardbusinessreview Dan Pink, author of Free Agent Nation and Drive talks about short-term workers: “The relationship is often less fraught, less hierarchical, and doesn’t come with the same expectations,” he explains. “But that doesn’t mean that you can be completely hands off. You still need to actively and thoughtfully manage them so that you can get their best output and ensure they’ll want to work with you again.”
Over the course of 20 years in HR, I have seen many times the relief that hiring a contractor can bring to an employer. No need to worry about their personal struggles, overseas holidays (remember those?), sick leave or general happiness about their roles. Paid by the hour, they’re there to do the job, make our lives easier and move on. When I mention that contractor wellbeing is something that we focus on at Talent, I’ve often heard “Why? I hire contractors so I don’t need to worry about their personal wellbeing!” in response.

However, this is an assumption I would challenge. In fact, I’d argue that it’s just as important to focus on your temporary workers’ engagement as much as your permanent team.
Why is it important to fully include someone who stays for only a few weeks or months? Because this person accomplishes significant work to your company’s operations, extends your strategy, determines the output of your project and can be your best advocate (or biggest detractor!) in a competitive hiring market. People are a company’s most precious asset, and that includes the ones who are only with you for a short time.

So, how do you drive engagement with contractors?

We recently surveyed over 1,700 tech contractors around the world to find out what is most important to them when working for a client. The following tips are based on their direct feedback:

1. Build connection

87% of the contractors we surveyed felt that it was highly important or important to feel connected to their co-workers. Connection is a natural human need, but contractors are often left out of the social aspects of a company’s culture. Creating a sense of connection between your temp and permanent team members can have an enormous impact on the quality of the outcomes you’ll receive. So how do you do this? Here are some of their suggestions:

• “Opportunities to network and socialise”
• “Regular events, virtual connect sessions and in-person meet ups”
• “Training sessions”
• “Access to a forum so we can stay connected”
• “A social media site (like Slack), social events, learning workshops, and/or virtual guest speakers (lunch time sessions).”

2. Instil purpose

Organisations that succeed in making their mission personal to employees see performance that sets them apart. Gallup research shows that just a 10% improvement in employees’ connection with the mission or purpose of their organisation leads to a 4.4% increase in profitability. Yet this is not just limited to permanent staff. In our research, we found that a large number of contractors expect their clients to have a clear purpose or mission in order to feel fulfilled at work. In fact, 86% of the contractors we surveyed said it was important for them to feel connected to the company’s mission or purpose. So how do you do this? Here’s what our survey participants said helped:

• “A sense of knowing my work / contribution is important and valued.”
• “Interesting and challenging work.”
• “Making a significant difference.”
• “Achieving positive change.”

It’s clear that making sure your contractors know and understand the value of their contribution towards a bigger picture purpose can have a hugely valuable impact on their motivation and productivity.

3. Provide them the benefits that really matter to them

Over 50% of the contractors we surveyed said that benefits / perks were highly important or important to them. This is an interesting discovery, as contractors have historically missed out on the usual company-provided goodies. But before rolling out gym memberships to everyone on the project team, take the time to find out what really matters to them – you might find it’s something that won’t panic your CFO.

Our survey participants ranked flexible work hours & remote work the number one benefit an employer could offer them, taking over 75% of the vote. The next top answer was healthcare benefits, which received just 9.39% of votes. The shift to flexible work is here to stay, so accommodating contractors’ desire for flexibility is imperative for businesses who want to attract the very best.

These are just a few ways you can improve life for contractors at your company, however there are many more. I encourage you to read our full report here to learn more.

There’s no doubt that the contractor workforce is growing at a rapid pace, and the competition to attract top temporary talent is fierce. Delivering an exceptional experience for your contractors will have a significant impact on your team productivity, culture and employer brand. A company with strong values will treat every colleague with the same level of respect, no matter how long the person stays