IT Contractor - Calculating Daily Rate

dendof

I have never contracted before and have just been asked to give my daily rate for a 6 month contract position.
I am aware that with contracting I don't get holiday pay, sick pay, pension + other benefits etc.
What other costs should I be aware of? Accountant fees I presume, setting up a company?
Also, then how do I calculate my daily rate - desired yearly gross salary / 230 working days?
I'm a bit out of my depth here so need to be sure that this is actually a route I want to go down.

Kev1nDonn

Use this link to calculate approximate monthly take home pay.

http://www.iconaccounting.ie/tax-calculator/


Hope it helps, good luck.

lawred2

dendof wrote: »

I have never contracted before and have just been asked to give my daily rate for a 6 month contract position.
I am aware that with contracting I don't get holiday pay, sick pay, pension + other benefits etc.
What other costs should I be aware of? Accountant fees I presume, setting up a company?
Also, then how do I calculate my daily rate - desired yearly gross salary / 230 working days?
I'm a bit out of my depth here so need to be sure that this is actually a route I want to go down.

Reach out to other contractors and get a feel for what they are invoicing for.

Pick the highest and start negotiations at that..

What type of contract position is it?

dendof

Kev1nDonn wrote: »

Use this link to calculate approximate monthly take home pay.

http://www.iconaccounting.ie/tax-calculator/


Hope it helps, good luck.

Thanks. So the the 'Net Payment to Contractor:' amount in PAYE Umbrella column would roughly be my take home pay as ICON would handle everything else?

Kev1nDonn

dendof.
Yes, BUT before you agree to any contract talk to an accountant first. You may be able to add legitimate business costs to increase your take home salary. I would talk to ICON if I was you. I have used them in the past and found them to be excellent.

DublinWriter

dendof wrote: »

I have never contracted before and have just been asked to give my daily rate for a 6 month contract position.

What's the required skill-set?

dendof

lawred2 wrote: »

What type of contract position is it?

DublinWriter wrote: »

What's the required skill-set?

Software Developer with Java and web HTML etc

DublinWriter

dendof wrote: »

Software Developer with Java and web HTML etc

I'd say anywhere in the region of €350 to €450 depending on additional skills required.

Big, big consideration should be if you are billing the client directly, or through an agency. Agency is the better option as you'll be paid pretty much straight away, otherwise it can be nightmarish trying to get money out of some smaller clients directly.

Also, most agencies require that you set up your own Limited Company, which also means you'll need to get VAT registered, so you'll need to factor in all that additional expense as well as €1k to €2k to get an accountant to prepare and submit your accounts each year.

dendof

I have spoken with Icon and based on calculator Kev1nDonn provided earlier the take home pay is exactly that. They take care of the set-up.

My only consideration at the moment is how a contractor is viewed compared to full-time staff. ie when brought in are you expected to be expert level or given same time to get to grips as other staff. The job spec is the exact same as full-time role they advertised before. I'd be worried that because you're a 'contractor' you'd be treated differently ie not one of the team. But I suppose that doesn't really happen.

DublinWriter

dendof wrote: »

I have spoken with Icon

I would generally avoid umbrella companies. Icon won't be chasing up your client payments either.

Brady

2016 IT Salary Survey & Benefits Guide - Contract & Interim;
https://www.morganmckinley.ie/article/2016-it-salary-survey-benefits-guide-contract-interim

Day Rates & Breakdown for area & experience (Guideline) Simples