Learn to love your expenses!

FPS UMBRELLA'S TOP TIPS TO BEAT EXPENSE STRESS

You could make up to 40% in Tax Savings Each Payday By Maximising Allowable Expenses

If you aren’t claiming business expenses you could be losing out on up to 40% more take home pay! For example: If you are working on a temporary contract you may be able to save up to 42 pence in every £1 of expenses claimed.

Our top tips on how to beat the stress of expenses and keep your finances healthy through processing business expenses:

1. Travelling between your home and your temporary workplace in your own car? Keep a diary of your mileage.
2. Working so late that you need a place to rest your head for a night or two? Make sure add your hotel bill to your expense claim.
3. Travelling some distance to the temporary workplace? Keep hold of train, plane, tube and taxi receipts.
4. Forget your toothbrush? Then Personal Incident Expenditure (PIE) lets you claim £5 for your miscellaneous items, when you have to stay overnight and for this you don’t even need a receipt!
5. Need safety boots or any special attire in the work place? Don’t let it break your bank...this kind of retail therapy can be expensed.
6. Tearing your hair out over sky high mobile bills? Itemising your business calls could save you a load.
7. Need a list of letters after your name to get the job? Then professional memberships and other subscription fees come off your bottom line.
8. Need cover in case things go wrong? Professional Indemnity insurance can save you in more ways than one and with FPS Umbrella, this is included.
9. Need some java to fuel your morning? You can claim every coffee, sarnie and packet of crisps while at your temporary workplace. (Restrictions apply)
10. And finally, the most important tip of all…always, always keep your receipts!

The complex rules and regulations of expense claims can cause confusion and if you want to eliminate your personal stress down the line it's important to ensure all claims meet the necessary eligibility requirements. We will check your eligibility before you submit your claim. All you need to do is complete our short eligibility questionnaire to establish that it is a temporary workplace and then we can advise you of the expenses you can claim. This means if you claim expenses you are doing so legitimately and not incurring any future tax liability.

With FPS you can beat the stress, have a healthy heart and healthy finances!

Common Questions for Expenses:

Q. What forms do I need to complete?

A. Before you can claim expenses all you need to do is complete our short eligibility questionnaire to establish that it is a temporary workplace and then we can advise you of the expenses you can claim.

Forms: These are all available in our Members Lounge on www.fpsumbrella.com

• An Expenses Claim form – For all claims
• A mileage log – If you claim for mileage
• A travel log – If you use public transport
• Accommodation log – If you claim for accommodation

Q. What do I need to do to claim subsistence?

A. Complete the Expenses claim form and put the number of days in the accommodation section on the claim form.

Q. What can't I claim for?

A. Training and Mobile phone top cards. Anything not Wholly, exclusively or necessary for work purposes

Q. How often do I need to submit my expenses?

A. You can claim as often as you like, either weekly, fortnightly or monthly as long as it is within 3 months. All expenses will be processed within 24 hours of receipt.

Q. What if I receive two payments in one tax period?

A. You receive a weekly tax-free allowance depending on you tax code. If you receive two payments within the same tax period this will affect your pay, as you will not receive a tax allowance on you second payment, as you have already been allocated this on your 1st payment.

Upcoming events:

We are also delighted to be supporting the REC National Temporary Workers Week from 2-6th June 2008, and this year we are sponsors of the Agency Nurse Award.

‘Credit Crunch’ poses no problems for FPS clients

Simply contact the FPS mortgage desk at ContractorFinancials. With over a decade of experience in this specialist field, the independent advisers at ContractorFinancials are best placed to offer you the right advice on your mortgage.

ContractorFinancials can help secure you a mortgage offer based simply on your hourly or daily contract rate alone. They avoid expensive and increasingly hard to get ‘self certification’ mortgages and will aim to secure a scheme from a recognised High Street lender at the same interest rates as a permanent employee.

Mortgage specialist Simon Foster explains that ‘ whilst it seems relatively easy to obtain an online mortgage 'agreement in principle' or pop into a local branch and be told what you want to hear, its only when you’ve found your dream home and physically apply for a mortgage that an underwriter will then properly consider your employment status. At this stage the whole purchase is put at risk by the fact that you must state that you work on a contract basis - otherwise you may be committing mortgage fraud. Using our unique contacts and specialist mortgage underwriting criteria, we can be completely up front about your contractor status and could even secure a loan in excess of 4 times your annualised contract rate…probably more than would have been achievable when you were a permanent worker’.

Most mortgage brokers charge a fee for their services which can be as much as 1-2 % of the loan but as a FPS client you won’t be charged a penny.

Contact Simon Foster or Mary Hudson today on 0845 062 8888 or email FPS@contractorfinancials.com to discuss your requirements in more detail.

FLEXIMORTGAGE OFFER: Switch to an Offset mortgage today and fully exploit your Contractor status. Overpay, underpay and take payment holidays as your work dictates, remortgage to consolidate debt, fund home improvements, release business finance or simply build a no cost financial buffer in an uncertain world

Umbrella Supermarket

Recently Umbrella Supermarket recorded a telephone conversation with one of our sales team and published it on their website www.umbrellasupermarket.com without our permission. Despite this being an illegal method of market research we have nothing to hide. However, we feel it is important to highlight the methods that Umbrella Supermarket is using and that they are not operating in good faith.

In addition to the telephone conversation there is inaccurate information held on the site. We have sent the correct information about our service, but they have so far failed to update their site. For example, FPS administered umbrella companies do offer all statutory benefits including holiday pay, sick pay and maternity pay. The most important aspect for us is that you, the contractor, are getting the right information. Our website www.fpsumbrella.com is kept up to date with our service information and we are only a phone call away to answer any questions you may have.