Icon Accounting - Accounting company in Ireland

Have you been contracting for some time, are now considering a career as an independent professional, and want to learn about how you can set yourself up for success? Why not invest in your future and establish your own business. Understand the process of setting up your own personal limited company, along with some of the benefits which you can enjoy if you do decide to make the switch! Have you been contracting for some time, are now considering a career as an independent professional , and want to learn about how you can set yourself up for success? Why not invest in your future and establish your own business. The question is… is it the right move for you now? As with every decision, it’s important to know the facts, the figures, and the opportunities before making your next career move. Keep reading to understand the process of setting up your own personal limited company further, along with some of the benefits which you can enjoy if you do decide to make the switch! ...

We are all prone to occasional stress at work, especially when we are working on a busy project or when we have a tight deadline to hit. Burnout is different, it usually results from more long-term issues, like having overly demanding expectations, working in a highly pressurised environment, or overworking yourself to please as many clients at once.  In general, a person beginning to experience burnout might feel they’ve little or no control over their work situation, they will probably find themselves working longer hours, and may not be able to find any work-life balance. This leads to a feeling of exhaustion, hopelessness, and loss of motivation. It’s important to catch work-related burnout early before it has the chance to escalate into further problems.  Workplace stress tends to snowball for us all. One minute, you’re feeling slightly stressed about an upcoming deadline and the next, you find yourself stuck under an avalanche of missed deadlines, unfinished projects, an...

In this blog piece, Robert Whelan from Rockwell discusses the Umbrella Plan and encourages every Independent Professional to prepare for the worst case scenario whilst living their best life, and as a result of doing so, the worst case scenario may be much less daunting! “Nobody plans to get sick!” I heard this phrase for the first time in a presentation by an oncologist in the Royal College of Surgeons nearly 20 years ago. He was speaking to a group of financial services professionals and trying to impress upon us the fact that people get sick but end up with two problems without proper financial planning. Why two problems? Well, it is bad enough that you have a medical condition to deal with but when you consider that you may be unable to work and therefore be unable to make your loan repayments and support your family you now have a second problem – money. For most people, the decision to become an Independent Contractor is one of the most financially rewarding of their entire caree...

With the demand for roles so high in the current climate, our team is always getting asked for more clarity on options for candidates who currently have visa restrictions in place. If you’re wondering, can I contact you if I have a stamp in place? The answer is yes, but it does depend on what stamp and/or permission you have, as well as your Visa type. Before coming to work in Ireland for more than 90 days, you must apply for the relevant work permits with the Department of Justice, the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment, or the Department of Foreign Affairs. Once this permission has been received, at that point you must then apply for a long stay Visa (D)  before traveling to Ireland. There are various permissions that you could receive depending on your personal circumstances and skills, such as a critical skill, working holiday authorization, or intra-company transfer permission. Under a Stamp 4 Visa, individuals can work as self-employed persons, and set up under a...

Capital Gains Tax is something that you may come across as an individual or as a business, in this blog piece, Cristina explains what it is, how it works, and even what exemptions are available. In its simplest terms, Capital Gains Tax is a tax that arises on the realized profits from the sale of assets (Selling Price – Purchase Price = Profit Taxable for CGT). The rule applies to individuals, companies, trusts, partnerships, and essentially any other entity type that disposes of an asset. If you are currently contracting through an umbrella solution, it is extremely unlikely that you will come across CGT, at least not because of your contract work. There are other individual activities that can also create a CGT liability which we will examine in more detail There is also a growing trend of independent professionals making the switch to their own Private Limited Company in line with the signs of positivity that we are seeing from the sector, if you are considering making the switch, y...

Time Management has always been amongst the most important skills for workers, but never more so than in the last 12 months as effectively managing our time has undoubtedly become more significant. Between juggling work demands, teams’ meetings, home life, home-schooling, a zoom social life, and everything in between - in a time when we have had more time at home than ever, our schedules seem to be fuller than ever before! As a self-employed contractor, one of the most important skills to master and invest in is your time management. Finding ways to focus & segment your time to ensure deadlines are met is a crucial ingredient to your success. If you are new to contracting, this is where we can assist. With a fully dedicated account manager to introduce you to the contracting world as well as a digital and user-friendly portal that streamlines the invoicing, payments, and storage of business documents. We have rounded up some helpful tips to help you to achieve your...

Employers are ever more aware of the importance of creating a positive and healthy workplace for staff members.  The benefits of having a happy workforce mean that staff members are more likely to stay with the company, maintain a positive mindset while in and out of the workplace and speak more highly of the company outside their working day!  Also, clients and customers will reap the benefits from dealing with a happy employee!  It’s a win, win situation! Icon Accounting strives to create a positive work environment and below are areas that we focus on in particular.  A positive environment is something that cannot be created overnight and needs constant care and attention.  Once an employer embarks on increasing and maintaining a happy and positive working environment they may wonder why they did not do this sooner! 😊  Transparency and Open Communication  Feeling valued at work are one of the main factors that will change how you feel and motivate ...

A company that acts as the intermediary for contractors who want to work under a fixed-term contract is known as an Umbrella Company. The setup is specially made for contractors and has been an extremely popular solution that has aided the growth of the Contracting sector. Generally, a Private Limited Company structure is required to operate as an Independent Professional and payments are processed to the company bank account in exchange for the services completed by the Contractor.  The Umbrella Company is then responsible for deducting the required taxes from the payment and transferring the net pay to the contractor, alongside a payslip showing the tax deductions.  Payment cycles for independent professionals are typically paid monthly, however, there are some clients and recruitment agencies that operate weekly billing and payment cycles. Accountancy firms in Ireland like ICON Accounting specialize in proving Umbrella Solutions to Independent Professionals. These speciali...

This useful guide will help you navigate what expenses are relevant to you during the big return to the office As we are all starting to return to the office from our cosy homes, lets look at some of the expenses Independent Professionals can claim on their return to work. Whilst we have seen an increase in certain expenses relating to home office, we have seen a reduction in other expenses. We outline below those expenses. Taxsaver: if you are travelling into the office on public transport, you can claim tax relief on the full cost of your monthly ticket once you purchase via the Taxsaver scheme. Icon can facilitate this for all our clients and there is an easy-to-use order form on our portal. Travel & Subsistence: if you have business meetings outside of your main client site you can claim mileage when using your own vehicle. We have a full blog explaining how it works and the conditions. In addition to this you can claim a subsistence as long as you meet the criteria. Foreign Tr...