I'm not being funny, but some of you guys claim to work 50 hours plus every week, and earn (depending on level of service) between £50k - £150k a year.I've been a self-employed contract consultant for a number of years, a few associate deals, but in general sell my own work based on previous delivery with a client (some of which when I also was a mug).I earn no less than £800 a day, expenses on top, and generally work no longer than 40 hours a week, and I only work 8 months a year.Why do you do it?

what's your expertise

If I could guarantee myself a nice steady flow of work at £800 per day, I would gladly do this. However, finding work is difficult - most of my clients are small companies with short term projects - so I need the security of a regular paycheck.

Can I assume on that kind of money you are some sort of IT consultant?Also, on 800 a day for 8 months you'll be making about 130k, not a bad living but I know personally I aspire to make much more than that in life and earnings of 250-500k (or more) like you'd get as a partner are very unlikely doing contract work. So nice for the lifestyle choice if you have a family but if you've still go fire in your belly and want to make some serious money some day then working for a firm is better.

Classic "jam tomorrow" consultant. High stakes on a gamble that for most people will never come off.

Right now I'd be more than happy with £50K, given my 13 years of consultancy experience. Small companies can be so good sometimes, but so, so bad in other ways. Pay being a major one of those bad things.I feel like a Concorde jet with engine problems.

S. Kint are you a joker or are you really so horribly paid? Many consultants will earn that in their 2nd year... what is it you do?

I'm a management consultant with a background in top tier strategy consulting (MBB). For personal reasons I couldn't sustain the travel and anxiety/insecurity of a MBB career, so had to take a step down and took on a job with a much smaller and less prestigious company doing work that interests me more and which gave me more responsibility, plus was a better fit with my personal life. I'm no slacker but couldn't sustain the prospect of being called at 7pm on a Friday evening telling me I was going to be in Singapore for the next 8 months and the flight leaves tomorrow at 10am.Now, the small company for which I work has given me great personal development and interesting work, and has been sustainable. But, they're tight on money... and hence I am under-paid. Bit by bit my pay has been eroded by inflation and other factors to the point where I need to re-assess the situation. I'm torn between earning more versus giving up something that I actually enjoy waking up for every day. A very tough decision. So far I have stuck with staying put and have cut back on costs... but that can only last for so long, and the financial imperatives are becoming difficult to ignore. I'm not greedy - I don't expect £100K or whatever - but I'm still being treated and paid in the same way I was when I first joined the firm (i.e. as a relative junior). I just don't know what to do - very unlike me.

In what way? You've been saying something similar for ages.

"Can I assume on that kind of money you are some sort of IT consultant?"Finally some recognition on this site that IT pays better and is, therefore, um, better.

"if you've still go fire in your belly and want to make some serious money some day then working for a firm is better."bwahahahahahahahahaworking for an accountancy firm for 20 years proves you have "fire in your belly"?give me strength

'I Don't Live in Pune'... I think the poster's point was that to be getting only £800 a day, they must be in IT...

Sad times when you think £800 a day is the big time... maybe in Pune?

Think ur mama is big time

I'm not being funny but I am also earning a mint but unlike the OP never had to sweat it in a consultancy of any sort. Just decided to go it alone, found a few clients, did a good job, got more clients, increased my day rate. Still going strong and plenty of time for mates, family and holidays. Why do you all do it eh?!Oh, and I drive a shiny fast car, am fantastic in bed, have a hairy chest, a shiny gold necklace and have a HUGE c...

I work in business process improvement, no IT involved. Without blowing my own trumpet I'm very good at what I do, delivering at very minimum a 5:1 ROI in every project, ROI generally 10:1 at least.I agree that I'm not likely to earn £500k unless I grow my business, but hey, I've got a young family, I pay my wife a lovely salary for doing my 'books', and I've got a very comfortable living.And it's great not having to pay 40% income tax, the joys of dividends!

Quick tax/dividend question for you CC.Am doing the same thing but have my own limited company. Appreciate dividends are taxed less than PAYE but........have to pay corporation tax on company profits first before paying myself dividends. So.......doesn't it all end up working out as a similar net pay, just going to different places (e.g. corp tax instead of income tax)?Advice appreciated on how to maxmise take home pay from the day rate I earn (paid into my company)

Speak to an accountant. I believe SJD are specialists in contractor accounting.

Contract Consultant: Ill spare you the respect of not asking your age. Instead, can you tell me how much experience you had before you decided to go it alone?And im guessing you were more than comfortable financially before you decided to do so?Cheers for the input.

Dividend dilemma - it depends on your circumstances, i.e. are you the only person being paid from the company? I pay members of my family (they are directors), so it's easier to take cash out of the business whilst minimising tax, and easier to stay under higher tax thresholds.If you are the only Director and you want a handsome salary, you'll have to pay the tax on it. The other advice that my accountant gives me is to get as much through on expenses as possible (family holidays are business trips!).Gold - financially sound? Not really. I had enough cash to pay my bills for 3 months. It was a risk. 10 years experience before jumping.

Thanks CC - have an accountant and his take on it was HMRC aren't that daft, they get you somehow (corp tax vs. income tax) BUT in his words........"look at it this way, would you be earning the day rate you are on if you were an employee!"Which was a fair comment!On that note, yes am a single director/owner of my company - was checking incase I'd missed something obvious in the way I was paying myself (1st year doing this so learning every day!)

You need to join pcg.org.ukread the ir35 guide. get your contracts reviewed and do not assume your accountant is an expert on employment law (ie the implications of ir35)

DD - the other thing to bear in mind is that there are hundreds of thousands of small Ltd companies in the UK, and even if HMRC had the resources to closely monitor every one man band, would they want to given the sums involved?The answer is no, they are more concerned with the major tax evaders.My advice is make the rules work to your advantage, but dont take the plss or you will create unwanted attention.But financially you are much better off working as a contractor, if you can get work of course!