Member Article

Want a better work/life balance? Work for yourself!

We all have weeks when we feel we see our office and colleagues more than our home, family and friends. However, the secret to a successful life/work balance is to become a contractor says a new survey by leading chartered tax advisors and accountants, SJD Accountancy.

Over 72% of those surveyed in a new report which looks at the attitudes of those working as contractors in long or short term positions, said that contracting has had a positive effect on their work/life balance – with year on year growth seeing a 20% rise.

As well as over two thirds voting that contracting had a positive effect on their professional/personal balance, the survey saw this work/life balance being quoted by 53% as one of the things they enjoy most about contracting – up from 40% in the last survey findings.

Being in charge of your own professional path

Being your own boss certainly seems to suit UK employees with 81% of those surveyed saying that they find contracting more satisfying than being an employee and a mere 10% stating they would go back to being employed if they were offered a permanent position.

Contracting makes financial sense as well

It is not just a better way of life though that is more beneficial for contractors, as 88% said that they enjoyed higher rates of pay being freelance or self employed, with 34% earning between £500 - £700 a day – a 13% increase compared to 2012.

Other advantages of working freelance quoted by those surveyed includes more flexibility (63%) and freedom (54%) as well as not having to get involved in office politics (61%) and being challenged by a variety of work (47%).

Claire Johnson, Managing Director at SJD Accountancy comments, “Contracting used to be seen as a way to bridge the gap between permanent positions. However in the last few years, more professionals have realised that their quality of life, rates of pay and diversity of work is improved when they work for themselves.”

The survey is based on over 1,000 of SJD Accountancy’s client base of Limited companies and is undertaken every six months into the attitudes and statistics for those working as freelance contractors.

As well as finding key trends across the contractor market, the survey highlights that many small businesses need to ensure is they have the right network of professional advisors, such as SJD Accountancy, to help them with their financial, legal and recruitment issues.

Please see the full SJD Accountancy survey at http://www.sjdaccountancy.com/news- centre/contractor-attitude-survey-january-june-2013

SJD Accountancy is the UK’s largest specialist provider of fixed fee, Limited company accountancy services to contractors, freelancer’s and small to medium sized businesses; we’ve been acting for contractors across the UK since 1992 and have more than 12,000 clients.

We are deemed PCG Accredited Accountants and fully MSC compliant and are the only National specialist firm of accountants with offices across the UK.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by SJD Accountancy .