• invoices your agency/client for the hours you have raised
• collects payments from your agency/client
• calculates the PAYE and National Insurance contribution and deducts and pays it to the UK authorities
• makes a net payment into your personal bank account
• complies with all company and other statutory issues, including company law requirements to file accounts and returns to Companies House;
• calculates and makes payment of VAT and corporation tax liabilities;
• runs payroll calculations and makes returns and various other statutory requirements;
• provides business insurance to meet claims made by your clients against negligence or service deficiencies.

Although you won’t be as financially better off as you would have been working through your own limited company (in terms of structuring your payments in the most tax efficient way), you may be able to offset business expenses against your gross earnings.

The key point is that all the hassle and worries associated with owning and running your own limited company brought about by the latest legislation make the safe Umbrella option a very viable option for time-starved contractors.

Although there are financial advantages of working in this way, an Umbrella Company would probably be more beneficial otherwise.