THE PROFESSIONAL CONTRACTORS GROUP

PCG Quality Accountant accreditation, July 2006

We are delighted to be one of the first accountancy practices to be accredited as a ‘Quality Accountant’ by the Professional Contractors Group (PCG), the professional body for freelance consultants and contractors.

The scheme gives PCG members access to trusted and credible accountancy advice from a published list of accredited accountants.

To qualify, we have undertaken specialist training and passed an exacting marked assessment. Our accreditation is renewed annually to ensure we maintain our specialist skills and keep up-to-date with freelancer-specific issues.

40% of the UK workforce is expected to be freelance by 2010, with an increasing demand for specialised accountants trained in freelance issues such as IR35 (intermediaries legislation), contract reviews, S660A (settlements legislation) and PAYE.

If you are a freelancer, look for the PCG Quality Accountant logo when choosing your accountant.

About the PCG

The PCG is a not-for-profit trade association that represents the interests of consultants, contractors and freelancers. It has evolved to become their champion, campaigning on issues that matter to the freelancing community, irrespective of industry focus.

PCG's aim is to work for proper recognition of independent consultants, contractors and freelancers as a genuine and valuable sector of the economy, generating wealth and employment, providing industry with a flexible workforce.

In seeking to promote its members commercially and support their development, PCG actively develops tools, services and relationships that will assist them. Its objective is to help them improve and enhance their business prospects and to improve the professionalism and perception of the freelance small business community continually.

Towards the end of 2004, for example, PCG introduced its Quality Systems scheme, PCG (QS), to help members achieve UKAS-accredited IS09001:2000 certification, so that they can compete on a level playing field for public sector and corporate projects. Far less expensive and bureaucratic than most routes to certification, PCG (QS) opens public sector markets previously closed to freelancers and has already resulted in major project wins for certified members.

PCG members work in a wide variety of sectors including oil and gas, engineering, information technology, management consultancy, marketing, telecommunications, construction and pharmaceuticals. PCG offers them broad range of services, including cover by its Professional Expenses Insurance (PEI) policy, legal and tax helplines, comprehensive guides, draft contracts and regular workshops, seminars and networking events.

The online discussion forums provide members with the facility to exchange ideas and opinions and to seek advice about a wide range of topics. A large number of the respondents to PCG’s last annual membership survey cited the forums as being one of the things they really liked about PCG, not only as a source of knowledge, information and up-to-date news, but also for the sense of camaraderie that it offered, particularly to those working away from home.

PCG represents UK consultants, contractors and freelancers on matters relating to regulations, taxation, economics, employment and other issues that affect them. In seeking to exert influence, the policy team engages in direct discussion with senior Ministers and civil servants, participates in consultation exercises, forges relationships with unions and other complementary organisations and produces a comprehensive range of research and policy papers. One of PCG’s core activities is to campaign for clarity, consistency and common sense in regulation and legislation.

PCG also supports a selection of cases for its members each year. Almost from the outset, it has maintained a separate fighting fund to finance legal campaigns and has adopted an opportunistic case law strategy, looking for existing cases that are deadlocked, seeking expert advice about the merits of backing them, and taking them on if appropriate. To date, most of the cases have been won by PCG either at the Special Commissioners or just before.

PCG’s comprehensive Guide to Freelancing is available free of charge to members and non-members alike, and may be downloaded from PCG’s website.

For further information, visit the website at www.pcg.org.uk or call the office on 0845 125 9899.