More work than hours — the safe way to bring in subcontractors, and the true cost and paperwork of employee number one.
- £35
- 9 modules
- Updated at every Budget
- 30-day refund
Turning work away because there are no more hours is the moment most freelancers first think about bringing someone in. The two obvious routes, a subcontractor or an employee, carry very different costs and very different risks, and the risk runs in both directions. Your client can decide you are really an employee; HMRC can decide the person you engaged really is one of yours.
A £30,000 salary does not cost £30,000. Employer National Insurance, pension, holiday, equipment and your own time sit on top, before the person has done any work. This course puts the true cost on one table, sets out the paperwork that keeps a subcontracting arrangement defensible, and covers the Construction Industry Scheme for those who need it.
What’s inside
- Subcontractor, employee or agency — cost, control and risk on one table
- The contract chain, so your client’s terms flow down back-to-back, and the margin that makes it worth doing
- Status when you are the engager, and the evidence file that protects you if HMRC disagrees
- The Construction Industry Scheme: registering, verifying, deducting, and the monthly return
- The true cost of a hire, built up line by line, including the Employment Allowance and who cannot claim it
- PAYE, RTI, right-to-work checks, the written statement, employers’ liability insurance and auto-enrolment
- Payslips, holiday for irregular hours, and a one-page HR file
- When a subcontractor fails and your client contract still binds you
- The team size at which a limited company starts to make sense
The templates
A full cost-of-hire calculator, a fork decision sheet, a subcontractor status evidence file, a new starter checklist, and the CIS monthly cycle.
In practice
The fork decision sheet comes first: subcontractor, employee or agency, with cost, control and risk side by side. If it is a subcontractor, the evidence file is built before the first invoice, not after a letter. If it is an employee, the cost-of-hire calculator gives the real number and the new-starter checklist covers PAYE, RTI, right-to-work, the written statement and auto-enrolment in order.
Buying more than one? All ten 2026/27 courses, 262 pages and 44 templates, are £119 against £328 at full price. See the full course list.
Not for you if: you are dismissing someone, handling a grievance, or hiring in a regulated sector — take employment-law advice.
Questions people ask before buying
I only want to subcontract occasionally. Is this overkill?
The subcontractor modules stand on their own. The contract chain and the status evidence file are the parts that protect an occasional arrangement, and they take an evening.
Does it cover CIS?
Yes: registering, verifying subcontractors, deducting, and the monthly return, with the monthly cycle as a template.
What about dismissals, grievances or regulated sectors?
Those need employment-law advice. The course says so on the page rather than pretending otherwise.
Does the cost calculator include the Employment Allowance?
Yes, and it explains who cannot claim it, which includes most sole-director companies.
General information, not tax or legal advice. Figures checked against HMRC and other primary sources at publication — see our editorial policy.