- The independent FRAMEWORK FOR IR35 COMPLIANCE
CONTORA is a free platform to help Contractors/PSCs legitimately operate 'outside' of IR35.
No catches, no gimmicks. We’re not an umbrella, an agency, a consultancy or a client. CONTORA is a toolset, a platform, a framework thats already being adopted by a growing number of clients and consultancies to deliver fully compliant service
What is Contora®?
- Substitution Agreements
- Statements of Work
- Defined Service Engagements
- Aligned ways of working
How Contora® works
Before you know it, you will be working in a fully compliant, 'outside' IR35 way
Centralised COMPLIANCE
CONTORA® provides an all-party, common way of working for managing statements of work, from initial creation, review and approval through to final sign-off and invoice approvals.
Business Growth
CONTORA® supports independent contractors to evolve and grow their business into a true off-payroll consultancy with transparent visibility of substitution, independence and risk.
Contract approval
The CONTORA® toolset and framework allows suppliers and engagers to create, track and approve IR35 compliant statements of work and deliverables through a single portal.
CONTORA® makes your contracts and engagements visible, interactive and collaborative rather than paper-based, inert and difficult to manage.
Interactive Statements of Work
To support IR35 compliance it’s important to ensure that the engager and suppliers are on the same page, not just contractually but also in their ways of working.
There is much talk about Statements of Work being used as a means to justify and 'outside' IR35 determination and in some case this is true but for contractors and PSCs a Statement of Work is often focused on project level deliverables over which you have little or not control and we believe its like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
With CONTORA we have taken a bottom up approach to the SoW model and focused on what the contractor actually does. As a result, we created Defined Service Engagements (DSE).
A Defined Service Engagement simply documents the 'fee payer and hirer' expectation of the services they want you to deliver over the duration of the engagement and breaks these down in to milestones against which they can measure performance for payment.
Using a Defined Service Engagement allows you to demonstrate:
- CONTROL: Scope is defined up front - you manage how you deliver it.
- MOO: The DSE clearly outlines the start and finish of the engagement.
- RISK: Each deliverable is linked to milestone payments
- SUBSTITUTION: Every DSE has built in substitution capability
- TRANSPARENCY: Ways of Working are contractually aligned
What CONTORA® gives you, the supplier....
When you fully align your ways of working to the CONTORA® Framework it provides you with the following key benefits:
- A clear view of your capabilities
CONTORA® assesses how your company is set-up, to give potential clients a clear view of your capabilities and ways of working
- Partner agreements
- Substitution Partner agreements are explicitly called out in both MSA’s and SoW’s signed by clients.
- Approved IR35 templates
Ready to use IR35 compliant Master Service Agreement templates.
- IR35 Support & Compliance
We’re passionate about helping contractors get things right.
We’re here to provide you with the tools you need to succeed which is why when you join Contora we guide you through all the key elements needed to prove to HMRC that you are operating as a bona-fide business
- e-sign built in
Integrated with e-sign and accounting systems, coupled with blockchain technology to provide immutable proof of compliance.
- IR35 Defined Service Engagements
Ready to use CONTORA® approved IR35 SoW templates for Defined Service Engagements.
- Can be provided as documented evidence of MOO, Control &Risk.
- Reviewed, agreed and signed by both you and your client.
- Built in Milestone/Delivery based payment approval process that meet IR35 requirements.
- Formalised change process for updates and extensions.
- Quickly create substitution Statement of Works (SoW) based on a client’s requirements either at the SoW, Milestone or deliverable level.
Already have IR35 insurance or been assessed outside IR35? Here’s why you should still join CONTORA®...
Insurance and assessments provide you with re-assurance that, contractually, all parties have agreed the content of a status determination. Once the assessment and insurance are in place it could be assumed that there is no more to worry about. This couldn’t be further from the reality. You are at the start of your compliance journey.
After April 2021 HMRC will begin investigating and challenging the IR35 determinations made by medium and large companies, and an area of particular focus will be on actual ways of working and whether or not these are truly aligned with the evidence used to originally create the determination result.
For example, if the determination stipulates substitution is possible and yet there are no clear methods to execute this, then it could be deemed invalid. Likewise, if the determination states that risk will be demonstrated by statements of work, but in reality you continue to be directed or controlled outside of this with no evidence to the contrary, then HMRC may deem this as invalid.
CONTORA® provides all parties with a single, immutable audit trail of contractual deliverables and ways of working to support IR35 compliance throughout the contract lifecycle.
Remaining 'outside' IR35 requires action by you...
Change doesn't happen over night but to remain operating 'outside' of IR35 you need to act now...
If you’re not already adjusting the way you approach your off-payroll engagements then its likely that you will end up being placed ‘inside’ IR35 by your clients.
Much focus has been placed on the contractual key tests (Mutuality of Obligation, Substitution, Control) but there is another key factor that clients are considering when completing their status determination statements; most contractors are not properly set up to operate as a bone fide business that can create and deliver outcome based services.
Just running a limited company and engaging an accountant does not automatically entitle you to an outside IR35 status determination if you are still providing CV’s and signing contracts that have no clear deliverables and are not aligned with your actual ways of working.
CONTORA helps you make some very simple changes that enable you start demonstrating your true potential.
Is CONTORA® just an umbrella company in disguise?
CONTORA® is an independent framework that can be used by any organisation wishing to retain their off-payroll services ‘outside’ of IR35 through their existing limited company. It is NOT an agency or umbrella company. You are in complete control.
CONTORA® manages contracts, statements of work and deliverables more efficiently; It helps organisations transition your ways of working toward a delivery/outcome based model whilst improving augmentation efficiency and reducing costs.
CONTORA® can be used by clients, agencies, consultancies and independent contractors involved in off-payroll engagements, to engage suppliers ‘outside’ IR35 compliance and provide full transparency of product deliverables.
As a contractor, CONTORA® is free to use can help you grow your business and engage multiple clients, further proving your status as a bone-fide business.
What have I got to lose?
You quite literally have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
It’s this easy:
1
Join CONTORA® today
(did we mention that it’s free?)
2
Add your company details, build your partner network and start creating statements of work
3
Engage with clients knowing that everyone is using the CONTORA® Framework
What HMRC will scrutinise to establish your true IR35 status.
FREE download
Download our guide that explains what elements of your ways of working the HMRC will scrutinise to establish your true IR35 status.
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